2018 Fashion on the Ration challenge

PipneyJane

Laura_Elsewhere wrote: »

Well, sadly no further Return Of The Long-Lost Garments this week...! Still, I've a lovely blue jumper knitted by Gran and very comfy 'new' boots, so I'm happy...

I've used some of my time this week to make lists of the various garments I have which need mended (not many) or need re-made because the fit is poor or I made a mistake in making them (quite a few more) or which are cut out but unsewn (several...) or which are simply a pile of fabric and an intention (er...!)

I think I have a lot of sewing to do in the next few months...!

One thing I want to do is sew together a really 40s-style dressing-gown, very 'New Look' in its design, long gored flaring full skirts, a really good overlap at the front so it's decent if I am wearing it and have to open the door (resisting the old joke there!), long sleeves, not too wide so my arms don't get cold, and a cosy big shawl collar that's nice and high at the back of the neck, and a tie-belt which goes through a flat casing at the back, stitched in the middle, so it doesn't slip off and get knotted up... . It's in pale shell-pink upholstery satin I bought two years ago for a quid a metre - gorgeous stuff, incredibly heavy and really opulent, not the thin tawdry stuff you see so often nowadays. I think probably it needs a cream lining in it, but for now I'd just like to get it sewn - I cut it out in the spring!!!

I have some cream lining material and it may actually be enough to line the bodice and sleeves, which would be good. Otherwise I shall have to start a list of Things To Buy In The New Year With The 2019 Coupons, and make sure that I consider everything really carefully...

The dressing gown sounds lovely. Which pattern are you using?

Also, I am in awe re your fabric shopping skills. A quid a metre! You must have “the gift”. (I have a friend with “the gift” - she can walk into a charity shop and find an outfit that looks perfect on her and it’ll be as-new.)

I’m with you re the planning/reviewing, etc. There are things I could wear but for missing a button... < hangs head in shame >

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

No pattern in particular - it will look a bit like this only without the puffed shoulders and definitely without that waist!

It's a fitted bodice, a wide waistband, and a flared full skirt, but with the two fronts really hugely overlapping for decency - every dressing gown I've had in the last century or two seems to have been made for someone with no hips or bust, so as soon as I put it on, even when it's several sizes too big, the front gapes wide if I move an arm, and the skirt flashes upper thigh if I do anything except stand bolt upright and stock-still with arms by my side

I was lucky with the fabric - kind of wish I'd got more but no, no, stop that... there are limits to how much pale shell-pink heavy-duty upholstery satin I can use, really...

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/0f/0d/a3/0f0da3fc8e14b87168d472be11cf3661.jpg

PollyWollyDoodle

I love that, it sounds so glamorous. I never seem to find these £1-a-metre bargains either!

CapricornLass

I'm going to be on the naughty step - I've succumbed to a jumper in a lovely rusty colour. Well and truely busted the coupon limit now.



Only excuse is that it is a good long length i.e. covers most of my bum, and I've been looking for something that I could wear with brown leggings for two/three years now - so when I saw it, I took it.

PipneyJane

Laura, I'm looking forward to hearing how the dressing gown turns out. The garment in the picture looks very glamorous.

I've finally purchased the "walking trainers" I mentioned earlier. £28 at Asic's Bicester outlet shop. They're black, waterproof and (hopefully) should last 2 years; the last pair did, although these aren't the exact same model (they're very similar). That took my points total down by 5 to 17.

Also purchased last week were a pair of sheepskin moccasins from Celtic & Co. I don't need them right now - my current pair have a year or two left in them - but I had a £10 gift voucher from them to spend which would expire in January and I've been debating for months what to buy with it. Since they had a free postage offer over the weekend, I finally decided that I'd buy something I would most definitely wear eventually.

That's another 5 coupons spent, leaving me with 12.

My shopping list for 2019 is growing: a trenched coat with a detachable lining; underwear; a new suit; work shoes; running trainers; yarn..... I'm going to need those 12 coupons or get lucky in my charity shop trawls.

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

PipneyJane wrote: »

My shopping list for 2019 is growing: a trenched coat with a detachable lining; underwear; a new suit; work shoes; running trainers; yarn..... I'm going to need those 12 coupons or get lucky in my charity shop trawls.

- Pip

I'm starting to put together a list, too - trying to prioritise so that I don't buy needlessly. We have some vouchers we must use next week and my chap is asking whether I 'need' any new clothing. I could usefully use the vouchers to get things on the list, but it will all have to be black market purchasing, of course...

How do I confess to my lovely chap that I've been buying my clothing on the black market?! I think he's seen that dodgy Mr Asda, the spiv, around the place, but I never dreamt he'd be trying to introduce me to Mr Sainsbury, another notorious spiv around town...!

PollyWollyDoodle

:rotfl: trouble is, if you don't buy it when the spivs have it, it won't be there next time! If you're referring to the Nectar double-up, it's too good to miss. Maybe your chap can give you some of his coupons?

I got a 'free' coat last year when this offer was on. That was before rationing came in, of course.

Laura_Elsewhere

Well... I'll just have to see - so long as we keep it quiet so nobody knows, eh?

I'm probably going to end up raiding Primark, I suspect. What I want is a couple of polo-necked long-sleeved cotton tops. I have one grey one and I could wear it every single day all winter, it goes with everything, looks great, excellent layering item... and I want to have more neutral colours, which for me means grey or black. I have tons of gorgeously colourful jumpers, cardigans and skirts, and stupidly have lots of long-sleeve tops which only go with one thing, and which are just really low-cut, so they look wrong at this time of year and leave my chest very cold!! All wearing very thin as well, as they were very cheap to buy - which is WHY it's sensible to really think about clothing! So in replacing them, I want to buy tops which will go with as many things as possible...

PollyWollyDoodle

I'm planning to make some more of these, they are fairly easy. In recent years I've found that even the more expensive ones (M&S) are too thin for my liking. Because they are stretchy, the fit isn't too crucial and I've got a T-shirt pattern that I'm just going to hack. However, whether I manage to get these done before Christmas is in question! And of course, I will still need coupons for the fabric.

Laura_Elsewhere

I have a load of really nice black and grey striped heavy cotton jersey, barely stretchy at all, which I've used for two really useful t-shirt type tops - the only drawback to my 1903 Singer treadle is that I can't sew stretchy fabrics properly on it! But my black-and-grey stripey tops are really useful, and I should make more, especially as I already have the fabric for 2-3 more! About 115cm per top, and I believe I have 3 or 4 metres...

Thanks for reminding me!