2024 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

alicef

@Liverpool_Anne I think I saw an article on the beeb website recently about the group; such a good idea - I know I was rather lazy, in my youth, when it came to mending my clothes, (I recall staples and sellotape for catching up hems).

Good spot on dating the pattern age, @PipneyJane.  The book's published year is 1983, however the pattern would be slightly older, as the book is a compilation of several of the softcover booklets produced by Patricia Roberts, (which I do own but they are becoming a little fragile to use).  I did knit quite a number of her patterns back in the 1980s - a favourite jaunt would be to one of her London woolshops, whereupon I would, quite happily, be divested of much of my salary, spending on yarn, (not much changes then....).  Indeed, I still have some of her brand of yarn (Woolly Bear), in my stash, bought all those decades ago.

Love the little ladybird buttons!   I'll let you know how I get on with the Huntington yarn - it is meant to be good for complex stitch patterns.  I will have to swatch to figure out needle size - won't be for a while as I'm weaving in ends.

annieb64

I've started using a small citcular needle for socks and find it much easier than dpns

Laura_Elsewhere

annieb64 said:

I've started using a small citcular needle for socks and find it much easier than dpns

And if we all liked the same things, they'd sell no tins of Mixed Biscuits, as the saying goes!  

I can't use circs, because I can only knit if the back-end of the right-hand needle is anchored, usually by being jammed into my belt or the folds of my clothing at my midriif. If I have to hold the rh needle as well as knitting onto it, I can't knit!  

PipneyJane

@Laura_Elsewhere, on the first post, I’ve added a link to your post re the chocolate digestives.  Sadly, there were none left in the tin this morning, but that’s OK because I’ve filled it with American-style cinnamon muffins.  (Which I made using milk that soured as I froze it, in the door of my freezer.  This fridge-freezer is meant to be A-rated, but I reckon that our bills will go down considerably when I replace it, probably in October.)

Has anyone watched BBC Breakfast this morning?  I’ve been studying Nina’s jacket.  It’s collarless, which makes me wonder if she made it herself.  Looks good.

- Pip


ETA: photos of Nina, taken from the telly.  Not the best or the most flattering (sorry Nina).  Sadly, I can’t wind the TV back far enough to capture her earlier appearance.

PipneyJane

Dear Fashionistas,

Can anyone tell me what is the fashionable jacket shape this year?  Are big shoulders/shoulder pads back?  Also, what about skirt length?

The reason I’m asking is that, from the back of the wardrobe, I’ve extracted a black wool suit, which I made in 1991/1992.  The jacket fits, but the shoulders are huge.  The just-below-the-knee-length skirt, on the other hand, is far too tight around the waist, so I’m considering removing the existing waist and re-working it, lower down (where the skirt is wider).  That would make a much shorter skirt, but would a) make it wearable, and b) give me enough fabric to add some pockets to the jacket. 

God knows what I was thinking when I made this suit.  I know it didn’t fit me for very long - I’d been dieting and, afterwards, rapidly went back to a more normal size/weight for me - and that I didn’t make it to my measurements, just blindly to fit whatever size I thought I was at the time.  The skirt would probably only fit a small size 8.  I’m not certain I have the skills to successfully re-size the shoulders, as well as do the skirt,  But it is effectively a free practice piece.  No idea what happened to the original pattern.  (I think it was from New Look.)

- Pip

PS:  Incidentally, this will be one of those “I might finish it by Christmas, but don’t ask which year” projects.

Laura_Elsewhere

I have no idea about what is currently *en vogue* but if I were you, I';d re-make it to a style and fit that I like and to blazes with what's on trend! 

Re the shoulders- obviously take out the shoulder-pads, and replace with much smaller, much thinner ones situated just inside the shoulder-seamline (most tailored jackets won't look right with no pads at all). If you don't want to dismantle the shoulders (understandable!) you can try experimenting with some bulldog clips taking a couple of little pinches either side of the centre-back line, high up in the top few inches of the back. Sometimes it's possible to pull the shoulder shape in a bit by making a miniscule box-pleat, just half an inch or even less, symmetrically on the upper back and either hiding it under the collar if that's largeish or simply making a feature of it. You can even do tiny pin-tucks running from above the bust to equivalent point on the back, at right angles to a shoulder-seam running from neck to shoulder, iyswim. I've taken in tailored jackets before now using two parallel 1/4" pin-tucks close together- it looks like a deliberate feature... 

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all,
@PipneyJane a quick google of the vogue fashion pics shows skirts from mini to ankle grazing and everything in between and the general trend for jackets seems to be oversized with varying lengths so as Laura suggests just replace the shoulder pads and you might be bang on trend . Seriously I agree with Laura, just alter it so it fits comfortably and strut your stuff
Take care everyone

PipneyJane

Laura_Elsewhere said:

I have no idea about what is currently *en vogue* but if I were you, I';d re-make it to a style and fit that I like and to blazes with what's on trend! 

Re the shoulders- obviously take out the shoulder-pads, and replace with much smaller, much thinner ones situated just inside the shoulder-seamline (most tailored jackets won't look right with no pads at all). If you don't want to dismantle the shoulders (understandable!) you can try experimenting with some bulldog clips taking a couple of little pinches either side of the centre-back line, high up in the top few inches of the back. Sometimes it's possible to pull the shoulder shape in a bit by making a miniscule box-pleat, just half an inch or even less, symmetrically on the upper back and either hiding it under the collar if that's largeish or simply making a feature of it. You can even do tiny pin-tucks running from above the bust to equivalent point on the back, at right angles to a shoulder-seam running from neck to shoulder, iyswim. I've taken in tailored jackets before now using two parallel 1/4" pin-tucks close together- it looks like a deliberate feature... 

@Laura_Elsewhere, you are inspired!  Ignoring the facings, etc, the jacket fronts were made in two pieces, which means there is a seam at the midpoint of the shoulder.  This is reflected in the back, too.  What I will do is use bulldog clips to reshape that seam and clip it in place, keeping the central panels as large as possible.

@Liverpool_Anne  I agree.  Pick your style and stick to it.  I don’t want to chase fashion; I was just being lazy. 

- Pip (Now, all I have to do is get my dressmaker’s dummy down from the loft, measure up and adjust it to fit me, and then I can start work.)

PipneyJane

Anyone want to play a game?

Today I will mostly be wearing….

The colour blue.  Jeans from the early 2010’s, a t-shirt purchased from H&M in Epsom in 2003 (when I was working in the building next door), my college fleece (dates from around the same time), and a pair of socks knitted from the ends of several skeins of blue yarn.

- Pip





PS:  Did anyone watch Sewing Bee?  What did you think?  While I liked the dress that won the episode, I don’t like the general style of this week’s winner. Far too overblown for my liking. Buy a curtain, seam it up on one side, stick a collar on it with a bow and, bingo, you have a dress. Yuck!  It makes hippies look chic.

Also, why has nobody on Sewing Bee ever heard about putting a layer of tissue paper between slippy fabrics, to anchor it before you sew a seam?  You just rip the paper out afterwards. This has been my constant irritation throughout the several series I have watched.

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all,
Today I am wearing navy trousers with white splodgy spots bought about 6 years ago, a t shirt and fleece  bought so long ago I can't remember, likewise socks .

@PipneyJane I agree with you about the winning dress which I thought was quite clever but her personal style put me off her and I found myself hoping she didn't win. Even her t shirt transformation put me off, pointless holes, I preferred the one that came second. The dress that was made by the man who left, while being not that well finished was a clever take on the style with a tricky fabric and the dress made in the heavy denim was doomed to failure by the choice of fabric. I don't sew currently but even I knew that was a fail. Lets hope they all improve

Take care everyone