2019 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

BabyStepper · 8 January 2019 at 7:40AM

Love your curtains Laura, so cosy looking.

I've just made my first purchase, some voile curtains to finish off the decor in our spare room. I was sure I'd read something about coupons for these but can't seem to find it in the first post, any ideas anyone?

CapricornLass · 8 January 2019 at 4:01PM

Thanks for the tip re the highlighter tape, Pipney - I will go and search for some!

Laura_Elsewhere · 8 January 2019 at 8:24PM

I have just found a whole lot of fabric behind the bench in the sitting-room that I have been searching for in my parents' house, having concluded I must have stored it there as it wasn't here in our flat...! My partner is too efficient at packing things away...!

It looks like I may spend on haberdashery - was that couponed? Or shall I salvage zips and buttons and poppers from old clothing, hmmm...

PollyWollyDoodle · 8 January 2019 at 8:37PM

:rotfl: not just me that does things like that, then.

According to the list above sewing thread, elastic and "hard haberdashery" were not on coupons. I think you should be okay with zips then.

Babystepper there is nothing listed about curtains - I assume that all fabric was in short supply, and furnishing fabric would've been rationed as well. I think it's up to you how far you want to take it, most of us are joining in to try and curb our spending on clothes and fabric/yarn, so you could just assume curtains are exempt if you want.

vintagegal · 9 January 2019 at 10:29AM

I've watched two episodes of Marie Kondo and felt terrified at the prospect of putting all my clothes on the bed so that I can see the full extent of what I own... for a start I am going to have a look at what I have that needs mending/adjusting. I know I have some dungarees with a clip that doesn't stay clipped, I'd wear them if that was done, so that should be the first task. I have another dress that I don't like the sleeves on, and it shows too much cleavage, so I might see what can be done with that. Not sure I can do it myself though.

Have been knitting a bit in the evenings and am really enjoying it. Hopefully my screen time will come down. Am still trying to unsubscribe from emails as well.

In the spirit of 'make do and mend' I glued back together two pairs of earrings that I broke last summer and have been meaning to sort out!

Hope you have a good day everyone

Laura_Elsewhere · 9 January 2019 at 6:26PM

vintagegal wrote: »

I've watched two episodes of Marie Kondo and felt terrified at the prospect of putting all my clothes on the bed so that I can see the full extent of what I own...

?!?!?! I don't have a big enough bed! Seriously, I don't... my skirts have 3-6 metres of fabric in each, most are lined, and I have about a dozen of those... and I must have twenty or thirty jumpers of different weights and styles and colours...

We don't use heating much and I'm out on foot most days so I dress very seasonally. I do have too much, I know, but I am gradually replacing multiple bought jumpers with fewer, better, hand-made ones. I don't see any point in throwing out jumpers which have 2-3 years' more wear in them but which are too worn for charity shops and would just go for industrial textile-rags. Better surely for me to keep wearing them while I knit the fewer replacements whilst not buying any more cheap modern jumpers that pill and wear through really fast.

I have another dress that I don't like the sleeves on, and it shows too much cleavage, so I might see what can be done with that. Not sure I can do it myself though.

What IS it with modern designers and plunging necklines for everything? I'm starting to teaching myself how to crochet lace edgings into my t-shirts, vest-tops and long-sleeved tops, because all of them are so low-cut, even the round-necked ones. If I wanted to be a Page Three Girl, I'd be one, but in the meantime, I'd rather not walk round half-topless!

You'll get there, VintageGal - repairing earrings and knitting is a couple of lovely big steps!

Laura_Elsewhere · 9 January 2019 at 6:32PM

I'm re-soling some boots tomorrow instead of buying new ones. I've got quite competent at it over the last few years! It seems so silly to buy new boots because the modern ones with the cast-in-one sole-heel cannot be reliably re-soled or re-heeled so have to be replaced... I do sometimes find a sole suddenly flapping badly and have to pull it off and bring it home in my bag and have another go at the glueing, so I can see why shoemending places won't do it.
And Blakey's non-metal segs on the heels too. Again, as there's nothing in a modern cast-in-one hollow plastic heel to nail the segs into, I have to use lots of glue and spend the first few weeks listening for the odd clip-clunk sound that means one of my boots or shoes has lost its seg, time to walk back and find it... once they're on, they do stay on, though.

For my recent fiftieth birthday my parents are putting money towards having a pair of lace-up leather everyday medium-heeled shoes made for me. I'm quite excited about this! They should outlive me...

PollyWollyDoodle · 9 January 2019 at 11:49PM

Ooh, how lovely! I've always dreamed of having handmade shoes.

I agree about the jumpers, better to wear clothes out than dump them ... as long as you enjoy wearing them. The whole point of Marie Kondo is that you only keep stuff you love, there's no obligation to throw anything out. However the reality for most of us is that we have a lot of clothes that we don't really enjoy wearing! Since I did it, I've got a much more cohesive wardrobe, and I don't find myself pulling ten things out and finding nothing I want to wear. You sound as if you've got a very definite style, Laura, you clearly know what works for your life and what suits you.

vintagegal · 10 January 2019 at 1:42PM

How fabulous to have some shoes made. I love the sound of these shoes with integrity. Please post a picture when you get them!

I'm wearing a cardigan today that I bought last year that was handknitted, it is so warm and beautiful it is inspiring me to keep learning and practicing my knitting. It is so much more special than any machine knitted cardigan I have ever owned. And I supported a small independent business in buying it. Now just to learn how to increase/decrease stitches....:eek:

Laura_Elsewhere · 10 January 2019 at 4:15PM

vintagegal wrote: »

Now just to learn how to increase/decrease stitches....:eek:

Dead easy - promise!

Do a practice piece so you can experiment, but really, it is dead easy. Start with the decreases, as they're simplest. I promise you, you can do this!

Decreases: two sorts, one that produces a look of a diagonal with the top leaning to the left, and one a diagonal with the top leaning to the right. Structurally it doesn't matter but sometimes it's nice to have paired decreases looking symmetrical, ie at the back waist of a fitted cardigan.

Left-leaning: when you reach the two stitches you want to become only one stitch, put the tip of the right-hand (RH) needle into the first stitch as if you're going to purl it. Don't purl it, but just slide it onto the RH needle (it's called "slip purlwise"). Now knit the second of those two stitches as usual. Now you've got both stitches on the RH needle, the first one unknitted and the second one knitted. Use the tip of the LH needle to lift that first one, the slipped-purlwise one, up and over the second one, so you can drop it right off the RH needle, and now your two stitches have become only one, and there's a neat left-leaning diagonal.
Right-leaning: when you reach the two stitches you want to become only one stitch, put the RH needle in as if to knit, but put it in through the second stitch and the first stitch, together. Then knit the pair as if they are one (sometimes it takes a bit of fiddling and checking to make sure you haven't split the yarn or have put the needle through part of the stitch of the row below, but a bit of practice sorts that out). Now you have only one stitch on your RH needle and a neat diagonal leaning to the right.

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2019 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

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