2020 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

PollyWollyDoodle

I have just had a weekend offline, and come back to find it’s all been happening on here – 18 posts to catch up with! Just wanted to say I hope there is good news about your job Pip, it’s miserable when you don’t know what is going to happen. Laura, I would love to be able to knit like you do. Apparently it is much faster than the traditional British way of knitting.

Laura and Pip you both impress me with your patience, in unpicking/undoing things and remaking them. I hate undoing something once it’s been finished and I’m sorry to say I would probably carry on wearing the cardigan!  

Thank you for the tip about Ravelry, I logged on last week and thought I had got the wrong site - I loathe the new layout and I will be reverting to ‘Classic’. 

Thank you also for the heads up about Hotter shoes. They are one of the few brands that are comfortable for my very wide feet, and I’m very sad to hear they might be closing. 

Right, I think that’s everything – oh, welcome missychrissy. This thread is very helpful in focusing the mind on whether you really need/want to buy something.  I am finding rationing easy at the moment as I have no desire to go into an actual shop. As all my summer events have been cancelled there doesn’t seem much point in buying anything new to wear, I’m hoping to make it through this year with my coupons intact. 

I had a call from the sewing machine shop on Saturday to say that my machine has been serviced and is ready for collection, I’m going to try and pick it up today as I’ve got some free days this week. Time to get some ‘furloughed’ projects (I love that expression!) finished off. 

missychrissy

I’ll start on July 1st if that’s ok with 33 points. I’m going to make a list of clothes and their points so I can be sure to get it right.

Laura_Elsewhere

Hurrah, you're very welcome! 

Oooh, did we offer you biscuits and tea, @missychrissy ? Here, pull up a (socially-distanced) chair and make your self comfortable... 

And don't worry about knowing all the points - if anything's unclear or ambiguous, you can always ask!  

joedenise

For anyone who uses Hotter and has wide feet I can recommend Pavers shoes.  Their wide fitting shoes are good as well.  I've only bought from Hotter once and think I've worn the shoes once!  My Pavers shoes are getting worn out now so really need to replace them soon as I don't think they'll last much longer.

By the way I'm not doing the challenge but enjoy reading along!  The only crafting I do is sewing and at the moment that's just making washable masks - I've nearly made enough I think for DH and myself!

MrsCD

Same here joedenise! I'm not doing the challenge yet, but then I haven't bought much this year. I got some new half price Clarks' sandals, and some wool to make a summer top, but that's all. I also enjoy reading along, and maybe one day I'll jump in.  😁

PipneyJane

joedenise said:

For anyone who uses Hotter and has wide feet I can recommend Pavers shoes.  Their wide fitting shoes are good as well.  I've only bought from Hotter once and think I've worn the shoes once!  My Pavers shoes are getting worn out now so really need to replace them soon as I don't think they'll last much longer.

By the way I'm not doing the challenge but enjoy reading along!  The only crafting I do is sewing and at the moment that's just making washable masks - I've nearly made enough I think for DH and myself!

MrsCD said:

Same here joedenise! I'm not doing the challenge yet, but then I haven't bought much this year. I got some new half price Clarks' sandals, and some wool to make a summer top, but that's all. I also enjoy reading along, and maybe one day I'll jump in.  😁

@joedenise and @MrsCD, you're both welcome to stay and play, even if you aren't participating in the Challenge.  Just grab you knitting/crochet/sewing, pull up a socially distant chair and join in the chat.  Please don't mind the cat on the windowsill or the dog on the rug, they are both house trained and hypo-allergenic breeds that don't shed hair all over your lap.  (Or your knitting.)  No doubt, they'll come over and say hello at some point.

- Pip

joedenise

Thank you for the welcome Pip; very kind of you.  I hardly ever buy clothes to be quite honest but I do buy things like sheets, duvet covers and very large clothes (even though I'm only a size 10/12) if I like the material.  I can then cut up and use to make clothes very cheaply!

MrsCD

Thank you for the welcome! I'll pop in now and again to keep up with everyone.
I can bring some date and walnut cake to the fireside with my crochet!

missychrissy

It’s the ‘sewing bee’ tonight. I love it. My sewing machine and overlocker are somewhere, maybe the loft or under stairs cupboard, I’m not sure. I used to run up little corduroy trousers for my sons when they were little and I made most of my dresses as a teenager. In my twenties, I was married at 19, I can remember buying a white sheet in Tooting Bec market (cheaper than fabric) and I could get 2 skirts and a pair of trousers out of it. It cost me 15p for a zip, 15p for thread and 15p for a pot of die in Woolworths. I used to buy knitted things at jumble sales, unpick them, wrap them around the back of a chair into skeins, wash the wool then knit them into garments for me, often using the same buttons. 

The sewing bee takes me back and makes me realise that if I was not such a busy Granny I could be more creative.

Laura_Elsewhere

I loved my 1980s teenage years in that kind of inventive experimental dressmaking way too - enormous fun, just seeing what you ended up with! And those little tin pots of Dylon cold dye were really useful and you could mix colours to get just what you wanted... now it's much more expensive and mostly machine-dyes. 


I think half the learning in sewing comes from just giving something a go!  I have a skirt made from duvet-cover, and one made from curtains bought with a free voucher, lined in a sheet