Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

silvasava

Thought you'd like to see this - two Hawkmoths mating on an Iris in my garden - thought they were dead leaves at first!

vhalla1478

Amazing, silva! This is a lovely time of the year, isn't it? xx

Susan1962

Used up the dregs of my favourite shower gel to make foaming handwash then gave the OH an old grill pan that would otherwise have been thrown out - he's mixing up small batches of cement in it.

Poppy_Golightly

Grey Queen, Is this your blanket by any chance? Looks lovely and cosy.

Poppy xx

[IMG]http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/<a href=http://s866.photobucket.com/user/Mariella_Moon/media/Oxfam blanket_zpsp1tlfwfd.png.html target=_blank rel=nofollow>[/img]

GreyQueen

Yes, poppy, that's one of my blankets. Never thought I'd see anything of mine in a posh decor mag, lol.......... it's amazing what you can do with pulled-jumpers and oddments of yarn left over from finished knitting projects.

Most of my blankets were sewn together (the strips) with old gold courtelle, but some of the later ones were done in a smooth dark purple cotton-type yarn, both chosen for their almost-unbreakable qualities. They're over-stitched, and back stitched where the length of sewing up yarn ends, so that there will be about 2-3 inches of 'cross-stitch'.

So if you see something exactly like that, you will be looking at a GQ original. The strips were 8 ft long when made, and there is usually anything from 1-4 strands of yarn together at a time. There's about 35 of them around somewhere. Most of them are acylic yarn, with random enclosures of wool or cotton, but about 95% acrylic.

vhalla1478

GreyQueen, it's lovely, you could give yourself a whole new career and become the next Laura Ashley; I'd give you an order.

Viv x

[Deleted User]

I have just logged on and reading the posts reminded me of back in the late 1950s there were stockings out called Taylor Wood Lifelon Stockings They cost 5s.6d a pair (31p) a fortune when the full time wage was around a fiver a week. Time I had paid my keep to Mum plus fares to work I was left with just over £2 a week for clothes etc
for me.
They were supposed to be guaranteed for 6 months or they were replaced free of charge I just had a look on the internet and they are available for £11.99 a pair and called 'vintage ' :):) They really did last almost forever although expensive to lash out on in one go:)
Ah Friday night is Amarmi night and dinky curlers,then plastic rollers or if you saved up you could buy a home perm and a friend would put it on for you and your hair was done up in these tiny plastic curlers for ages and then you had to put the neutraliser on in case it went to curly,we also used twisted pipe cleaners to make you hair curly,very glam , or sitting with a yeast facepack on your face which came in a sachet and set like pollyfilla and you kept it on as long as possible.My brothers used to 'knock' on it when they went past :):)

All the girls wore Max Factor panstick, and had Max Factor powder compacts as well and had small tablets of mascara that you had to spit on to moisten , then put on your eyelashes with a tiny brush.

I used to save up to buy Lentheric 'Tweed' perfume as I didn't like the smell of Boujoise Evening in Paris.My Dad would always get me Grossmiths 'White Fire' in a scarlet box for Christmas or if he was feeling generous Rubenstiens Apple Blossom.The only deodorant was a 'Mum' stick, and then the wonderful Roll-on deodorants came on the market.Rimmel make up was 1s 3d (8p) for what ever you wanted, be it lipstick,nail varnish,powderetc.Every make up you needed was the same price with Rimmel.Ponds cold cream was universal for everyone.by the time I had bought some make-up or a record 5s.6d (31p)I was usually broke again I can remember saving up for weeks to buy a new winter coat in the January sales in
C & A's in Oxford Street It cost me 5 guineas (£5.25p)and was bright red with big black buttons It was the first coat I ever bought for myself out of money I had saved up, and I thought I was the bees knees in it.15 years old and buying my own clothes.I used to walk half way to work to save the extra pennies for my sales hunt in the west end. Sitting in a Kardomah Coffee house with my bright red coat on I felt like a million dollars :):):)Life was so different in those days and you appreciated it more I think.
JackieO xxx

GreyQueen

vhalla1478 wrote: »

GreyQueen, it's lovely, you could give yourself a whole new career and become the next Laura Ashley; I'd give you an order.

Viv x

Aww, bless your heart. Each strip took about a week to make, knitting in all my spare time, so each blanket (they ended up about 6 ft wide) was a huge labour. It's very soothing to do, and tickles me to see that someone with an advanced sense of tastefulness has included one in their home. Particularly bearing in mind that they were put together from oddments, linked only by my sense of what I liked putting together at the time, and I had no idea or plan as to what the finished item would come out like.

I don't normally buy magazines but may have to buy that one to show my mates.............sad, innit? :rotfl:

vhalla1478

Not sad at all, you should be as proud as Punch; I think it says an awful lot for your tastefulness and what a big boost for MMMing. You should write to the magazine and tell them about it; what a great story!

Viv xx

GreyQueen

vhalla1478 wrote: »

Not sad at all, you should be as proud as Punch; I think it says an awful lot for your tastefulness and what a big boost for MMMing. You should write to the magazine and tell them about it; what a great story!

Viv xx

:eek: But they might publish my name and then you'd all know The Real GQ.............!!!! Nah, I have no desire whatsoever to be even very slightly known in public, have already seen someone I know in the scandal sheets in the past seven days, the darned fool.

I am presently working on a blanket, but this will be smaller, is stocking stitch not garter stitch, and will be lined with fabric. I am making it in blocks of 3 squares (mini-strips) as the 8ft ones are beggars to handle and assembling the blankets involved kneeling on the floor, with each strip taking about 30 mins of sewing. I'm older now, and don't kneel so easily for long periods.

When the blankie is finished, it will be donated (perhaps even to Hoxfam) and they can turn it into some dosh. Mebbe I shall monogram it discreetly on the back with my username's initials, for giggles. It'll be liberated at some point later this year.........wonder where that will end up? :rotfl: