Our thrifty parents

Oh how I loved to read about "thrifty parents", everything was so familiar, how we learnt and are still doing some things, they were hard times after the war, but we have a happy childhood to look back on.

I remember most of things posted we still recycle oh more than me it's true old habits die hard .

DH brought his gardening shirt to me to ask if it could possibly be mended. He got rather near a spitty bonfire and it looks like he was caught by a massive shower of shrapnel! Some things yes but this - no, it would be perfect on a hot day with all those air holes!

anyone remember whittsy clothes,bought for whitsentide,

This brings back memories for me. I earned a thrift badge as a Girl Guide and I wish I could remember what I had to do to get it.

I remember helping my father to make the "cones" out of twisted & rolled up newspaper, several were laid in the grate & wood & coal put on top. The wood & newspaper ignited quickly but burned slowly enough to light the coal, it was my favourite job

It makes me laugh when the younger ones see recycling and the new trendy upcycling as a fantastic new concept thought up by them.
My DIL is amazed that I know how to do it.

My christening dress was made from parachute silk mesmopp I still have it.

Werent wedding dresses made from parachute silk? I think I read it somewhere.
So were parachutes were only used once then? I know clothes were rationed in war time - you needed precious coupons for everything. I can remember ration books as they continued after the war ended. I was born in 44.

I remember most of the above. Our parents were raised during the depression and and the war years where everything was on ration. There were good habits in those days. Actually the only way to survive.

My mother re-used anything she could, string, elastic bands, paper bags, wrapping paper etc and she loved telling us about one of her wartime dresses. She'd made it from one of her brothers' black rugby shirts and a pack of pink dusters which she pleated for the skirt. She was so proud of that dress.

I cut old t shirts up for using to polish shoes, use once then throw away.

I was astonished when I discovered that my daughter had been tearing up the little boys old t shirts, vests etc for floor cloths. That is something I never did.

Old towels were cut up for floorcloths

Newspaper cut up for toilet paper...
My father had his own last to repair shoes...
My communion dress made from my sisters wedding dress......
I was the youngest of 11 and my siblings think I had it easy

DH has a very nice soft flannel shirt which has frayed at the collar, I was just wondering whether I could turn the collar. The rest of it is fine (M&S, not cheap).

Sheets that were thinning in the middle cut up and sewn edge to edge
Sides to Middle.
DM used to French seam the middle, it was tidier and didn't fray but you could always feel it!

Oranges used to be sold wrapped in tissue paper Mum would save this to be used for toilet paper!

Sheets that were thinning in the middle cut up and sewn edge to edge. Shirt collars turned.

All so familiar. It was just 'normal - and some of it still is .

Lace or crochet inserts in dresses to make them longer. Yes
Old clothes cut down. yes
Sweaters re knitted as Fair Isle . Yes
Old towels cut down for face flannels. Yes
Wall paper left overs to cover school books
Coal fire cinders to fill in holes in un adopted roads

LullyDully I think they were called 'false hems', the dress had been let down as far as it could, then a strip of fabric sewn on, turned inside with about an eighth of an inch of dress fabric, then hemmed.
Sheets were 'sides to middled' (I never like sleeping on those!)
Yes, I had good Clark's sandals, but the toes were cut out at the end of the summer to make them last until the end of the holidays.
Dad used to mend our shoes, and he used to use those quarter bits on the heels where the heels wore down on the outside.

We still keep string, brown paper, old envelopes, icecream cartons, lots of things 'just in case' and it does just clutter up the house and the garage is full of old jars full of screws and goodness' knows what else.

I had jumpers knitted out of odd pieces of wool. The stripes looked very nice. My mother's version of fair isle.. My aunt made us knickers and nightdresses out of silk parachutes. I don't know where she found them!

I still keep bits of string for tying up in the garden and my shopping lists are always written on the backs of envelopes. I feel a bit mean doing this but last week I was in a supermarket with my old envelope in my hand and the man standing next to me had his shopping list written on a cardboard box.

Old habits , learnt from our parents, die hard.

We were poorer than most families in our area due to my feckless father. If our shoes got holes in them, our mum would cut out shoe shapes from pieces of cardboard and put them inside the shoe. Can you imagine how long that lasted when it rained! Oversized school uniforms for those of us who passed the 11+, as many have said above, bought with Co-op of Provident cheques (checks). My mother was an excellent cook and could make a meal for 8 of us for next to nothing when my father decided he didn't fancy working and had no money to give her to feed us (plenty for the pub though). Twisted newspapers for the fire when we couldn't afford coal and oh the shame I felt if one of my school friends saw me taking an old pram to collect coke from the local gas works. Coats on the bed when it was really cold.

It is ingrained in us isn't it and I cannot change my ways either. We are financially much better off now but the old habits stick. Recycling is nothing new, we have been doing it for years haven't we?
Like Charleygirl, my gabardine mac came down to my feet and I did envy my class mates whose clothes actually fitted! 'You have to leave room to grow into it' said my mum, 'I can't be buying you one of these things every year!' It worked because she never had to buy me another one.
My school dresses were home made and the hem of the skirt must have been about 8 inches deep, so it could be let down each year as I grew. Imagine trying that one today! Proper hems don't exist any more.