2019 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

Laura_Elsewhere

Argh, must search back and find my last coupon total, but at least am keeping a record of points spent!

One pair of leggings to chop short and wear under skirts = half a set of combinations, so 2 coupons.
Three large balls of sock wool, ahem, oops = 6 coupons

So another 8 coupons down... think I'm into the 30-odds now, possibly still 40-odd left, but need to watch carefully!

Mind you, last trip to dentist and therefore knitting shop til November, and the chopped leggings will last all summer!

Edit to Add: checked back and find my Coupon Count is now an alarmingly low 33.5.

I've used six months of coupons in three months. Oops.

So. REALLY being careful now!

PipneyJane

Laura_Elsewhere wrote: »

Argh, must search back and find my last coupon total, but at least am keeping a record of points spent!

One pair of leggings to chop short and wear under skirts = half a set of combinations, so 2 coupons.
Three large balls of sock wool, ahem, oops = 6 coupons

So another 8 coupons down... think I'm into the 30-odds now, possibly still 40-odd left, but need to watch carefully!

Mind you, last trip to dentist and therefore knitting shop til November, and the chopped leggings will last all summer!

Edit to Add: checked back and find my Coupon Count is now an alarmingly low 33.5.

I've used six months of coupons in three months. Oops.

So. REALLY being careful now!

Don’t feel too bad. At least you are shopping thoughtfully and not mindlessly.

I am still lusting after that pack of greyscale Regia Uni sock yarn from Deramores. I would buy two packs, to ensure that I have 4 balls of everything. 1600+ metres of each colour is more than enough to knit a jumper in each. They’ve marked the pack down by £5 AND I have £5 worth of points to cash in, which would mean that I’m actually saving £15 on the purchase of two packs...

But my brain tells me that 12 x 100g balls is 24 coupons, which would leave me with 16 coupons for the rest of 2019. And I don’t want to spend 24 coupons.

I currently have 40 coupons and had planned to spend 5 coupons on a navy blue cashmere cardigan from John Lewis on Friday*. For the next 2-3 months, I am going to be away for work for at least 2 days a week, starting next week. Adding a navy blue one to the collection - I have a black one and a light grey - would help ring the changes, while not taking up a lot of space, and would mean I’m not wearing the same thing every day. And then there is the inevitable need for a new pair of loafers for work and a new pair of trainers** at some point this year, so BINGO! No coupons left if I buy that yarn.

Humph! Just talked myself out of it again.

- Pip



* Friday is payday, which means an addition to the Clothing Fund, which will then have enough money in it to pay for the cardigan. It’s a separate fund to the Wool Fund, which can afford to fund the yarn.

** I am nominally a runner, although I’ve only run once this year.

PollyWollyDoodle

Interesting - I have 'Wardrobe Department' which covers clothes and haircuts, but fabric/yarn comes out of 'Spending Money' which is my fun money, because the knitting and sewing is my hobby.
Most of the 'Wardrobe' budget goes on hair, I have a fabulous lady who comes to my house and cuts my hair but she used to work in a London salon and she's not cheap. However as you wear your hair every day I've always believed it's worth paying for a good cut, especially as I have very fine hair and not a lot of it.
Maybe I should allocate some of the Wardrobe funds to fabric buying. Hmm. No clothes being made at the moment, my next project is sofa cushions (gulp), although if it all goes badly wrong I may be turning them into something wearable!

CAFCGirl

Second hand items all received bar 1.
Quite happy on the whole, but have put in 2 complaints.... One was sent wrapped in children's gift wrap! So of course probably didn't make it out of their post office and arrived in a RM 'Sorry about the state of this' bag... No reply from either, so i'm hoping ebay will step in given the evidence I've provided. The one I've not received, I don't think shes even sent. I chased it up after a week and she admitted she hadn't posted it, well its now been a week since that!

I did however, take a chance on sizing up with a pair of petite black linen trousers second hand, and I'm actually pleased I've accepted moving up, as they are so much more comfy than the lower size I had tried on in store previously. I'm also quite happy that wide leg trousers seem to be making a come back. My thighs have not appreciated the skinny leg decade!

I finished a pair of loom knitted leg warmers/wellie boot toppers in a flecked green yesterday, so they're now added to the collection. Next up is a blanket cardigan but I just cant decide on the yarn and colourway I want.... decisions decisions

PipneyJane

Did I say that I didn't want to spend 24 coupons on yarn? Well, I spent them.

< hang head in shame >

Two packets of the greyscale Regia multipac are now heading my way. I did manage to refrain from buying extra balls of the darker two shades of grey. They will get used, eventually, and it's the equivalent of 3 jumpers-worth of yarn.

I now have 16 coupons to last the next 9 months.

PollyWollyDoodle wrote: »

Interesting - I have 'Wardrobe Department' which covers clothes and haircuts, but fabric/yarn comes out of 'Spending Money' which is my fun money, because the knitting and sewing is my hobby.
Most of the 'Wardrobe' budget goes on hair, I have a fabulous lady who comes to my house and cuts my hair but she used to work in a London salon and she's not cheap. However as you wear your hair every day I've always believed it's worth paying for a good cut, especially as I have very fine hair and not a lot of it.
Maybe I should allocate some of the Wardrobe funds to fabric buying. Hmm. No clothes being made at the moment, my next project is sofa cushions (gulp), although if it all goes badly wrong I may be turning them into something wearable!

While I hear you, about having a good cut, the important thing is having a hairdresser who understands your hair and your lifestyle. I have a curly hair, so it wears me. I keep it at least shoulder-length, in one layer, because that gives me more than one stylistic choice (down/up in a bun/back in a pony tail/platted), but if it wants to fluff up instead of forming ringlets, there's not much I can do about it beyond tying it up. My hairdresser charges me £20, every 6 weeks or so, to give it a trim and she understands how to cut curly hair so it would curl not frizz (unlike many I'd tried before her).

CAFCGirl wrote: »

Second hand items all received bar 1.
Quite happy on the whole, but have put in 2 complaints.... One was sent wrapped in children's gift wrap! So of course probably didn't make it out of their post office and arrived in a RM 'Sorry about the state of this' bag... No reply from either, so i'm hoping ebay will step in given the evidence I've provided. The one I've not received, I don't think shes even sent. I chased it up after a week and she admitted she hadn't posted it, well its now been a week since that!

I did however, take a chance on sizing up with a pair of petite black linen trousers second hand, and I'm actually pleased I've accepted moving up, as they are so much more comfy than the lower size I had tried on in store previously. I'm also quite happy that wide leg trousers seem to be making a come back. My thighs have not appreciated the skinny leg decade!

How frustrating re your parcels! I reckon you're correct re the package that hasn't arrived. Hopefully Ebay will get you a refund.


There is no standardised sizing for women's clothing, so just because you're a larger size in one brand, it doesn't mean you're any bigger than you were last month. Nor does it mean that that size in another brand will fit you. Even within a brand, you will get size variations depending on the factory and country in which the clothing was made. (I remember trying on Levis; one pair made in France, the other in the USA. Same style and size label, but one pair was an inch larger than the other around the waist.)

I finished a pair of loom knitted leg warmers/wellie boot toppers in a flecked green yesterday, so they're now added to the collection. Next up is a blanket cardigan but I just cant decide on the yarn and colourway I want.... decisions decisions

I can't wait to see them. Please share photos when you can.

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

PipneyJane wrote: »

Did I say that I didn't want to spend 24 coupons on yarn? Well, I spent them.

< hang head in shame >

Two packets of the greyscale Regia multipac are now heading my way. I did manage to refrain from buying extra balls of the darker two shades of grey. They will get used, eventually, and it's the equivalent of 3 jumpers-worth of yarn.

I now have 16 coupons to last the next 9 months.

I wondered how long you'd hold out

Well... this challenge was a heck of a learning-curve for me last year - all kinds of things I didn't know or understand about the way I buy clothing... and this year I'm finding that yarn and fabric are actually as big or bigger problems for me to get to grips with!

I think it's important they are included, though - partly because they were included then, but also because it's pointless trying to reduce one's consumption of ready-made textiles if you have an uncontrolled splurging on unmade textiles, so to speak!

PipneyJane wrote: »

While I hear you, about having a good cut, the important thing is having a hairdresser who understands your hair and your lifestyle. I have a curly hair, so it wears me. I keep it at least shoulder-length, in one layer, because that gives me more than one stylistic choice (down/up in a bun/back in a pony tail/platted), but if it wants to fluff up instead of forming ringlets, there's not much I can do about it beyond tying it up. My hairdresser charges me £20, every 6 weeks or so, to give it a trim and she understands how to cut curly hair so it would curl not frizz (unlike many I'd tried before her).

Gosh.

Sobering reading.

I am very fortunate. I have long fine mid-wavy, mid-brown-with-silver, mid-everything hair, which I take my dressmaking shears to once a year when I get too irritated with tucking my hair into my waistband all the time or sitting on it and being unable to lean forward, etc.
I save a lot of money...!

PipneyJane wrote: »

There is no standardised sizing for women's clothing, so just because you're a larger size in one brand, it doesn't mean you're any bigger than you were last month. Nor does it mean that that size in another brand will fit you. Even within a brand, you will get size variations depending on the factory and country in which the clothing was made. (I remember trying on Levis; one pair made in France, the other in the USA. Same style and size label, but one pair was an inch larger than the other around the waist.)

Yes, knee-boots used to fit women's legs until they all started being made in the Far East where the shape of legs is slimmer in the calf, and now a pair of colourful wellies in Sainsbury's won't actually go on my leg even in their largest Size 9... I can't get my leg far enough in to get my foot into the foot part... and trousers changed dimensions too. It's a problem for a lot of people!

PipneyJane

Laura_Elsewhere wrote: »

I wondered how long you'd hold out

Yeah, you got me. :rotfl:

Well... this challenge was a heck of a learning-curve for me last year - all kinds of things I didn't know or understand about the way I buy clothing... and this year I'm finding that yarn and fabric are actually as big or bigger problems for me to get to grips with!

I think it's important they are included, though - partly because they were included then, but also because it's pointless trying to reduce one's consumption of ready-made textiles if you have an uncontrolled splurging on unmade textiles, so to speak!

Agreed. I don't think it matters if we set the coupon level at 100 or at 60, it's about shopping thoughtfully not just buying something because "it was on special" and making do with it when it's not perfect. The blouse I am wearing today is a good example of the latter. I'm wearing it, because I need to wear something long-sleeved, but I'd rather it had a different neck finish. I bought it mail-order in the sales. It's this one but in pale beige*, from Damart:



The neckline just annoys me because it's less subtle in real life.

- Pip



* Also not one of my colours but not unflattering enough to make me look "off".

CAFCGirl

Coupons spent..... On yarn...
3 yarn cakes of 150g each. Better check how many coupons that is and update LOL

It's a lovely spring colourway, beach feel with a sea green to lilac, pulls and yellow ombre type that's all the rage now. It was a good price per cake, but postage was just the same (and I hate that!) but was a fixed rate so got the 3 she had left, delivered for under £10. I think one cake might just do for what I'm making (a shrug\cover up) so it only needs to be about fat quarter size when it's flat. Using my new loom too so feeling all warm and fuzzy - just as well since I'm laid up in bed with D'S as we both have a horrid chest cold\infection and taking it in turns to turn beetroot red from the coughing fits!

ETA 9 coupons on the wool from what I could work out?

thriftwizard

Yes, knee-boots used to fit women's legs until they all started being made in the Far East where the shape of legs is slimmer in the calf, and now a pair of colourful wellies in Sainsbury's won't actually go on my leg even in their largest Size 9... I can't get my leg far enough in to get my foot into the foot part... and trousers changed dimensions too. It's a problem for a lot of people!

You are so right... DD1 is a case in point; she's 5'7" and a size 10, takes a size 7 shoe and can't find an affordable pair of wellies or smart boots to save her life, as they're all designed for spindle-shanks! There is no way her legs are fat but now she thinks they are... people who walk a lot, as we do, and not on the flat, do have sturdier calves but the shoe-shops seem to have forgotten about us!

CAFCGirl

thriftwizard wrote: »

You are so right... DD1 is a case in point; she's 5'7" and a size 10, takes a size 7 shoe and can't find an affordable pair of wellies or smart boots to save her life, as they're all designed for spindle-shanks! There is no way her legs are fat but now she thinks they are... people who walk a lot, as we do, and not on the flat, do have sturdier calves but the shoe-shops seem to have forgotten about us!

Has she considered riding boots? As in proper equestrian one rather than style.
My younger cousin tells me they're good for 'thick calves like horsey people have, not like those twig b••••••' after I commented on a pair of boots she wore to pub dinner being nice