2024 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

Cherryfudge

PipneyJane said:

The cricket club won’t thank me, @Cherryfudge.  I used their washroom, downstairs.

Serves 'em right, Pip. They do feed him rubbish in between moaning about him trying to join in their games.

Those mittens look nice and warm, as well as 'handy' (sorry) due to the fingers being free. I would imagine they would be very helpful for your MiL. 

I hope all goes well with your kidney function:  it's not inevitable but at least it will be monitored, and even if it affects you, you may feel no different. DH has reduced kidney function which is probably due to medication, but we only know about it because they test for it and it's been stable for a long time now. 

@Mrs_Mavis, welcome! As Pip says, do bear in mind that second hand is coupon free (the only reason I don't have a massive coupon spend) but some people choose to count second hand towards coupons to reduce overall buying. At the risk of tempting you, I bought a rather lovely cardi off a £1 rail a couple of years ago. It needed a tiny mend and I now flatter myself that it makes me look more 'dressed up' than usual. Then last year almost the same thing happened again - I needed a cardigan and bought a second hand merino one that I thought was fabulous fabric but hopelessly old fashioned, then I found it looked particularly right with something I already had, so no need to change it at all.

PollyWollyDoodle

I buy everything (apart from underwear) second hand, which is why I hardly use any coupons. I enjoy the challenge of hunting down items that I want!  However I recognised a couple of years ago that I was buying things just because they were a bargain, not because I needed them. 

Now I try and operate a ‘one in:one out’ policy and only buy when I’ve identified a gap in my wardrobe.  If you feel you’ve got too many clothes, I recommend the Marie Kondo approach. Get all your t-shirts or skirts or whatever out, and just keep the ones you love.  I was surprised and slightly horrified when I did this to find I had eight black t-shirts, I mean they are useful but who needs that many!  I have had a bad habit of buying things because they are like something I already own.  I’m working on it. 😄

Nelliegrace

I have been tempted by the squander bug! 



I have been looking at an advertisement for a vintage, warm, three-quarter coat, for several weeks, and wondering how much I would wear it. It is wool and made by my favourite Welsh weavers. The measurements show that it is roomy enough to wear over several layers in Winter. The woman selling it asked for almost £40.  (That would be worth about 11 shillings in 1940.) There are no clothes coupons required. 
 
It was still there, and I have the money, and I have put my savings away, so I bought it. I shall put my old Graduation/ Going Away smart jacket in the Hospice Shop, it doesn’t owe me anything after forty-nine years. I am, of course, turning into my Granny, as she wore something very similar. 

Cherryfudge

I love it, @Nelliegrace, and if you get as many uses out of it as you did with your previous one, it will be a fraction of a penny per wear. It's also got the potential to wear with a classy brooch or a bright pashmina, with something sombre should the occasion require it or open and casual. Oh, and how about a great big colourful turtleneck sweater underneath? I think you're right to buy bigger with a  winter coat, chunky jumpers or multiple layers don't work with a narrow fit.

dND

PipneyJane said:

@Laura_Elsewhere, do you think applying milk would be the best way to get rid of commercial curry stains from a pale blue t-shirt?  I’ve managed to ruin yet another one, despite soaking it in oxy-bleach before washing.  (That’s two so far.). I must have splashed myself while stirring one of those “heat in the oven” takeaways, on Wednesday night.  Only saw it yesterday, so soaked it overnight before washing.

- Pip

Many years ago I had to get curry (turmeric) stain out of a 6-week old wool cream carpet. 😱 Thankfully it was my ex who dropped the curry and not me as I would never of heard the end of it.

I soaked the stain with glycerine and left it overnight then washed and blotted the carpet and left it to dry. It was probably 3 or more weeks of repeating this process but eventually you could no longer see the stain.
Funnily enough I was never thanked for doing it - it was just never mentioned again🤔

I think the glycerine softens the stain but I've never tried it on clothing.  Good luck.  The only other thing I can suggest is dying it yellow. 🤣

Laura_Elsewhere

PipneyJane said:

@Laura_Elsewhere, do you think applying milk would be the best way to get rid of commercial curry stains from a pale blue t-shirt?  I’ve managed to ruin yet another one, despite soaking it in oxy-bleach before washing.  (That’s two so far.). I must have splashed myself while stirring one of those “heat in the oven” takeaways, on Wednesday night.  Only saw it yesterday, so soaked it overnight before washing.

- Pip

I would try the milk but I suspect whatever you do, it will take multiple goes before it goes, iyswim! Try not to let it dry out, avoid heat whether wet or dry, just keep on soaking it and cool-washing it... 
I wouldn't try putting it out in the sun yet, as that could bake the stain in... once it's only a shadow, you could try putting it out for a few days...

PipneyJane

Sadly @dND it’s a pale blue t-shirt, not white.  @Laura_Elsewhere, I’m trying soaking the stained area with milk.  Fingers crossed.

@Nelliegrace that coat is quite a find.  I hope it gives you many warm years of service.

- Pip

Sarahspangles

PipneyJane said:

Sadly @dND it’s a pale blue t-shirt, not white.  @Laura_Elsewhere, I’m trying soaking the stained area with milk.  Fingers crossed.

@Nelliegrace that coat is quite a find.  I hope it gives you many warm years of service.

- Pip

I hope you get the stain out. When the children were smaller I had a full collection of those Stain Devil products but I seem to remember (from reading the labels) that the one for sauces was only the sort of enzymes used in biological washing powder, so a paste of that was as good/bad (depending on whether it worked).

maryb

A no coupon spend - another Lands End shirt on Vinted.  Because their sizing is US you have to search under both UK and US size because people don’t know which one to list under.  She wanted £16 for it which is about twice the going rate so no wonder it was listed four months ag.  I offered £10 which I thought was generous and sure enough she bit my hand off.  It’s navy blue cotton with white polka dots and I’m thinking of shortening the sleeves to wear as a summer shirt with white or navy skirt.  I thought it would have a 1942 vibe

Sarahspangles

Do feel you can pretend to listen to this, while brewing up, thinking about something else and making sympathetic noises at intervals! I won’t mind if you do a ‘Pardon, dear’ when you realise there’s a knitting question at the end!

I haven’t been around much, as I had Covid in early June, felt like I was on the mend after a couple of weeks, but then got a chest infection. As I work from home, I could work until I began to flag and then rest. Eventually a couple of other Ministry workers made me go get some antibiotics and I’m now getting back into action.

While resting, I’ve been knitting a yoke sweater, the kind done top-down with a stranded colourwork design in the yoke. Except I’ve had to frog it three times! The first time, when I folded the neckband, I misaligned it. When I unravelled, the ribbing had taken on a permanent slant, so I made a fresh start. The next time, my fingers suddenly remembered how to knit with two colours a couple of inches into the band, and my tension changed completely. That time I’d got far enough to check the fit, and decided I’d like more neck shaping, so back the yarn went to the ball. The third time, I used a different main colour, but decided it would be less wearable…by this point the yarn needed a light wash to lose its kinks.

This attempt is better. Though I’m hoping that blocking will make increases less obvious. They’re all LLI or RLI so there’s no hole, but you can see there is a ‘dart’.

The question will make you laugh! How do you hold your yarn? I watched a couple of videos to check I was catching floats efficiently and envied how easily that knitter was dropping and picking up her yarn on her working forefingers after stopping to explain things. Eventually I realised she makes a full loop round her little fingers then inserts a forefinger to lift the working yarn at the needle point. I’ve always wrapped all the way round my middle finger, then done a complicated manoeuvre to loop round my little finger too. Now I’m conscious of it, I’ve realising how much time I spend fixing my yarn hold.