Waste Not ...

Being brought up by a mother who had grown up during the Depression of the thirties, World War II rationing and the austerity that went on into the fifties,

I have an aversion to throwing away anything that might be useful. 

Fester is much the same. 

We wear our clothes until they are worn out:  trousers and jeans are patched at least twice before we give up on them. 

Ferretfingers, however, is a dab hand at destroying any garment once any sort of hole appears.

When we have finally given up on outgrown, worn out or kit formed clothes, bedding and shoes the remains are take up to the Hospice Shop for their rag bag. 

We keep a carrier bag in the living room and, clean, items are dumped in it until there’s enough to make the walk worth it. The present unpleasantness means we are up to three bags.

But …

You may have read previous blogs about face coverings.

The other day I discovered a pattern for diamond shaped masks, smaller, easier to wear and layered so no need for pleating.  They're made entirely from half or quarter circles of material so a large dinner-plate can be used as a template for cutting out.

 

Last Friday’s rainy afternoon a pair of cotton boxer shorts and torn polycotton sheet were used to make (clockwise from top left):-

2 facecoverings with no straps to send to Bigsister to finish off for her and her husband who both have small heads.

2 facecoverings for Ferretfingers, using recycled braces (suspenders for our American friends) for the straps.

2 facecoverings for Thunderthighs, using the boxers' waistband for straps.

2 facecoverings for me, using another boxers' waistband a recycled bra-band for straps.

Each mask has two lining layers of polycotton sheeting.

Ferretfinger’s helped by kitforming the boxers.

Thunderthighs helped by cutting out half circles of sheeting.

I gave Ferretfingers a pair of his brother's torn beyond repair cotton trousers and the sewing machine stitch ripper.  He had a lovely few hours kitforming them, even removing the zip and pockets.  I now have some sizeable bits of material to make their father some more facecoverings - the next time I can face the sewing machine.