The way things used to be

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It’s funny but not so long ago I was chatting to Little One about modern lifestyles and how things have changed. We were doing some sewing and I was talking about how useful it is to be able to make and/or mend things and how life has changed in my and my parents’ lifetimes. And she agreed that you never know when things can change. Nowadays clothes are cheap, people are happy to buy new things all the time and throw away the ones they have got tired of. Same for furniture and other homewares. Of course we benefit from this as well because shopping in charity shops or on Ebay or other second-hand sites is very fashionable and a great source of all sorts of things at good prices! Apart from underwear we rarely buy new clothes or household goods. As a result I don’t often make clothes any more because it’s more expensive than buying them, except for special occasions. But I do still mend or alter things when necessary. When I was growing up clothes were quite expensive, we would usually go to the January sales to look for bargains of clothes and homewares such as bedding, curtains etc. and those things were all kept until they wore out, there was no thought of changing curtains to a different colour just for the sake of it, for example. Charity shops were few and the ones that did exist were mostly dingy places with that distinctive smell of old clothes, and it would be shameful to be seen going into one. Jumble sales were a source of second-hand goods but again you wouldn’t admit to wearing anything bought there! But they were a useful source of fabric for crafts for example. Second hand furniture and electrical goods and things like bicycles could sometimes be picked up from ‘small ads’ in the local paper. My school friends and I used to make our own clothes for going out and it was all part of the fun, and a lot cheaper than buying them. When my parents were growing up they would have a trip to the city (by train) once a year to buy new winter coats and household goods. Everything was used as much as possible – outgrown clothes were handed down, and if necessary altered to make something different. Bed sheets were turned ‘sides to middle’ when the central part wore thin so they would last longer. Pans and buckets (all metal in those days, plastic hadn’t been invented) were mended by travelling tinkers. Clothes were patched and darned, and when past repair old sheets and worn out clothes were torn up to use for cleaning and polishing, and yes also for sanitary pads (no disposables in those days). Furniture was handed down from generation to generation – and I still have some that came from my parents’ grandparents. Things were made to last and whatever you had just had to be adapted according to need, there was no thought of just popping out to buy something. You would just have to look for a spare bit of fabric, wood, leather or whatever was necessary to create what you needed. A large drawer from a chest made a cot; a wooden fruit crate covered in re-purposed fabric and padded with an old blanket made a pretty sewing box or foot stool, the marble top from a wash-stand could be re-used to make a draining board for the kitchen sink when piped water arrived. Now we are facing a ‘cost of living crisis’ and are being told we will experience the biggest fall in our standard of living for 70 years. So who knows, maybe we will be back to patching our clothes and finding uses for old rags. And all those people who ‘decluttered’ all their useful odds and ends may live to regret it! At least I believe my own daughters will be somewhat prepared for whatever happens. The picture shows a patchwork quilt I found among my mother's things. And this isn't one of those trendy quilts made with specially-purchased brand-new fabric, you can see this has been made the way patchwork began, from a collection of old clothes and furnishing fabrics. All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2022.