Mending And Making Do

Recent high winds did a fair bit of damage to our Cornerstones garden fence [thank you Alwyn, our neighbour, who phoned us at the time, and brother Adrian who did a temporary repair] Good weather on Thursday meant Bob was able to fix some new panels [when time, and budget permits, we hope to replace them all]

Meanwhile Jon and Liz had arrived with some mending for me. Jon’s “Shutt Velo Rapide” cycling top had developed holes in the pocket. When he contacted them, they sent a strip of fabric for him to patch it with!

The strip was only 1” wide – so I ended up cutting it in half, and sewing the two bits together which I then fixed right across the base of the three pockets to give them all extra strength.

Meanwhile Liz had a jumper which arrived with the collar band unstitched. She contacted the company and they sent her a refund. And I mended the jumper [one of the threads sorted out earlier was a perfect match] It is almost invisible!

I was feeling very pleased with our mending skills till Friday, when Bob and I visited the Bridewell Museum in Norwich. It was excellent- great displays and very informative. I was particularly taken with “Spitfire Cottage” – a doll’s house built during WW2 by two teachers in Norwich.

   Look at the amazing detail – all made from scraps. The WC is a broken clay pipe, other tiny fittings made from cut up ping pong balls and plastic thimbles – slivers of wood, matchsticks and scraps of metal, fabric and paper have produced a wonderfully detailed piece. Even the books have tiny words on the covers, and are coloured in authentic ‘Penguin’ style!

The loo flushes! My parents had a bath rack like that

Notice the hand embroidered antimacassar on the back of the sofa and the woven rush footstool

See the tiny wooden rolling pin, and the roller towel on the wall 

The amazing electric fire with reflecting concave back – and the neatest doyley under the fruit bowl

That doll- barely ½” tall has a crocheted dress to wear.  

Such amazing detail. Hand woven, carved, knitted, sewn and crafted…

I am in awe of such meticulous workmanship! [should that be work-woman-ship?] The broom is less than 3” high. It is all a truly brilliant piece of work.

I do hope their exhibition raised lots of money – these two women had worked so hard to recreate a 1940’s home in meticulous detail. Many people are complaining about living in “21st Century Austerity Britain” – but it is a shame that the make-do-and-mend attitude of the War Years was forgotten so quickly by so many people, who opted to live in a throwaway society.  I love recycling, refurbishing, repurposing and redeeming those things which others are discarding.