Our thrifty parents

Oh Boadiceajones that is all so familiar, both from my own Mum and then my exMIL, it was ingrained in me never to throw anything away but to save it for future use. My Mothers house was crammed with empty (washed) yogurt pots, Xmas paper, paper bags, carrier bags, old clothes, I could go on for ever. However the sad outcome for me is that although I utterly reject this, I do find it hard every day to throw anything away, I have to fight to keep things tidy rather than 'on the side in case they come in useful', and it is really quite painful to throw clothes and worn shoes out as the guilt is overwhelming. It's not a moral issue for me, just basic training. I don't feel guilty for buying what I need, it's the throwing away that feels so bad.

I have a photo of me - in about 1952 when I was 4 - wearing a pinafore dress made from my dad's old trousers and a jumper reknitted from my mum's old cardigan. Sounds awful but actually I looked quite smart!
My dad was thrifty to the end of his days even though in later years he didn't need need to be. Only to himself though he was generous to me, my brother and our mum.

I also remember that bridesmaid dresses were kept and passed around the family. I also recall that they were always pink, and not always matching!!

Slightly off thread, but my mum was one of 4 sisters (also had 7 brothers, ouch!) They had a set of 3 bridesmaids dresses that were worn in turn as each sister married, war time weddings all. One of the dresses was borrowed by Shirley Williams , her parents' housekeeper was getting married and she wanted to be her bridesmaid. So it was not only the deserving poor who were fugal !

The dress I wore for confirmation was borrowed from a cousin whose family was better off than us. Also wore it as a bridesmaid at my Auntie Pat's wedding (I was called after her.)
It was a cream lacey material. ? lace curtains?
My Mum knew a very clever dressmaker and she made me a winter coat out of Dad's RN overcoat, complete with its anchor buttons.
Clothes were on coupons until March 1949. Dress material almost unobtainable for ages, all used for Forces uniforms.

I have an image of you at your confirmation with a tennis racket in your hand, ready to dash off to the tennis court as soon as the service was over!!

Mrsmopp - as a rather chunky 14yr old that was the last thing on my mind, but thanks for the laugh! I don't believe I ever did wear it for tennis, which I only ever played at school.

My parents played tennis regularly in the early days and when I was a couple of months old were so engrossed with the game it wasn't til they reached home they remembered they had a baby, and that she was still at the courts a mile or so away... I think you could get away with that sort of thing in 1939 though

My mother taught me a very good way to store string: you wind it round your fingers into a circle, wrap one end round one way and the other the other way then tie the ends into a reef knot. It keeps it tidy and is very easy to undo.

Mine caused a family row. The auntie who didn't make the communion dress was furious with the one who did. Very religious sentiments....Sorry off topic.

Alicebandit, I couldn't stop laughing at that.
I have an image of you at your confirmation with a tennis racket in your hand, ready to dash off to the tennis court as soon as the service was over!!
Sorry.

My communion dress made from my sister's wedding dres

This reminded me that mine was made with a divided skirt so it could be used for me to play tennis in afterwards

Stansgran I met a lovely American lady on holiday who made memory quilts. When a person died, the family gave her a bag of their clothes and she made the fabric up into the most beautiful quilt. She even incorporated the pockets and buttons from shirts into the design. She showed me photos and the quilts looked like they would indeed be a treasured memory of the person who wore the clothes.
I don't know if it is a traditional thing to do but I was quite taken by the idea.

Oh, Stansgran, that quilt is beautiful. And being made of old clothes, every square has meaning. What a lovely idea.

Hootsmcowlface, why not seek out a craft group, they will be glad of the duvet covers. They cut them into hexagons and sew them up as patchwork quilting. I've never done it but you could ask on the crafts board on gransnet for advice?
Pensionpat

That's lovely!

I used to get a new bought dress for Whitsun,it fell about the same time as the Sunday school anniversary so it was for that, and it was my best dress for the year. All my other clothes were home made.

Mrs Mopp. Billy Connolly called them "corned beef legs"

I never throw anything away if it could be useful. I darn holes in socks and tights and mend holes in clothes.I use empty jam jars for my white spirit and oil painting medium. (I am an artist) I eventually throw out old newspapers,but not before I've gone through them and cut out anything which might be useful. I sell good clothes I don't want any more at a dress agency and I've been known to buy something in a charity shop and then sell it at a profit at the dress agency. We still have my parents' dining suite and several bookcases and their double bed. Why throw things out if they are functional?

Legs getting blotchy from sitting by the fire - the rest of the house like an igloo.

Of course not only but also, unheated houses. My feet were wrapped in an old jumper in bed and I never went up without a hot water bottle. Ice formed on the inside of windows and the living room fire had to be cleaned and prepared every day. Sauce pans boiled on the cooker for the weekly bath and all the other things already mentioned.

X post Newquay

Oh Hooty someone will be very glad of those-even the charity shop, they get paid for "rags" by weight.

Towels - Dogs' homes are always glad of old towels and old duvets.

If they go to the charity shop they may sell them because people buy them for the fabric Hooty.
Otherwise they get so much per ton (or whatever) from the rag man.
I gave mine (quite good ones, bright and cheerful, but very unfashionable!) to a group of ladies who were making pretty bags to cover drain bags for the local hospital (those horrible things you have after surgery).

I've just sorted out my airing cupboard and have a pile of old duvet covers and towels - not good enough to give to charity shops, but what do I do with them? It grieves me to just throw them in the bin! I just can't bring myself to do it! Help!?

In 1946 my DH and I were married after being in the Forces with nowhere to live, very little clothes, and only our gratuities so,had to be very thrifty and I am still the same even though I a m well off. At the moment I am wearing a sun dress I made forty years ago from a remnant off the market stall. I cannot abide waste and this throwaway society.