Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

Merrylegs1

Really pretty apron cheerfulness- i'm very impressed!
Some great tips on how to deal with knicker elastic too! I don't have a sewing machine but have a friend who does and she helped me make a new net curtain for my front room window a few months back, I know it's sad but I do love the net cause we made it!!
Can ask what is the tightwad gazette is?

Bobarella

The Tightwad gazette was written between 1990 & 1996 by Amy Dacyzyn a mother of 6 who lived in the house of her dreams, & managed to save £££ even though her husband was on a very modest wage. At the height of the journals success she had 100,000 readers all paying $1 I think, per copy which went out like a newsletter each month. Eventually she turned them into books. I think the best one to buy is the collection of them all but may be wrong.

cheerfulness4

We all need a gran like JackieO and indeed a SailorSam in the kitchen!

I'm wondering what she would do with baggy sleeves on knitwear. I've a couple of home knits were the cuffs have lost their shape. Must be something that can be done to make them like new again.
If you read this another time Jackie0.......

Here's the knitting bag mum made me a while back with another part of that curtain.



She learnt to sew in the factories when she was a girl in the late 40's-early 50's and eventually worked making for Burberry and Aquascutum. She later made handbags, coats, dresses, just about anything with her jobs. All that knowledge which she's sadly beginning to forget a little in her 80's.

I just baked some scones and choc muffins from that packet mix I didn't do yesterday. Morrisons should be ashamed. They are awful. Only bought them because they were from Approved foods and their M & S ones were excellent for the price.
At least that is the last of them used and the space will come in handy.

I just don't have the room in this house for lots of stocks. Most of the foods we eat are easily bought regularly anyway as we live on YS foods and Aldi's super 6.

I've made a huge mistake with toiletries, too. I bought lots of Body Shop goodies when the offers were crazy a couple of years ago. Taken us ages to get through it and naturally I had to have a smell of all the lovely body butters and shower gels, soaps etc.
Now they smell of nothing too much.
Worse, some smells decidedly off it.

I am in the fortunate position that both Boots and Clix research regularly send my things to test, cosmetics, skincare, toiletries, etc and really they could keep me going with many things. Its years since I've had to buy day/night cream and serums.
That being the case, no more wasting money on online deals when the frenzy kicks off with code stacking, etc. I DON'T NEED THEM.
Boy am I going to become a tightwad this year. I've got plans for this saved money.

GreyQueen

Hi cheerfulness, if you go into the haberdashers and ask for shirring elastic. It comes in black or white and is essentially a thin, round elastic thread.

If knitted sleeves have gone baggy, thread shirring elastic onto a large-eyed needle and run it around the cuff, through the knitwear. Each circle will need to be knotted off separately and a fresh one started a little up from the previous one (about a centimeter). Depending on the cuff 3 or 4 circles of shirring elastic should hold it.

If you're a skilled knitter, you can also pull out worn cuffs and re-knit them with fresh yarn; I've known Mum to do it but then she has had over 60 years' practise. HTH.

jk0

This'll make you girls chuckle. When I was 6/7, I was in a class of about 15 girls and about 7 boys.

I guess they didn't think it worth having a separate class for the boys, so we all learnt to sew. I am proud to say that I am better at sewing than either my mother or 14 years junior sister.

cheerfulness4

jk0- I knew a guy that bought a knitting and sewing shop with his redundancy money. Huge man he was and so handy because I worked in an office next door to his shop and used to pop in with my knitting in my breaks and he'd show me where I was going wrong.
Later on I worked with this ex-miner who did the most beautiful cable jumpers I've ever seen for his little daughters.


You only have to watch The Sewing Bee each year to see the guys can give us a run for our money. I love that programme.

elaine241

Hello cheerfullness4 can I join in please? I hate to see any waste and try and re-use and repurpose when ever possible, if not I recycle! I am currently learning to sew, I attend a friendly group that meets in the tutors house mainly for tea and cake but occasional sewing!

My step mother is a shopaholic and practically shops on a daily basis, this time of year she goes spending mad! As a result she gives me a lot of clothes that she is getting rid of. One problem is that they are slightly too big or need altering to look good. I am determined to alter them so that I can get use out of them. I kid you not she gave me in excess of 20 pairs of black trousers last time she cleared out, how many pairs does one woman need!! Handy for work though!

I try to grow my own veg and fruit, keep hens and ducks and pick /forage as much as I can find. I dont meal plan as often I swoop in on Yellow Sticker bargains and make dinner from my purchases or I ferret in the freezer for previous bargains. Today I made a vat of butternut soup (30p each) and banana tea bread and muffins to use up bananas that were going too ripe.

TBH I dont need to be frugal but I choose to be. I hate any excess or waste but always try to buy quality, second hand if at all possible. I live in my dream home we have totally renovated and have land, animals and horses. I have managed to afford this by being frugal and making do and mending where other family members have been totally the opposite. I now have a comfortable, debt free lifestyle but I will never give up my OS ways.

One of my main goals is to learn a new skill each year although sewing seems to be continuous. This year I am attending a bee keeping course. We "rescued" a hive from an allotment before the council could destry the bees. I put it in the corner of a wooded area and its looked after itself since then. This year I aim to manage the bees for their health and my honey!

One thing that goes hand in hand with make do and mend is being prepared for lifes ups and downs. I enjoy the SHTF thread as they have taught me to be self reliant, prepare for many unexpected and expected life dramas as well as the zombie apocalypse!

Anyway Ive rambled on for Wales, sorry! Just to let you know this is a great idea for a thread and hopefully it will keep going and inspiring me!

GreyQueen

When Mum was a little lass of about 7, she was sitting on the prom trying to teach herself to knit (her foster carer not being much interested in crafts or even in Mum tbh).

A bloke, a complete stranger, came over and showed her what she was doing wrong. Something clicked and has been an ardent and extremely skilled knitter all her life. You'd have forty-fits if a stranger tried to teach your kid to knit in this day and age. He might have been a sailor or a fisherman - this was a fishing port - as I've heard some of them used to make their own clothes as well as do running repairs.

I've known several blokes who work in theatrical costume and can knit and sew skillfully by both hand and machine. Mind you, they're also as skilled with woodworking tools and rigging lighting up in the gods and tough enough to lug scenery around on tour.

Broomstick

I was taught to turn sock heels by a male friend when I was living in Scotland. He'd worked on the rigs then moved onto onshore work and leading a fairly self-sufficient lifestyle. Most of the men crofting round where we lived also knitted. My friend used to make himself a new pair of super-warm welly boot socks every autumn.

B x

Thistle-down

I'll be reading this thread with interest - it seems to go hand in hand with the Not buying it thread!!!

I have read all the Tightwad Gazette books and own the Complete Tightwad (3 books in one) I was actually on the $1 mailing list too, back in the day. Some of the info is outdated or doesn't apply to the UK but there is plenty that does and just reading it gets you fired up to be frugal.