2023 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

Nelliegrace

I fitted into a cool Summer dress from the wardrobe! Last time I tried it was too tight. I think I bought it about 30 years ago. 

I bought a cable knitted waistcoat for me, and a lilac baby cardigan, from a village fair charity stall. I keep a few cardigans in stock because any baby which is announced, would be born, weaned, and starting school before anything I start to knit would be finished. 

Cherryfudge

I have a few coupon-free items to declare: a chambray-effect dress, a plain white tee shirt and an M&S jumper, all from the car boot sale. I resisted quite a few other items as I am short of storage.

@Liverpool_Anne, I've not seen that episode but I know what you mean. I get upset when people upcycle hand-embroidered tablecloths. They take many hours to make and are often high quality work. It just feels awful when they are cut up. Wouldn't it be good to have them on a sunny table with a vase of flowers and some vintage china, instead?

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all,
@Cherryfudge, yes I feel the same about hand embroided tablecloths, in fact I would probably feel the same about any hand worked item that was still in usable condition. When I was on holiday with some of OHs family from Germany one of the women had a patchwork cushion made from hand knitted socks. Initially I was shocked, why would you cut up hand knitted socks, but she explained they were socks that had worn out beyond repair. Apparently in the area where they live it is common to knit tube socks to keep their feet warm in winter and they don't wear shoes in the house so obviously they wear through. One lady who is a doctor said she had 2 big boxes of socks knitted for her by her patients. I did then reconcile with the idea, at least the hand knitting was living on in a useful way and the cushion was actually quite nice.
Take care everyone

Nelliegrace

Probably not @PipneyJane the sandals must have been over ten years old. 

MrsCD

Help!!! I need a cup of tea after watching the Sewing Bee. My crochet-y brain is having a meltdown....aaarrrrgggghhh. ( although I did like the Chanel inspired jacket  )

PipneyJane

MrsCD said:

Help!!! I need a cup of tea after watching the Sewing Bee. My crochet-y brain is having a meltdown....aaarrrrgggghhh. ( although I did like the Chanel inspired jacket  )

I still have the pleasure of that episode to look forward to, but at this point I may find myself screaming at the telly.  Here, have another cuppa @MrsCD.  Also a flapjack (freshly made - I had to rescue the cake tin from DH.)

We’re almost half way through the year and I’m half way through my coupons.   I feel like I’ve got nothing to show for the coupons I’ve spent so far this year.    I’m still debating whether to buy that Alpa-merino blend yarn before the shop selling it closes, but I really don’t want to spend the coupons.  Hmmmm…..

- Pip

PollyWollyDoodle

Five coupons spent on five pairs of ankle socks - years ago I wouldn’t have dreamed of wearing ‘tennis shoes’ with a skirt, but it seems to be a thing these days and I’m all for comfort!  I managed to score a brand new pair of white leather Stan Smith/Adidas trainers in my size in a charity shop - the planets must have aligned for a brief moment!  I actually think the socks are the first new thing I have bought this year, everything else has been second hand and I’m banned (by myself 😄) from buying any fabric or wool. 

Ooh flapjacks, my favourite … 

Cherryfudge

I watched the crochet episode... dare I say it wasn't as bad as I expected? And that from someone who crochets!

There was undoubtedly a huge amount of work in those crocheted blankets, but the majority of the contestants were crocheters and some new crochet got added in the process of doing their re-makes. As you'd expect, the end results were a mixture but some were very good transformations - there was one in tawny colours that I really liked.

I don't imagine crocheted blankets are ideal for remakes, but all the contestants seemed to appreciate that you couldn't hack into them, you had to respect the way the stitches are made and painstakingly detach sections for reuse, and edges had to be secured or sections backed to keep the integrity.

Liverpool_Anne

I'm with MrsCD no matter how nice the garments made were I just kept thinking about how much work was in them
Take care everyone

thriftwizard

Re the painstakingly hand-embroidered tablecloths; I have a "deal" with one of the local charity shops, whereby they save the donated ones that are "not saleable" (i.e. with any kind of stain, no matter how faint or tiny, or snag, or pulled threads, or just not "interesting" enough) and I give them more than the rag-man would. I either sell them on to people who are going to make things out of them, or make them into things for sale myself, often kits for lavender hearts or fabric postcards. I like to think that the original stitchers would be far happier to see their hard work made into something else lovely, rather than just sliced up & turned into mass-produced cleaning cloths, which is what the rag-man will sell them on for. With crochet blankets - they make great cushion covers! Sadly the charity shops are inundated with people's great-aunts' things, and simply have to move them on as fast as possible, for what they can get for them.