2024 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

Laura_Elsewhere

PipneyJane said:

Laura_Elsewhere said:

@PipneyJane - I buy mine by the 5-litre from the Bay of E...  

It's the stuff I've used since the 1980s for waterproofing tents, jackets, bags... Fabsil is the original, Fabsil Gold is just the more heavy-duty version. It is petrochemical-based, sadly, and it also makes the fabric less breathable, so if the garment originally had a waxed finish you may want to consider having it professionally re-waxed. 
But for most purposes, short of strenuous hiking in foul weather then it works well ime  

You can paint it on, or put it into a spray-bottle and spray it- I reckon the spray works best, but just make sure you get good coverage (first time might need two applications), and use a paintbrush to work it well into the seams and topstitching. I use a smallish 2" paintbrush. 
I just use Ecover washing-up liquid and warm water to clean everything. 

And definitely hang it in a very well-aired place to dry, nowhere near your living space!

Thanks @Laura_Elsewhere.  Do you reckon it’d work with microfibre fabric?  (I think that’s 100% polyester, in real life.)

I’m finally back in the hospital for my prophylactic treatment.  They put the line back in my arm this morning, but I didn’t get a bed until late afternoon.  At least all the beds are in private rooms, even if this one is hot and stuffy.   I reckon I’ll have at least one pair of socks finished by the end of the week.  I decided against bringing anything more complex.

- Pip

Pip, very best wishes for your treatment- that cottage hospital at Darning-on-Borrow is very good, isn’t it? 

I think Fabsil Gold will waterproof almost anything- I remember a pal waterproofing a sheet of newspaper with Fabsil back in the’90s!! 

Just bear in mind it will make fabric non-breathable and it might need two goes to get everywhere…

MrsCD

Hope your treatment goes well, @PipneyJane, and the needle stays put! If the weather breaks a bit it might be a bit cooler for you. Wishing you good knitting! 🤗

Cherryfudge

I must say Darning-on-Borrow Cottage Hospital were lovely when I had my little spell in there a few years ago. I hope Mr Pip can visit easily.

Talking of darning, I fixed a loose lining in some slippers and did some serious cosmetic mending on some trainers yesterday. Quite proud of myself as the holes in the top edge of the trainers are now hidden. This is the same area I went over with embroidery thread a few months ago and which had worn through again. I've no idea how I manage to scuff the top inside edge of the left foot so much, and I doubt there's enough of the original edge left to do it again, so, as the trainers are otherwise perfectly wearable, I might have to get creative if there's to be another repair. But okay for now. Fellow awkward feet sufferers will understand why I want to keep a comfy pair going!

Mrs_Mavis

@Cherryfudge good idea on the trainer repair, I hadn't considered darning. I'll have to see if I can do the same with mine.

Laura_Elsewhere

I've been busy this morning- I emptied the very high narrow shelf in our hallway where we keep narrow (shoe-box sized) open boxes with our hats, mitts, scarves, cowls, etc.... got everything off the hooks, as well. 

So now I have a small pile of hats and gloves I never wear which can go; have cold-washed everything I'm keeping, and now have my hats over the right-sized mixing-bowls to dry to shape!  

I love doing this, and it's been *years* since I've been able to do it, either ill or busy or whatever... 

It's a lovely feeling... 

Cherryfudge

@Mrs_Mavis, it wasn't really a darn, more a sort of satin stitch. For once I have been successful in using the search to find my previous post. I'd not realised it had been as long ago as February, and clearly at that point the hole was small enough for me just to draw the sides together. The proverbial stitch in time would have been a good idea, once the area started to break down again!

These particular trainers get a lot of use, so I shouldn't be surprised at the wear. It's just disappointing that the fabric goes long before the rest of the shoe. I looked up to see if there was any fancy way of repairing inside the back where the fabric-covered foam is now breaking down and guess what? The solution there seems to be to insert a new piece of foam and fabric-glue some cloth over it. So much for high tech solutions! I could give that a go, at the worst it will just fall off and I'll be back to square one.

Cherryfudge

Laura_Elsewhere said:

It's a lovely feeling... 

Oh @Laura_Elsewhere, what an enviable position! I realised our basket of winter hats and gloves is still on top of the shoe rack! There's also a box in the loft of similar things from a few years ago which we stashed away and lost, then found again. I really need to tackle those, perhaps over the next few days as DH will be away and I don't have as many voluntary things to do.

My equivalent (un-tackled) job is taking all the winter coats off the rack (yes, there are just the two of us, but there are still all sorts of things there and it makes me realise there are things that have fallen out of use). Items that need to be washed can be washed. Misplaced items can go back where they came from ("I wondered where that sweatshirt had gone! And that's where the tote bags went!") and perhaps one or two things can be donated. That's definitely a productive thing I should be doing while the house is empty, but preferably 48 hours away from repainting an adjacent door frame, which is also on the list.

Laura_Elsewhere

Oh @Cherryfudge - that's just how ours was this morning!! The shoerack inside the front door was stacked with a huge slithering heap of stuff just put down there since, er, umm... well, my cold-winter gilet thingummy was in there and that hasn't been worn in well over six months! I've been bemoaning my lack of my string bags, several of which were in there... all kinds of stuff! Things to be thrown out, things to take to recycling, all mixed up- an open small bag of Mr E's ex-wife's old prescriptions to go back to a chemist, all loose and down the back of the shoe-rack... 

Mr E just paused for his lunch-break, WFH, so I got him to check through his shoes and jackets and so on, so that I only put back what he wants kept  

PollyWollyDoodle

It’s funny isn’t it - when I was growing up, I had A Coat.  Suitable for school wear, big enough to fit a jumper underneath. Obviously it changed every so often as I outgrew it, usually replaced by one handed down from an older sibling. 

Now I have a smart winter coat, a mac for smart and wet-but-not-cold, a waterproof-type jacket for everyday winter wear, a lighter waterproof for the traditional British summer, a denim jacket, a gilet and who knows what else - the two waterproofs get the most wear as I don’t often go anywhere smart.  I’m usually driving, not having to wait at bus stops or on platforms.  Do I really need all these, I wonder?  

Most of them were bought second hand of course, in keeping with my principles.  It seems a lot but I’m guessing these days hardly anybody just has A Coat. 

Cherryfudge

I'm sure I have too many coats (blush) - like you @PollyWollyDoodle, they have different purposes. However, I do remember reading on these forums about a young mum who was getting cold doing the school run because she couldn't afford a coat and was having to pretend her jumper was enough. I remember someone offered her one. We are such a divided nation.

I think Laura has thrown out a challenge for our shoe racks and coat hooks though. Whose coat hooks hold most? Who can find the strangest thing? What items are retrieved that we hadn't even missed? I must have a look through mine when I'm feeling bold!