2021 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

PollyWollyDoodle

Good points, Laura. I am also guilty of buying fabric just because I liked it - or keeping/buying things ‘because it’s lovely fabric and I can make it into something’. I need a reality check. As you say, if I added up what I’ve spent on small quantities of yarn and fabric I could probably have bought something really worthwhile to make! 

Doggylady

I agree.  I minimised most of my stash last year to the local charity shops.  I now have a (big) box of about 10 pieces which I really like. Sometimes I just open the box to stroke the satin-backed crepe which I WILL make into a fifties style dress this year.  (What does that say about me, I wonder😀)

on another note, I made a t shirt yesterday out of a remnant I bought last year. Does that come out of this year’s ration?

Laura_Elsewhere

@Doggylady, I have some satin-backed crepe too - in my case destined to become undies ... I started an experimental copy of a bra, which hasn't worked but only because I didn't leave enough for felling every seam - that stuff frays like anything! So I shall start that project again in due course... pale green, a bit mintier than Eau-de-Nîl, but richer than mint... almond green, maybe?

A remnant you bought last year must have been bought with last year's coupons.  

dolly84

Nice boots Maddiemay.

Liverpool_Anne

Maddiemay those boots are gorgeous, worth every penny and every coupon

maddiemay

@dolly84 I spotted them in a bricks and mortar shop a long time ago, but had no shoe budget left at the time, when I saw them in the sale brochure I decided they would be a lockdown/shielding 3 gift to myself. For years I had lusted after a pair of DMs, but decided that they were too hard and heavy for my problem ankles.  

Rah

I too have a big stash of fabrics that I thought were nice once but in small quantities and now have no idea what to do with.
Anyway I decided the only thing to be done is put them all together in some crazy patchwork, grouping similar weight fabrics together but otherwise ignoring or rather embracing the odd mix of colours and patterns! The heavier weight patchwork is going to become a jacket. I made a lining out of an old bedsheet first to check the fit. I've cut out loads of 12cm squares and next job is to arrange them and sew all together. Not done anything on it this weekend though as too busy with other things so this may be a few weeks away... I'll let you know how it goes!

Cherryfudge

@maddiemay, those boots are officially the envy of the village - gorgeous!

@Laura_Elsewhere - so very true, and very perceptive of you to see through the powerful smoke screen that a love of textiles uses to blind us to the mechanisms of power (in this case the textiles are presumably plotting a takeover). I don't have a lot in the way of new fabric but I have plenty of beloved older items. Some were so perfect before they wore out that I hope some day to be able to copy them. Others are good fabric in the wrong form, waiting for A Purpose.

I will confess to an ever-expanding yarn stash. Will you believe what a powerful homing instinct this stuff has? I gave some to a friend because she makes superb things at a very rapid rate and I had come to realise this particular yarn was just taking up space and I was unlikely ever to use it. A while later she presented me with said yarn, made up into a beautiful scarf...

As to what would I buy now... good question. Some of mine were car boot finds, and are now too short for useful projects. There are a lot of cheap and cheerful 'craft' yarns which were originally for hair braid wrap but aren't good enough quality to do much with. In the days when my daughter and her boyfriend borrowed our lawn (a story for 'Tales of Lockdown' if ever anyone writes it) I used to let him loose on it to make bracelets and practice knitting. Then there are the 'wonderful ifs' (to quote a friend): the things I bought from the sale basket because they called my name. I have wised up to these and actually turned my back on a would-be wonderful if, yesterday... of course I'm now thinking just how very nice it was and would it still be there if I went back on Monday? And again, there's a category of nearly-whole balls left over from making three nurse dolls for NHS people last year...

So I think I could sort of justify many of them at the time of purchase, but time moves on. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.  

The string bag project is now about three inches long and I might just use a vivid colour for the drawstring. I think it will be easier to carry if I can thread some sort of tube onto the drawstring to form a handle. Any ideas?

MrsCD

@maddiemay, your boots are beautiful! I've just spent the last half hour daydreaming about the brogues and other shoes, and trying in vain to convince myself that I really need some new shoes.😉

maddiemay

Rah - I love the thought of the patchwork jacket, I have a friend who has made and wears some.  She has made some fabulous waistcoats from really colourful men's ties too.
I haven't sewed since my 20's, but do have to stop myself at times from bringing home remnants of lovely fabric from the CS, I have been less successful with beads and yarn, I have a huge stash of both, mostly bought when I was working in anticipation of my retirement and a lot less fun money.