2021 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

SpikyHedgehog

Could I join please? I've assumed that for 2 whole months I get 11 coupons  (and oddly calculated that by 66 coupons ÷12 months x 2 months, rather than 66÷6...).  I know we're more than half way through November, but I've been reading the thread since the beginning of November and can account for clothes bought this month.

I bought 2 bras from S@insburys and took them back again as they were far too small - no coupons. (Would you have got the coupons back if you'd had to take something back?) 

Baby outfit and bibs for a new baby at church, on the priest's request, so I'm guessing that would be her coupons rather than mine?  I'm being reimbursed for the cost of the outfit, card & wrapping paper.  (It would be a bit frustrating to use my vouchers as I've actually knitted a set for the baby which used stash yarn so no coupons!) 

Have a dress & boots coming via the Bay of E - new with tags/box, but 2nd hand so no coupons there.  And a gilet used but in good condition, so no coupons there either.

Ordered trainers last night while ordering tech wash for the gilet as I've run out, so that's 5 coupons for those.   And getting the trainers meant I stopped looking at a pair of smart shoes on Bay of E.  I've not run since before the summer holidays as I hurt my foot, then had a horrible cold, & now my days off keep changing to cover other staff, so I can't go running with my running partner.  But I want to get back out there, so getting the trainers seems a good idea. 

I've got a jumper on the needles that needs finishing, & yarn for socks, but that's all from before joining, so will only count coupons for future yarn & cloth purchases! 

PipneyJane

SpikyHedgehog said:

Could I join please? I've assumed that for 2 whole months I get 11 coupons  (and oddly calculated that by 66 coupons ÷12 months x 2 months, rather than 66÷6...).  I know we're more than half way through November, but I've been reading the thread since the beginning of November and can account for clothes bought this month.

......

Yes, of course!  Welcome @SpikyHedgehog .  Please come in and take a seat by the fire in our virtual village hall.  Cup of tea?  Sadly, I have to sprint out the door to work, so I can’t answer your questions right now, but I will be back this evening.  You may have gathered that we talk about anything and everything; please join in!

- Pip

PollyWollyDoodle

Pull up a chair and we’ll see what’s in the biscuit tin!  I think you are right about the number of coupons but Pip will confirm later. I’m pretty sure the baby outfit would be out of somebody else’s coupons, if you didn’t actually provide the fabric yourself then we’ll assume that they bought it using their own. 

Interesting question about returned goods! From our point of view yes, if you return something you get the coupons back.  I imagine that in those days you didn’t very often return clothes. It would be very rare that you bought something without trying it on first. Although there were mail order clothes even then I think.

I bet @Laura_Elsewhere knows the answer to this, she’s an absolute mine of information on matters historical. 

PipneyJane

Amazingly, given the other restrictions, I can log into MSE. YAY!!!!!

SpikyHedgehog said:

Could I join please? I've assumed that for 2 whole months I get 11 coupons  (and oddly calculated that by 66 coupons ÷12 months x 2 months, rather than 66÷6...).  I know we're more than half way through November, but I've been reading the thread since the beginning of November and can account for clothes bought this month.

I bought 2 bras from S@insburys and took them back again as they were far too small - no coupons. (Would you have got the coupons back if you'd had to take something back?) 

Baby outfit and bibs for a new baby at church, on the priest's request, so I'm guessing that would be her coupons rather than mine?  I'm being reimbursed for the cost of the outfit, card & wrapping paper.  (It would be a bit frustrating to use my vouchers as I've actually knitted a set for the baby which used stash yarn so no coupons!) 

Have a dress & boots coming via the Bay of E - new with tags/box, but 2nd hand so no coupons there.  And a gilet used but in good condition, so no coupons there either.

Ordered trainers last night while ordering tech wash for the gilet as I've run out, so that's 5 coupons for those.   And getting the trainers meant I stopped looking at a pair of smart shoes on Bay of E.  I've not run since before the summer holidays as I hurt my foot, then had a horrible cold, & now my days off keep changing to cover other staff, so I can't go running with my running partner.  But I want to get back out there, so getting the trainers seems a good idea. 

I've got a jumper on the needles that needs finishing, & yarn for socks, but that's all from before joining, so will only count coupons for future yarn & cloth purchases! 

Hi @SpikyHedgehog.  There's fresh tea in the pot now; would you like a top up?

Regarding returns:  during the War, people probably didn't buy without trying things on, because they'd lose their coupons, but in our parallel universe, if you return something to the shop then you get your coupons back.  

Regarding the baby's outfit, you raise two interesting points:

1. Yarn or fabric already in your stash at the start of the "war" doesn't cost coupons.  You already owned it before rationing came in.  (I have enough yarn stashed to last the entire Second World War.)
2. Generally, if you are making "on commission" then the person commissioning the item will provide the coupons to pay for it.

If those smart shoes are second hand; they won't cost you coupons if you do decide to buy them, just money.

I hear you re the trainers.  Some of us here are runners - me,  @Cherryfudge - so if you want encouragement/support, please speak up.  I only started running in Lockdown and spent the best part of 6 months working my way through the Couch-to-5k.

Please tell us about your knitting.  Is the jumper for you?  Are you on Ravelry?  I'm PipneyJane over there.

- Pip

Gem-gem

Laura_Elsewhere said:

@Gem-gem, if you want another way to save money, you can skip the oat milk and use water... it's another one I think I have from growing up in Scotland, or maybe it's from historical re-enactment or, well, wherever - if you want to *make* oat milk all you do is put one mug of cheap porridge oats in a bowl and two mugs of water, and then just stir it every time you go past for a few hours, or leave it overnight after stirring well and then stir next morning. Put a square of muslin or clean old tea-towel in a sieve over a bowl and tip the lot in, and what drips through *is* oat-milk! 
So by buying oat milk to put in your porridge, all you're really doing is making it much more expensive... if you mix and heat the water-and-oats for porridge the night before, I wonder whether you can tell the difference?  

I think, whatever the reason, I definitely use oats a bit differently from most - occasionally I make oat milk to add to something (mostly for the soluble fibre, eg in soups or stews to smuggle more fibre to My Intended!), I make oatcakes (hurrah, no palm oil esp as it's just been found to make a primary cancer far more likely to metastasise to secondaries...!), I use it, blitzed in a little food processor, for crumble topping (ie no wheat flour, just oats and a small amount of butter, the rest water, and a tiny sprinkle of sugar on top)... Mum makes cranachan which is oats and cream and whisky and raspberries, and I have made Atholl Brose which is oats and whisky and honey and water, and is delicious and lethal  

Hi Laura_Elsewhere, I have made my own oat milk before but dare I say on this occasion preferred the shop bought. However, I take your point with the porridge. I will give it a go. If it is ...tasty...I cannot notice the difference my husband will send you a big virtual hug. We both have it in our porridge and cereal. He still has milk in his tea / coffee. 

I also use oats in my crumble top. I make a basic crumble up. Then add loads of oats ( not blitzed ) - makes it go further and healthier. I do reduce the sugar in the crumble. I also, where possible only add the smallest amount to the fruit.

I have made blackcurrant pies with no sugar. It gets sweetened with the custard. (I do add sugar if we have guests). 

Liverpool_Anne

@PipneyJane, re your bag which looks great its description says vegetable calfskin leather. I am confused
@Laura_Elsewhere, re oats I put them in soups and stews as they are without making them in to oatmilk first. I usually blitz the soup when cooked as I can then disguise some of the veg that OH generally won't eat, and in stews it acts as a thickener a bit like the lentils I also usually throw in. I also use them on things like crumble without any sugar even in the fruit as both OH and I love tart fruit. I never use sugar in custard either . It does taste different but you get used to it
Take care everyone

PipneyJane

Liverpool_Anne said:

@PipneyJane, re your bag which looks great its description says vegetable calfskin leather. I am confused

I'm 99% certain they mean "vegetable tanned" calfskin leather.  It's a poor translation of the French.  Certainly, the last three bags I have had from them were real leather.   

(Yes, three bags.  One in 2003, bought in France, similar to my current bag.  It lasted a year before one of the metal anchor points for the straps broke.  One used from 2014 to 2017, very similar to the new bag, purchased from a stall in the indoor market in Oxford in 2012.  And the current bag, purchased in France in September 2019, which I started using this year.  It's slightly smaller than the new bag - can't take my iPad, which the middle bag did - but does the job.  It's weakness is the strap anchors.)

- Pip

Liverpool_Anne

@PipneyJane, oh yes that makes sense re the handles is there any way they could be fixed when they go? Maybe the manufacturer does a repair service. Just a thought as it could be a way to extend their life as they seem to be difficult to find I love a back pack type bag, so useful and easy to carry though I do tend to carry lots of stuff in them  

CraftyLittleLisa

Hello all.  Just jumping on to say hi as I have been missing for a while (nothing really to report on coupon spending or clothes purchasing because I haven't which is why I have been missing).  I'm still making lots of useful things for the home with fabric scraps and remnants and fabric from my existing stash.  I want to say I love the idea of the use of coupons in respect of whether the fabric/yarn you have is natural fibre or manmade.  I'm definitely trying to do my bit to be more environmentally friendly and I think this would also help me concentrate on that more.

diminua

More spending - I've bought a large brown handbag (this one). It's actually felt rather than leather, but has rivets and a thick leather strap, and I've calculated that the amount of wool it uses is about the same as the coupons for a leather bag anyway, so that's another five off. I had the grey one previously - what I like is that I can fold over the front to make it smaller and more secure or clip it at the top and use it as a tote or for my work laptop.