2019 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

maddiemay

I am back home from a few days in beautiful (but rather wet) Betwys y Coed:) All caught up with the thread now, I need to check up on my points, I have a scribbled list, but it's not very clear, I think I will make a little spread sheet to try and keep track.

A purchase of a bright red down and feather coat, men's range extra small, fits a treat and was in the sale. Found a great yarn shop in Betwys called Find Me Knitting, lovely owner and some rather nice yarns, no purchases made this time as I have too many WIPS and far too much yarn stock.

My hands and wrists are still painful, no knitting done, I did take cotton yarn, hooks and a copy of The Happy Hooker with me as I intended to try and teach myself how to make little crochet rounds in soft cotton for removing my eye make-up instead of cotton pads, I spent lots of time reading so no crochet attempted. Laura thank you for the tip about the book rest, there is one lurking in the room of doom, I will certainly use it for the bigger hard back books.

thriftwizard

Braids & trims are coupon-free if less than 3" in width - this one's about 5", the sort you see decorating the cabs of Indian lorries! But the sheet on the front page of the thread doesn't give a coupon "price" so I'd guess they just weren't generally available.

Just docked myself another 6 coupons; 3m of lovely Indian cotton from Shepherds Bush Market, which is quite simply an absolute treasure-cave for those of us of a stitching inclination... going home this evening & that's probably just as well! These two pieces are earmarked for crafting Christmas gifts (beaded notebook covers) with the blue & white print, and patchwork, the dark blue & pink floral. It's the kind of print you can base a whole quilt round.

I did pick up some useful & interesting ideas at the show, which was really what I went for. I also invested in a new overlocker, which I've needed for a couple of years; the last one was a disaster. Too complicated to thread, and the tension & feed were never right. I'm afraid it didn't get much use because I really couldn't get on with it. I bought it in a panic after my beloved ancient Hobbylock gave up the ghost; should have waited & saved up for another Hobbylock, as for some reason Pfaff are the (modern) machines I get on best with. In the end I just gave it to a sewing tutor friend, to allow him to offer more classes. The new one will arrive in a couple of weeks, and hopefully allow me to clear my sewing area of about 20 UFOs!

PipneyJane

thriftwizard wrote: »

I made it out without any yarn at all! (Though it was a close thing...) but I've surrendered 3 coupons for a metre (yard) of woollen fabric, to make a coat for my little grand-puppy. As he's a miniature dachshund, I could probably have got away with a fat quarter, if anyone had been doing them in wool as nice as the Shetland tweed I found for him.

To be honest, I found it all quite overwhelming; too big, too much to take in, too many school kids, some of whom clearly didn't want to be there, but apparently the alternative was a day of sport! There were things I'd have liked a closer look at, but couldn't get near. Maybe it was a mistake to go on the opening day? Or maybe I should stick to the smaller, more-local shows. I'd done my usual "sweep" to establish where I wanted to spend my time & possibly money, but when I tried to go back, it was so crowded I was having to push my way through, which isn't much fun.

That said, I didn't escape empty-handed! How many coupons should I surrender for a metre and a half of very-ridiculous pom-pom braid, rather more than 3" long?

I think we all agree that the Pom-Pom braid should be coupon free, even if it is 5 inches wide. If this was during the war, it’d probably been hanging around in the haberdasher’s since the mid-1930’s, so pre-restrictions.

Very brave of you to venture into the lion’s den of the Knit & Stitch Show. It’s 2 or 3 years since I last went. I’ve been both during the week and at the weekends; weekdays do have the disadvantage of school kids but the weekends are frequently more crowded. I’ve also noticed that the show has got bigger and more busy since I first went, back in 2004(-ish). It occupies more space now. The best plan of attack is to arrive early. Beyond that, the only advice I can give is to use the loos at the back of the bar, rather than using the ones in the foyer. (I think there are some in the ice rink as well.).

Perhaps, next year, we can organise a Fashion on the Ration trip to one of the Knit & Stitch Shows?

Speaking of next year, I’ve been thinking we need to modify the coupon count for stockings/tights/pantyhose, making regular nylons 2 coupons per pack of 4 pairs, while other stockings/tights stay at 2 coupons a pair (the thick ones). I can’t speak for silk stockings - never having owned a pair - but nylons are really flimsy and extremely easy to ladder, so 2 coupons a pair would be impossible to live with unless you already had a stock pile. If you laddered one pair a week, it would be easy to blow a year’s worth of coupons on stockings (66 coupons equals 33 pairs). What do you think?

Note: the reason for 2 coupons per pack of 4 pairs, is that a four-pair packet is the cheapest/most basic supermarket own brand presentation of stockings/tights/pantyhose.

- Pip (Yes, I wore a skirt to work this week. How did you guess? :beer:)


ETA: Thriftwizard, I hope the new overlocker is everything you want it to be. As a child, I learned that if there is some piece of kit you really want - from a particular brand - don’t waste your money on something that is “nearly as good” because it never will be. My mum lusted after a Pfaff sewing machine because of the embroidery features but could never bring herself to pay the extremely high purchase price. Instead, she worked her way through two machines that just weren’t good enough, probably spending more in the process than if she’d bought the Pfaff. (Ironically, I never saw her do any machine embroidery on those machines. She might as well have saved her money and continued to use the 1959-model machine that she let her daughters use. The replacements added nothing.)

thriftwizard

Laura_Elsewhere wrote: »

Maybe you could try working out what your basic food staples are (ie bread, potatoes, butter, veg, meat, etc.) and then adopt a points system for all the non-staple foods, the treats, imported fruit, sugary stuff, snacks, fancy coffees, drinks, etc.?

So it would have a similar effect, where you stand there looking at the Danish pastry in the shop, thinking, "well, yes, but then if I do it means no crisps at the weekend as I'll have run out of points..."

D'you know, I reckon that would work for improving general health & limiting weight-gain as well? Perhaps we could have a "Rations for better health" thread as well? It'd need a snappy title like this one has, though.

PipneyJane, what I need most from an overlocker is: 1) easy to thread and 2) easy to use! Which the Janome failed on both counts, though I have friends who swear by theirs - I just swore AT mine! Fingers crossed I'll manage the Pfaff better; it looked smaller, easier to thread & altogether less complicated, though it still does 13 stitches more than I'm ever likely to use!

Laura_Elsewhere

PipneyJane wrote: »

Speaking of next year, I’ve been thinking we need to modify the coupon count for stockings/tights/pantyhose, making regular nylons 2 coupons per pack of 4 pairs, while other stockings/tights stay at 2 coupons a pair (the thick ones). I can’t speak for silk stockings - never having owned a pair - but nylons are really flimsy and extremely easy to ladder, so 2 coupons a pair would be impossible to live with unless you already had a stock pile. If you laddered one pair a week, it would be easy to blow a year’s worth of coupons on stockings (66 coupons equals 33 pairs). What do you think?

Note: the reason for 2 coupons per pack of 4 pairs, is that a four-pair packet is the cheapest/most basic supermarket own brand presentation of stockings/tights/pantyhose.

- Pip (Yes, I wore a skirt to work this week. How did you guess? :beer:)

Ooh, there's a can of worms!

It's easy for me to say this, because I only buy one pair, or none, each year of nylon tights - because they ladder when I look at the unopened packet wrongly, for one thing, but more than that because I have a 31" inside-leg, and am solidly-built, which means that in order to buy women's tights that will actually go to the top of my legs I have to pay 8-10 a pair. Cheaper tights, esp any supermarket multi-pack, have a crotch that won't come up past about mid-thigh.

I'm only 5'7, !!!!!!!!!!!!

you know where I ended up buying nylon stockings from, last time i bought any? An online supplier for transvestites.... yes, the only people making stockings for me, a woman, are the people supplying transvestites. That made me feel really good...

Hence my unusual arrangement of bare legs and ankle-socks for the milder months, inc formal occasions like giving a public lecture; and for colder weather, those "long-legs" the cut-off leggings with lace edging, worn with cut-off cotton-rich tights, or long fine-wool stockings (Falke, Levane, etc. - again ten quid or more a pair) and home-made garters.

the reason nylons were coupon-pricey during the war was because it needed lots of resources to produce something that lasted a very short time...

So... I would say, it depends on people's reasons for the challenge...!

If it's solely to reduce spending and bulk of items, then yes, cheaper coupons... but a lot of people have commented about wanting to use fewer resources, and find more sustainable ways...

So... maybe the challenge would be to explore less-flimsy tights, like the cotton-rich ones?

But as I say, I rarely buy nylons, so I am completely happy to go by whatever you tights-wearers think!

(fwiw, what women did in the war was to save their silk stockings for absolute best; save their nylons for important-but-not-best; wear cotton lisle thread stockings for everyday! So you would keep your silk stockings for wedding and honeymoon, that level of "best", but wear nylons for a date or interview. If they laddered, you mended them, hence the kits you can find in vintage shops with multiple threads in different colours of (ghastly!) tan-brown-beige-pale-sand for mending your nylons... And you washed them by hand almost every night (unless eg you were out late - but even then you might well rinse your smalls anyway), hanging them to dry overnight. And if you could get away with it, then you went bare-legged, using eyebrow-pencil to draw a trompe-l'oeuil 'seam-line' down the back of your leg, or ideally standing on a chair and getting your mum or friend or sister to draw it for you! If you were very pale you might attempt using gravy-browning or very strong tea daubed onto your legs and air-dried to try to make your legs look 'tan' and therefore more as if you had stocking son - the problem being that, at the same time as making stockings almost unobtainable, society decreed that bare legs were only suitable on young girls, not even really teenaged girls, but little girls, 12 or younger... )

PollyWollyDoodle

I feel your pain Laura, I always buy extra large tights and I only have a 28 inch inside leg! I tend to wear leggings with socks and boots which avoids some of the horror, or I wear thick opaque tights if I feel a skirt is called for - I have very prominent veins on my legs and hate people seeing them.

I'm inclined to agree about the coupons, modern tights are very short-lived. I can remember sewing up holes in mine (as a schoolgirl in the 70s) or applying nail polish to stop a ladder from spreading. I'm not sure if it ever worked. As I recall, tights were relatively much more expensive in those days.

I must sit down with a pencil and work out where I am with my coupons. No plans to buy anything new before the end of the year, but you never know.

diminua

I did succumb - just one red jumper but second hand, so no coupons, which is brill. It's also loose fitting, almost knee length and has a hood - so I could probably completely hide in it, like a tortoise. That might not be a good look for work though.

PipneyJane

Thanks for the responses re nylon tights/stockings, Laura and Polly. Does anyone else have an opinion? I'm loathe to change the rules without a consensus.

Diminua, how about belting the jumper and wearing it as a dress over leggings? Very 1980's, particularly if you add some thin shoulder pads to add structure. (Are shoulder pads coming back into fashion? Everything else has.)

No shopping on my part to declare, although on Tuesday I was delighted to discover that two members of the finance team are charity shop bargain hunters. They regularly hit the charity shops in our local town at lunchtime (we're 2 miles out). It's nearly 3 years since I last ventured into the local town at lunchtime, but I may plan a trip.

In other news, I now have a (semi) permanent desk, have swapped to a better chair and have finally done a display screen assessment. My neck muscles are slowly recovering.

- Pip



PS: I've tried the stick-your-new-nylons-in-the-freezer-overnight trick but I don't wear skirts often enough to test its reliability. (Apparently, nylon gets stronger after exposure to extreme cold.)

thriftwizard

I'd agree that modern "nylons" are nowhere near the quality of wartime ones & should thus be comparatively cheaper in coupon terms, as they are IRL. Easy for me to say as I never wear them, only 40 denier black or dark tights, usually with leggings over the top - I mostly work outdoors, but that's only a couple of days per month!

Crafty_Lisa_Hampshire

I have no view on tights myself. I'm happy to go with whatever everyone else thinks regarding the coupon spend. I rarely wear them and the ones I do have have lasted me for an age. I mostly wear the 40 denier with the usual ones for special occasions like weddings.


I have a spend to declare. I have been looking for a decent sized leather handbag to use at weekends as the one I currently have is too small and my rucksack I use during the week for walking to work etc is too awkward. I went into a charity shop the other day and saw one which I wasn't sure about so I left it and looked round a few more shops with no real success. Anyway I have been thinking about it ever since and went back to the shop and they still had it. It was obviously meant to be. I am now the proud owner of a leather handbag, second hand, for £15.00. That is what I call a bargain.