2024 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

PipneyJane

Afternoon All

Cup of tea?  Please help yourselves to a minced pie - they are my first ever attempt and have some apple grated in.  (One of Marguerite Patton’s wartime recipes.)

Has anyone else heard the rumour?  Flash Harry was telling me that Mr L!dler will have a black market supply of sock yarn from Sunday.  All the same colours as earlier in the year, 75% wool blend, for less than £5 per 2 skein/200g packet.

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

I'm resisting the lure of the black marketeers! What with replacing our furniture this year (bomb damage...) I have no realised what dreadfully vast quantities I have... 

(The new furniture is Mr E's son's teenage-bedroom Ikea pieces, great deep drawers, all very lovely and looks gorgeous with deep-red fronts... but then he discovered the drawers are designed only for clothes and so he can't store his tech or tools or other heavy things in there, so I have ended up with five huge double-depth drawers and three normnal-depth ones, all for my knitting wool! And, er, there's still some that won't go in.... ummm.... )

I have just cut out the midnight-blue velvet given to me by a friend (she was given lots of fabric in 2020 by a friend whose friend (are you keeping up with this?!) worked in costumes for a costume drama that was cancelled due to Covid and so all the fabric already bought was going into skips and the friend-of-the-friend-of-my-friend was literally climbing into skips and dragging it out...! She redistributed it beautifully and when my friend opened up her goodies, she saw this and thought I would love it... and I do! It's pure cotton, quite flexible, clearly upholstery but will work for a jacket, and the finest, tiniest needlecord wale I ever saw, and in a deep rich midnight blue...). I'm making a copy of a 1650s full-sleeved waistcoat jacket I made back in my re-enactment days... lined in cream short-fur fake-fur throw we bought 10 years ago to make Mr E's mother a tiny teddy bear!. 

I am going head-first at it over today and tomorrow  

I hope you all have a good Feast of Stephen! 

Nelliegrace

Thank you, @PipneyJane, I have checked the details and passed on the news to DD.
She has been to one of the Land Girl training centres and has been offered challenging work which she will enjoy. We are so pleased for her. 

I have sorted out a large bag of unworn, fleece jumpers for the local emergency food centre. They were long forgotten in a box.
The Times, October 1940, advised people to empty their attics because of the risk of fire bombs. When DH struggled on the attic ladder to get the container of Christmas cards down, he was so wobbly, that I think we need to clear everything out. He could have landed on me!

alicef

oh oh the temptation @PipneyJane!

I managed to resize and the OH was very pleased with his socks....

PollyWollyDoodle

The blue velvet sounds lovely, @Laura_Elsewhere. I spent Christmas Eve sewing like mad, the felt polar bear being given to my great-niece had a blue velvet coat with a fur collar, which I had to finish by hand - definitely not my finest work, and then I hurriedly made it some shorts/knickers and a pair of booties.  

It’s not as if the date changes every year … I had months to get all this done.  - always the same.  

I hope you’ve all had a lovely Christmas, I received a walking foot for my sewing machine which is something I’ve wanted for a while.  

I don’t make New Years Resolutions but I’m definitely not increasing my yarn stash!  

Cherryfudge

Ohhh... those makes sound so lovely! And here's me who hasn't even used her sewing machine this year.

A couple more coupons spent: socks for me and as a gift, and a tee shirt for me. In keeping with the war effort, I've run a clipper over DH's coat which turned out to be made of the most rubbishy fabric that pilled badly, so it looks more as I would have hoped and will continue to be used.

@Nelliegrace, congratulations to your daughter! I've heard the Landgirls work very hard but I'm sure she's ready and willing. As for emptying the loft, I might have to settle for having nightmares about it as it's so full. I did have a nasty accident once involving leaving a loft faster than I went in, so I hope your DH stays safe.

Cherryfudge

More socks bought as gifts! Another four coupons gone from my ration book... still some left. Honestly though, these 'posh' socks, costing several times what I'd usually pay, are just so nice... and a bit of luxury for the recipients, I hope. The pair I bought myself were very comfortable to wear but even so I wouldn't have paid £7.50, which was the original price. I assuaged the desire for a blue pair with a hedgehog wearing a Santa hat and sitting in a Christmas mug by buying them for someone else. I would say you couldn't make it up, but clearly someone has and it's so cute. I resisted the mouse on poppy stems one - still the best part of a tenner for one pair!

I also resisted some shoes that I think might have worked for me, as I still have a lot of pairs that aren't getting worn much. Some are too good to bin but not good enough to give away, and also can't be worn if I'm on my feet much as the winter weather is exacerbating my foot problems. So what to do? I really don't know.

Off to amend my signature.

2Scratters

My plan of future proofing any incoming clothes for them to be enough has fallen by the wayside... I have slowly been moving on clothing one way or another. Did manage to move out some cashmere jumpers back in November which recycled some pennies. I really did a very brave thing and sold on a beautiful cashmere wool angora mixed coat vintage Feminella if you know them. It is a beautifully soft garment. I did have 2 of said coats different styles but same colour. I was so so pleased with my feedback that they too were very happy with how it felt so luxurious. A definite win win. 
There is a group of us 4 ladies that get together regularly and have worked together for the past 20 years + - until I retired early this year Yay! 1 of them lost her mum earlier in the year and mum loved to buy clothes and stuff. Whilst doing a sort out there were some items she had thought of each of us and she gifted what we would like to chose for ourselves and would likely fit us. I ended up with 2 pairs of leather gloves, hand knitted fingerless gloves and lemon cardigan, very happy with my gifts. 1 friend struggles with her footwear and there was a pair of boots she said she would wear and fitted her and were very comfy. Sadly the soles on the boots (aka 30 years old) had perished and "exploded" whilst out wearing them they are unrepairable yet she has them still in the under the stair cupboard. 
Think my DH has been on the black market as I received 18 pairs of new knickers!! I did ask for some as they were needed but 18? 

I'll be with you all next year, here's to 2025

2 Scratters xx

PipneyJane

alicef said:

oh oh the temptation @PipneyJane!

I managed to resize and the OH was very pleased with his socks....

Those socks look lovely @alicef.  Also I love the message

@Nelliegrace well done to your daughter for joining the Land Army.  I hope she learns a lot and that the work isn't too hard.

@Laura_Elsewhere That blue velvet sounds lush!

@PollyWollyDoodle I hope your great-niece loves her bear.  He sounds very cute.

@Cherryfudge where did you find the posh socks?  (I've just watched The Snowman And The Snowdog and wondered how the boy explained to his mum that he'd lost a pair of unmatched socks plus his gloves, but somehow acquired a dog...)

- Pip

PipneyJane

The 2025 Fashion On The Ration Challenge is live.  Please join.

- PIp