2023 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all
@Laura_Elsewhere, thank you for the info, as flamingo said, very interesting. I have a few photos of my Mum taken during the war and she is wearing a blouse with a very small collar and a very fitted skirt. I imagine she is wearing a full slip under these as she wore them until she died. She used the old trick of gravy granules on her legs to save on stockings . She worked in a munitions factory during the war and while it paid very well I don't think she got any extra coupons for anything although I expect she had some kind of work clothes provided, dungarees I think from what I remember.
The shawl is stunning, I really am in awe

I hear masks are being requested to be used in Drs surgeries again so take care everyone

MrsCD

Laura, your shawl is a work of art! It's beautiful 😊

PipneyJane

Liverpool_Anne said:

Hi all
@Laura_Elsewhere, thank you for the info, as flamingo said, very interesting. I have a few photos of my Mum taken during the war and she is wearing a blouse with a very small collar and a very fitted skirt. I imagine she is wearing a full slip under these as she wore them until she died. She used the old trick of gravy granules on her legs to save on stockings . She worked in a munitions factory during the war and while it paid very well I don't think she got any extra coupons for anything although I expect she had some kind of work clothes provided, dungarees I think from what I remember.
The shawl is stunning, I really am in awe

I hear masks are being requested to be used in Drs surgeries again so take care everyone

Not a surprise, @Liverpool_Anne .  The current variant of Covid is quite unpleasant.

Having had DH come home with Covid last Thursday.  I finally succumbed on Monday night, although I tested negative that afternoon.  Initial symptom was a migraine, accompanied by throwing up (once bout) on Tuesday morning.  Slept most of Tuesday and then the cold symptoms started. I tested positive on Wednesday morning, while DH happily tested negative.  I’m still positive today but feel a lot better..   Today’s wonder-drug is “Otravine” decongestant nasal spray.

We’re away with friends, which complicates matters, but I’m isolated in the self-contained annex.  When not asleep, I’ve spent most of the last 3 days quietly knitting while listening to podcasts.

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

I hope you continue to feel better- and do return to normal life *very* gently, won't you? 

We're going to a talk this evening in Birmingham and have already decided that we will wear masks... our first masked event since the last time around, and we wonder if we will be the only ones or not... 

My trains back and forth thus far have been near-empty, so I haven't worn a mask but if there is anyone within 3 or 4 seats of me, I have one with me to put on. 

Cherryfudge

Get well soon @PipneyJane.

CapricornLass

Sorry to hear you're unwell, Pip.  Hope you continue to feel much better, but Laura's right, go back into normal life gradually.

My mum's neighbour would unpick jumpers for their wool - she served during the war and was about a decade older than Mum.  She would wind the wool into hanks (my hands came in useful for that), tie ribbons or more wool at various places round the hank, and then handwash it to remove the crinkles from it before she knitted it up again.

flamingo747

A pair of gloves because we're out at a half marathon tomorrow spectating and it's colder than I expected! 2 coupons so 14 of 15 gone!

PollyWollyDoodle

Finally spent some coupons, I think (haven't checked my notes) that this may be my first new spend this year. I went through the wardrobe last week to see if there was anything that wouldn't merit keeping till next summer, and I'm quite proud that it is now 90% second-hand.  The pieces that I know were bought new are mostly at least three or four years old or more. I'm gradually adding some handmade items. 

I'm sure there are people who would shudder to read that!  However I know you lot will appreciate it 😀 this thread has been a big influence on changing the way I buy clothes. 

Anyway 5 coupons on a pair of slippers, and I will be buying some new bras when I can find time to go shopping.  

Cherryfudge

PollyWollyDoodle said:

Finally spent some coupons, I think (haven't checked my notes) that this may be my first new spend this year. 

That's quite an achievement, Polly! Well done.

PipneyJane

PollyWollyDoodle said:

Finally spent some coupons, I think (haven't checked my notes) that this may be my first new spend this year. I went through the wardrobe last week to see if there was anything that wouldn't merit keeping till next summer, and I'm quite proud that it is now 90% second-hand.  The pieces that I know were bought new are mostly at least three or four years old or more. I'm gradually adding some handmade items. 

I'm sure there are people who would shudder to read that!  However I know you lot will appreciate it 😀 this thread has been a big influence on changing the way I buy clothes. 

Anyway 5 coupons on a pair of slippers, and I will be buying some new bras when I can find time to go shopping.  

Not me, @PollyWollyDoodle.  Not me.

How is everyone? I have finally tested negative for Covid and feel considerably better.  Thank you all for your good wishes.  It pretty much ruined my holiday in Wales, but it may have been a blessing in disguise, since I discovered my tolerance for one couple in the group was at an all-time low.  (Incidentally, the wife of said couple managed to burn spaghetti - how? - onto the base of my “big green pot”, completely ruining it*.  It’s enamel-lined cast-iron and, after at least 2 boils with bicarb to remove the burn, I can clearly see scratch marks.). 

When we got home yesterday, I dug out my sewing machine to fix a cloth, draw-string bag for one of our fellow holiday makers.  (He uses it for pieces for a game.).  Of the 5 middle-aged women present last week, I’m the only one who owns a sewing machine/has the skills to use one.  Which leads me to wonder:  how many of us in Little Mending On The Borrow have sewing machines?  I don’t use mine often, these days**, but it has made multiple suits and dresses in the 32 years I’ve owned it.

- Pip





*This is the pot that I mentioned on the grocery challenge as “catching” ever since I added a handful of rolled oats to a minced-beef based sauce, earlier this year.  It may be that it was already on its way out.  It is 20 years old and a Carrefour knock-off of Le Creuset, so no chance of getting it re-enamelled, but seriously?  How can you burn spaghetti???  (Oh and the sauce was completely tasteless.)

** Mainly because I can’t find a pattern worthy of my time. For example, at a fabric swap, I picked up more than sufficient suitable fabric to make a suit, but I can’t find a decent pattern that would suit me.  Who put the hippies in charge of ready-to-wear again?