2021 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

CAFCGirl

Oh yes I forgot about pastures new come January.

Hopefully this year I'll find the new thread, and won't keep resurrecting the old with my comments wondering where everyone has gone and if its something I said   

Laura_Elsewhere

CAFCGirl said:

Oh yes I forgot about pastures new come January.

Hopefully this year I'll find the new thread, and won't keep resurrecting the old with my comments wondering where everyone has gone and if its something I said   

Don't worry, when i comes to Hogmanay I'll get everyone into one huge long Strip The Willow dance, and we'll all dance out the door, the workmen will dash in and re-paper the walls and hang the new curtains, and we'll all dance back in again for the new hall together, so you won't get left behind   

I'm tidying up, and have just realised I finished a silk camisole-yoke weeks and weeks ago and dyed it crimson, and all it needs is a bit of silk sewn on for the bit going round me, and some fastenings up the front, and I'd be wearing a nice soft cosy light silk camisole... where's that red silk gone, now... 

PipneyJane

While I think about things, I have a couple of questions for you all:-

1. Shall we do the Fashion On The Ration Awards again this year?  (If so, please bring your coupon count up to date and let me know the total.)
2. Do we want to continue rolling over coupons from 2019-and-earlier or shall they expire? (In real life, coupons did have an expiry date.)
3. Do we want to have a shiny new thread every year or just continue to spruce up the old one?  (I think it's easier for people to find us with a new thread, but I'm not certain now how the Boards work when you change a thread name, etc.  Also, New Year = Clean Slate, etc.)

What do you think?  All opinions are welcome.

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

In reverse order  

3. I think a good spring-clean every year is worth doing, yes. It's not like we have to do the hard work of re-papering and putting up the new curtains and so on.... I mean, yes, you have to type out the new notice to put in the notice-board case, but other than that... 

2. I think maybe rolling over coupons from the year-just-gone, not from all time, although then that gets very confusing, if someone has 66 coupons in 2019, uses 60, so has 72 in 2020, uses 60, so has 78 in 2021.... which isn't how it worked then, nor how our version is really supposed to work... 
Hmm.
If the point is to buy less stuff, then rolling-over coupons is A Good Thing as it encourages us, but... we don't want to end up with new people struggling to stay within 66 coupons a year and someone else airily sitting on 150! 

M.I. suggests: what about rolling-over only allowed for specified things, ie we can 'apply' to the Ministry in December to be allowed to keep enough leftover coupons to spend in September on a new winter coat/ in the summer on new sandals, ie things we know we will need but can't easily buy in December at the time when we know we have the coupons spare. Maybe only one, or two, applications to the Ministry per person?
So a way to encourage us to think more about what we spend and how we spend. 

1. I love the Awards! When else can we wear our sequins and feather boas, after all?!

PipneyJane

@Laura_Elsewhere said:

In reverse order  

3. I think a good spring-clean every year is worth doing, yes. It's not like we have to do the hard work of re-papering and putting up the new curtains and so on.... I mean, yes, you have to type out the new notice to put in the notice-board case, but other than that... 

OK, that's a vote for a Shiny New Thread.

2. I think maybe rolling over coupons from the year-just-gone, not from all time, although then that gets very confusing, if someone has 66 coupons in 2019, uses 60, so has 72 in 2020, uses 60, so has 78 in 2021.... which isn't how it worked then, nor how our version is really supposed to work... 
Hmm.
If the point is to buy less stuff, then rolling-over coupons is A Good Thing as it encourages us, but... we don't want to end up with new people struggling to stay within 66 coupons a year and someone else airily sitting on 150! 

M.I. suggests: what about rolling-over only allowed for specified things, ie we can 'apply' to the Ministry in December to be allowed to keep enough leftover coupons to spend in September on a new winter coat/ in the summer on new sandals, ie things we know we will need but can't easily buy in December at the time when we know we have the coupons spare. Maybe only one, or two, applications to the Ministry per person?
So a way to encourage us to think more about what we spend and how we spend. 

Personally, I think we should be able to roll over one year's coupons, i.e. 2021's leftovers into 2022, but not from before 2021. (If you don't use it, you lose it.)  Anything more than that will make the Awards too complicated.

1. I love the Awards! When else can we wear our sequins and feather boas, after all?!

Yes, of course, you can wear your sequined dress!  Just don't get too near the woodfire stove or they may melt.

- Pip

thriftwizard

Oooh sequins! Count me in... and I have some wonderful memories of dancing the Orcadian Strip-the-Willow (the one with the really long lines) for what seemed like hours, and loving every moment of it!

I'd be very happy to roll over my few remaining coupons to go towards my new walking boots - I've been talking about them for two years but haven't found what I actually need yet! Not sure though whether I should stick to the later ration allowance of 44 coupons or happily accept 66; it's not been a struggle this year, but most of my clothes are now a year older & have accumulated more mends. That said, I'll continue to buy secondhand whenever possible, for ethical/environmental reasons as much as to save coupons. And make (from reclaimed fabric) and upcycle... got a number of compliments on Sunday on my Laura Ashley "cardi" which started life as an enormous jumper, which gradually shrank & felted down to my actual size, but also got quite noticeably stained at the front. So I slashed it down the front & added a trim of old crochet lace down the opening and round the neck. I hope Ms. Ashley would have approved... it's wonderfully warm!

Picked up another auction bargain yesterday; a tea-chest full of fabric remnants & yarn. Needless to say, DD2 has appropriated approximately half of the yarn, and I've sorted out a fair bit from the rest to take down to Mum's care home. But there's some wonderful vintage pure wool bouclé that I suspect my customers will fight over, and some crochet cotton - sadly no labels, I can't identify it, but I can certainly use it... plus the fabric, almost all of which will be sold on. Not to mention a very tattered old tea-chest; apparently they are also A Thing at the moment. Money well-spent; it's worth having a look at your own local household auctioneers if you're feeling the need to enlarge your stash without spending any coupons!

Gem-gem

CAFCGirl said:

@Gem-gem are you learning to crochet? Me too! 
It was my goal for next year but I've started early as I couldn't contain my excitement at the prospect of 'hooking' (is that the term?) houseplants as I got two pattern books.

I'll see if I can add a photo of attempt one that I equally love and loathe.

Yes, it is my aim for next year to learn to crochet, was supposed to be spending time with Mum over Christmas learning the basics but due to step father's white blood cells will be at their lowest this week - he is having chemo at the moment, they now can't join us. So, I thought I would start to check the you tube videos out. Like yourself, I am 'chomping at the bit'. 

Gem-gem

CAFCGirl said:

I love that I managed to learn the stitches but sewing it all together is the part I loathe, looks so naff.... oh and my inability to count, so mistakes are plentiful

You are several steps ahead of me. 

I going to have to find a way of keeping count. 

Gem-gem

florianatwobob said:

This one has been made for my sister 

That is so lovely. 

Gem-gem

CAFCGirl said:

Thanks @florianatwobob

I have lots of the counters, but I forget to count on them as well LOL I'm so used to my looms where I can pick the number of stitches, and its impossible to go over. 

But I did add to it today and I feel a bit better...

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏