Ask yer Granny!

3v3

deb68 wrote: »

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Rag rugs would love to no how to make one----but not very good sewing lack of vision in left eye an arms/hands going into spasm but would love to learn...

Rag rugs do not (necessarily) need to be sewn Latch hook method is very straight forward - you make a knot using the latch hook; could prove a bit challenging if you have hand/arm spasms, but, that doesn't mean you cannot do it (Google it ) It is definately a de-stressor, can be done while you listen to music/watch TV and keeps your hands mobile but without huge effort. The rewards far outweight the time involved

Traditionally, rag rugs were the domain of nursery floors in Victorian houses; cheap, cheerful and cost effective - adding warmth underfoot on hard flooring). I contributed to my first one when I was as young as 5yo! They are hard wearing and reversable (so, when the "tuft" gets worn, you turn them over )

Contemporary rag rugs can be very "designer" and much sort after (I know this from my time spent on touring 'Craft Fairs' and "rugging" while I sat at the stall ) Equally, if they are not too, too heavy, can be machine washed: BONUS!

deb68_2

3v3
thank you very much for that will have a look
take care
x

EstherH

Have only read the first page so far but like what I have read. Thanks Madatha.

I remember learning about the Jarrow Marchers in History at school.

My gran made all my clothes when I was little and then taught my mum to sew and they both made them. I remember opening her cupboards and she had packets and packets of sugar and breakfast cereal, can't remember if there were other things she had stocked up on but this was probably when there was a shortage, around 1973? She probably caused the shortage remembering what she had in.

My mum always wrote lists on the back of envelopes, cereal packets etc. and even now I can't bear to make lists on new paper. Also I collect elastic bands because my mum did when I was growing up, she must have got it from my gran during war time. I remember my mum saying that she was peeling carrots once and cut a big chunk of the top and bottom and my gran said you won't do that when you have a family to feed. And she was right.

I remember that she knitted and darned.

As far as wrapping up in warm clothes when it is cold is concerned: my mum says she was like the Michelin man. My gran made her wear vest, liberty bodice, something else that I can't remember what, jumper, cardigan, coat. No central heating in those days.

In the war she skinned and cooked rabbit that my mums uncle caught. I couldn't do that. But I do cook a lot from scratch since coming on OS forums. Make my own stock when I can be bothered. Need to do it more.

I am pleased with myself because I bought a turkey leg from Asda for £1.79 and it did for Sunday dinner and then with some pulse mix and added veg made soup that did for tea on Monday and lunch Tuesday and today. Got enough turkey left to make a sandwich because I intended putting it in the soup but kept forgetting.

Think I have said enough for now. Look forward to reading the rest. Esther x

mardatha

WOW. Awesome advice in here, thank you all SO much. I find it funny that we think we are so smart now - but yet our grannies could run rings round us and knew so much more !
One of mine, the Irish one, was slightly scarey to me, she was a speywife and had "the sight". The house was always busy with women coming to the door. She would sit and look at the fire and then jump up and run around screaming at us to tidy the place and hide her fags & cards cos the priest was coming..then sure enough the door would go and he'd be stood on the mat - and she'd be sitting there all smiles. Then when he left it was uproar again because we'd hid her fags too well and she needed one for her nerves :rotfl:He must've been keeping an eye on her cos he seemed to come an awful lot !!
She taught me how to read the Tarot. LOL suppose if things get too desperate its a trade eh....
The other one had ten children and a trawlerman husband. She taught me to knit and pick veg from the garden.
I once made a rag rug 3v3, with a latch hook. I found it very easy and satisfying.

3v3

mardatha wrote: »

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I once made a rag rug 3v3, with a latch hook. I found it very easy and satisfying.

Yes, it IS easy ... "satisfying" is subjective tho :rotfl: (Mind you, on a winters evening, when fuel costs are high .... if you've "latched" enough so it falls over your lap ... yes, it is warming, heavy and satisfying!!!! aka "warming" )

EstherH - "first page" is very misleading :rotfl: depending on your user setttings that can mean anything from the first 10 posts to the first 40 posts!!! Looking forward to reading more of your posts

BitterAndTwisted

Does anyone remember those Redicut rugs you could buy in a kit? I'm almost certain that they were made by knotting lengths of cut wool with a latch-hook. We had those rugs in nearly every room when I was little. Mum used to make them sitting by the fire when she wasn't sewing or knitting. The darning was done by my Oma who was a champion at it. Who would bother darning woolly socks now?

The old family stories about looting after bombing-raids and stealing curtains to make dresses from. Or the Russian army greatcoats which had to be ironed first to kill the lice in them before they could be worn. Sending the children out in the dead of night to steal coal off the trains because the soldiers wouldn't shoot kids. Honestly, we don't know we're born.

oldtractor

Patchwork_Quilt wrote: »

Well my Grandma was famous in the family for her frugal ways. Most of all, her motto was 'Keep Busy'. The house was spotless, the veg patch (where Grandad got sent every day) was a showpiece. She was always baking, she mended everything and never threw anything away. She even made rugs.

The other tip she would have offered was to buy well. They never had anything fancy, unless she made it, but everything was good quality and sturdy. Then it got polished to a high sheen every week, or nicely pressed, or whatever. They never had money for extras so she had to make sure that what they did buy would last.

Lastly, I think she would have said 'Be Inventive'. Things got made out of other things, presents were often home-made. It's amazing what the human mind can come up with in a tight corner.

What an inspirational post.:T

B&T yes,my parents made them. I have been looking into making one myself recently,but cant find any designs I like,could buy blank canvass and make up my own,but the wool is costly and I think it would be expensive to make, last for years though,maybe I'll make one next year.

Aril

My Nana used to make lots of jams because they had an orchard and a huge veg patch [her second husband sold at Covent Garden]. She always served a huge Yorkshire pud with gravy before our roast beef and cut her bread into incredibly thin slices. She used to cook up sheep heads to feed the dogs and in her later years made cuddly toys that she sold at the WI. She always enjoyed a whisky and ginger at 11am, a weekly punt on the pools and embraced new technology. She was the first in the family to own a microwave. I seem to remember it was usually a cold tea on a Saturday which always featured tongue which to this very day I can't stand the texture of. She'd been a flapper in the 1920s and spent her week making a new dress for her - Saturday mornings were spent practising her dance moves with her friend on a wooden floor. She came through the war having worked as a taxi driver in Colchester. An interesting lady- very feisty and could hold a grudge for a 100 years but I was always very close to her and have inherited her enjoyment of a small alcoholic tipple and a love of cockles and winkles which we used to dig up from the sand as kids.
Arilx
She was a huge fan of brisket as a frugal meal

mardatha

This is true B&T, we are lucky and although we have worries, its a different class of worry altogether. I darn socks, I hand knit them and if they hole then I darn them and they last forever. Some are more darn than sock. LOL!

EstherH

Aren't there twenty posts to everyone's page?

The thing I really remember about my gran was that she came round to help my mum a lot so we saw her most weekdays and she always had lots of time to play with us. I think that now that mums and Grans have to work because the cost of living is so high and expectations are so much higher, that special relationship between grandma and grandchild will suffer. I don't mean they won't love them as much but that 'all the time in the world' time isn't there the same. Life is so much more rushed for everyone. Kids have so many activities too these days. And of course lots of families live far from each other. Sorry if this is all off topic. Just got me thinking. Esther x