2025 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

Laura_Elsewhere

Nelliegrace said:

I expect that a lot of ex army blankets were made into coats and dressing gowns, @PipneyJane. Years ago, I bought tartan wool fabric and a pattern and Mum and I made a warm dressing gown for Dad for his birthday. The remnants made a hot water bottle cover and bookmarks. It was a lovely project, and he was very pleased with it. 

Years ago, my Dad lost patience with Mum's tatty old "oh, it's only for me, it doesn't matter" dressing-gown and packed her and me off to a shop selling Liberty silks. A hundred quid later, we came back with a young parachute's worth of exquisite washable pure-silk, from which I made a dressing-gown for Mum which is warm and generously-sized, yet light and packs up small for travelling. 

She was horrified at having so much money spent on her, but a) she's worth it and b) he loves giving her nice things and c) she's probably spent more than that over the years on tatty cheap ones that disintegrate!! 

Definitely a parachute, I think - maybe one that was cleverly hand-painted with a charming design!  

MrsCD

Oh, the dolls and duck are so gorgeous,  @laura_lau.
Ducky is particularly pretty with all the beads. 
How long did it take you to make them? I'm not as keen on making stuffed characters because the hook needs to be smaller than I would normally use, and my hands get stiff after a while.

maddiemay

I would like to join again please, after missing 2024 and spending too much dosh with that chap in the smart suit in 2023.
I will probably need new nicks and am still keen to get a chunky thigh length cardi to wear over tunics, Wool***** have nice ones sometimes, but I have shied away from buying at full price

laura_lau

MrsCD said:

Oh, the dolls and duck are so gorgeous,  @laura_lau.
Ducky is particularly pretty with all the beads. 
How long did it take you to make them? I'm not as keen on making stuffed characters because the hook needs to be smaller than I would normally use, and my hands get stiff after a while.

Thank you! They were fun to make! I had never worked with beads before, and, despite not enjoying threading the wool, I absolutely loved crocheting with them, it was oddly satisfying!

I can’t really quantify how long it took, as it was a mystery crochet-along over December, and I would receive a limited set of instructions per email every morning. Considering I managed to keep up while only crocheting 1-2 hours in the evenings, I don’t think it took too long, and for about half of the days it wouldn’t take more than half hour to work on all instructions for the day.

I used a 3mm hook, and working with wool instead of cotton is much easier on the hands, I find. Working on a small portion every day, like in this crochet-along, also helped.

Cherryfudge

Assumptions for the Challenge:-

• 1 yard of fabric equals 1 modern metre. No penalty for width.

I'm counting bedlinen as coupons spent and based on the above I think the duvet set I bought the other week is approx. 5m 40cm which I'm rounding to 2.5 yards per set (I hope that works but I have a headache and no maths so it could be anything, really). So if 

1 yard wool cloth 36"wide – 3 coupons, non-woollen cloth is 2 coupons

then a duvet set = 7.5 coupons - and I see I forgot to add the set I bought towards the end of last year, so that accounts for some more of what I was proud of as a low spend! I'm very glad there is no penalty for width. Shall we say I'd ordered them before war was declared but they know me and just put it on my account so I paid once the goods arrived?

Meanwhile I've been looking for a cross stitch kit I started making around the time my daughter was born, with a view to finishing it for her baby, due in April. Any ideas where I've put it? Also the sampler-style kit DH gave me for our wedding where I miscounted by one stitch and have never worked out where I went wrong, so I've not finished it?! That one is about 36 years old...

PollyWollyDoodle

Hmm, my guess is they’re in a carrier bag somewhere, @Cherryfudge. Only because that’s what I usually do with UFOs as it makes them feel neat and tidy (although still unfinished!)  

The only reason I can’t match your 36 year-old project is that I’ve moved house several times during that period.  My sister recently found a cross-stitch she bought on her honeymoon - in 1980. 

Cherryfudge

@PollyWollyDoodle, I'd better confess to having moved several times since starting the project, though not since I last saw it. I suspect you are right about it being in a carrier bag. I've turned out a couple of cupboards, found a few items for the bin and a few to rehome but no sewing project. It could be packed away in the loft?

I have so many partly done embroidery and cross stitch projects! I only remember finishing one: a cushion cover my Mum had started and which I finished. I've had to stretched to frame but never found the frame I envisaged for it so it's effectively been shelved for many years.

kiwisavings

Hello everyone, I would like to ask the people who have been doing the Fashion on the Ration challenge for multiple years about how they have found it?
I'm coming into the challenge with a pretty well stocked wardrobe (including some new clothes I bought last year). Have you found that it has got more difficult as time has passed and most of your wardrobe was from previous years? Or has it changed how you look at your clothes and spending habits?

PollyWollyDoodle

It’s completely changed the way I spend.  I’d always had a proportion of secondhand clothes in my wardrobe, but now it’s more than 90% and I struggle to buy anything new. 

I came into this after watching a documentary by Stacey Dooley about jeans, the amount of water used to produce denim for one pair of jeans is enormous, and many of them are made in very poor conditions by people paid less than a living wage.  Since then there has been lots more in the news about the cost of fast fashion, many of us on here are fans of Patrick Grant and his book ‘Less’. 

I’m lucky because I’m semi retired and have lots of time to shop.  I’m also able to make my own clothes, although that happens less often than I’d like, and alter things if need be.  You don’t have to take it to my extremes, and there is no judgement on people buying new things, it’s really about thinking more before you buy and perhaps favouring quality over quantity. 

Last year it took me 11 months to spend a voucher I’d been given, every time I thought about it I decided I didn’t need or want that item enough. I’ve got another voucher this year, and I’m going to buy some thermals which would be difficult to find secondhand (I do draw the line at underwear, by the way!)

When I do buy new, I try to buy from companies that have a clear ethical policy, but obviously that doesn’t impact on coupons, it’s the same amount wherever you buy from. 

I would probably do this anyway, but this thread has really encouraged me to think about the true cost of buying new clothes. There’s also been loads of helpful advice about cleaning, mending and making along the way.  I’m very interested to hear how others think it has impacted on them.   

PollyWollyDoodle

I should add that while I mainly wear jeans (second-hand, obviously!) every day, I still like to look smart when I go out and often get compliments on my clothes.  Buying less doesn’t mean looking shabby.