2025 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

Nelliegrace

Memories! @alicef 1969 processing by form into the school hall for assembly. Girls unrolling their skirt waistbands as the whisper, “Miss Lax,” was passed back. The little needlework and domestic science teacher pounced on any girl infringing the rules and made them kneel on the hard floor in the foyer, to have the height of the hem measured with her fabric yardstick. The offenders huddled in shame in a group to be dealt with, as the rest of the school marched past. The shame of a minus mark to their school house. 

In the 70s my older sisters were hippies, long hair, colourful, homemade, ankle length coats and skirts, walking up the hill to college. They wouldn’t walk with me in my drab navy school uniform, round felt hat and gaberdine mac. I missed the navy serge gym-slips by just a year.

moginstein

PipneyJane said:

@moginstein, use the polyester.

Please show us the results of your work.

- Pip 

Thanks @PipneyJane I'll use the polyester when I do the main ones. Not yet, waiting for a calm day.
Here's the "practice ones". First is just with a zigzag edge, and is just for a makeup remover type cloth (I've spoilt a few facecloths)
 

Second is towel with edge turned up and zigzagged.
I've had the towel for 35 years 🫣 so no wonder it was a bit holey!
(I have had other towels in between too...)
Will be a while before I tackle the bath sheets..
Thanks for your support and advice @thriftwizard and @pipneyjane and all you lovely people on here 

itsthelittlethings

Cherryfudge said:

itsthelittlethings said:

Have bought some wool to make a blanket for mother out of next month’s payday (old habits die hard and yes, it will put me behind). She feels the cold and I do worry about her.

I am now sans coupons. In September. How embarrassing. I suppose it is nearly October. Plus I am going to London this weekend and wanted to check out some clothing.

Eerily quiet this morning.

Perhaps some of your Mum's coupons could go towards the blanket?

Or look on Ebay or similar: I've seen vintage Witney blankets there that I would have snapped up had I a) the space and b) not already got some inherited ones. They would be coupon free and are marvellous - stylish, warm (or cool in a heatwave - I tried this, on @Laura_Elsewhere's recommendation, and it's perfect) and saving something worth saving.

Mum has some idea she’s contributing towards the war effort by not spending all of her coupons so I’m afraid the blanket will have to be a gift!

PollyWollyDoodle

In 1979 I was in the sixth form, and I remember making a tiered skirt in flowered fabric. I stitched a strip of lace under the hem to look as if it was a petticoat, quite the thing in those days.  And I used some strips of leftover fabric to bind round a plastic bangle to make a matching accessory - I’ve got a feeling I wore this with cork-soled wedge shoes. Happy days. 

Laura_Elsewhere

We treasure my mum’s school magazine from the mid-60s with the prefects all sitting neatly on their chairs for the photo, a row of nearly-covered blue serge knees… and then mum’s bare knees!!! What a shocker…!  

She made us tiered gypsy skirts in the mid-70s and I wore mine when the school visited Kentwell Hall, when I was about 7, so c1976… I glanced at Wikipedia and apparently the owners bought it derelict in 1971 and started the Tudor living history events in 1979- but I moved to Scotland in 1979 and besides, that skirt was definitely when I was seven or so because by the time I was nine in 1978, we were all in circular skirts, and I made my first one when I was ten, so it must have been some preliminary trial-run… 
I remember being very pleased because they kept picking me for things because they said I was “decently clad” in the crowd of jeans and denim mini-skirts!!  

Cherryfudge

PollyWollyDoodle said:

In 1979 I was in the sixth form, and I remember making a tiered skirt in flowered fabric. I stitched a strip of lace under the hem to look as if it was a petticoat, quite the thing in those days.  And I used some strips of leftover fabric to bind round a plastic bangle to make a matching accessory - I’ve got a feeling I worse this with cork-soled wedge shoes. Happy days. 

You must be about the same school year as my sister: she made the prettiest tiered skirt in shades of pink. Love the idea of the bangle to go with it!

Laura_Elsewhere said:

We treasure my mum’s school magazine from the mid-60s with the prefects all sitting neatly on their chairs for the photo, a row of nearly-covered blue serge knees… and then mum’s bare knees!!! What a shocker…!  

Scandalous! I think I've told this before but my mum, post war, painted winking eyes on her knees for the fun of seeing people's reactions on the Tube... I don't know how long her skirts were but I imagine they were suitable for the office. No photographic evidence, though.

Cherryfudge

And while I'm here, I see L1dl has their haberdashery and sock yarn in the middle aisles again. I was delighted to get a sewing awl for £1.49 and braved one of the boxes of 32 polyester threads complete with bobbins, for £3.99. However, a few stitches into trying one out, it started to snarl so I don't think they were such a bargain.

Has anyone else tried them, and what did you think?

MrsCD

@moginstein, your cloths just reminded me of some my Mam made! We found some when we cleared out the bungalow.
In 1969, I started at secondary school and one of the items I made  in Domestic Science was a red corduroy pinafore. This was the start of me making various skirts over the years, including a white floral tiered skirt with the broderie anglaise trim. I went through the gypsy phase too, with long floral skirts, and I also had some multi coloured platform shoes. I loved those shoes...until they fell to bits! 😂 It's a pity we weren't shown how to repair our shoes in DS. We did have a lesson on how to polish them correctly though.

Nelliegrace

I think we did Elbow Grease and polishing shoes in the Brownies. 

Laura_Elsewhere

My dad taught me how to polish shoes *properly* and I subsequently taught myself other aspects like bulling and boning, and the cobbling came when it became impossible to find anywhere to do my shoes and boots properly- so I taught myself to re-heel, re-sole, sew small patches of leather, secure wobbly heels and so on. Nearly all of it is common sense crossed with the right materials, easily available online (I buy soles and heels and sheets of same from e-cobbler on eBay, but I do now buy ‘Gorilla glue’ at B&Q as it’s cheaper than buying cobbler’s klebfest but on investigating the chemical properties they turn out to be effectively the same thing ). 

You’ll need a lot of clamps to hold the soles while they set overnight, or else masses of string which also works. We have quite a few strong clips which are useful, and it’s handy to paddle the leather to avoid the clamp leaving marks. 

Plimsoles can go through a cold wash and 1400rpm spin, and then airdry- the cardboard under the insole will shred, but you can machine-sew a cotton cover onto the flimsy foam insole will bias binding round the edges and wash it separately, putting it back in once dry. If the rubber edges are very marked, give them a scrub, pre-wash, with an old toothbrush and some washing-up liquid . 

Shoe laces last years longer if you periodically remove them, wash and airdry them, and then if round laces run them a few times over a beeswax candle; but even flat plimsole-laces will last longer if occasionally washed and re-flattened. That old trope of ironing shoelaces actually has a foundation in fact!