Fabric Rationing

As a young child in the late nineteen-forties my mother and I lived with two adorable maiden aunts. Most things were rationed in England until the early nineteen-fifties, fabric and clothing included. However my two aunts worked for the English couturiers Marshall & Snellgrove, one as a dressmaker, the other as a cutter. Occasionally, ‘Madam’, as she was called, would allow my aunts to sort through the off-cut baskets because she knew there was a little girl in their household.

Dancing to ‘Buttons and Bows’

My favourite song, for which I choreographed a dance, was ‘Buttons and Bows’. I forget now who sang it, but it was the best! My Mum, for my birthday in July, made me a beautiful pink crepe silk dress, with a flounce at the hem, and stitched pretty blue bows all down the front of the bodice and pretty blue buttons all down the back. It had a lovely blue silk sash and I adored it.

Red Riding Hood Cape

Also for the same birthday my aunts made me a gorgeous red velvet cape, with a hood, all lined with white satin. I had black patent leather shoes and white socks, to which my mother stitched, on the outside of each ankle, a little blue bow topped with a blue button. One of my pairs of socks had a pink crocheted frill as well as the button and bow!

Best Dressed Post-War Child

Mum would wash, unpick and press her younger sisters’ clothes once they had outgrown them and make me something really pretty. My mother’s youngest sister was only eight years my senior and I recall looking predatorily at what she was wearing and deciding what I wanted Mum to make for me when Marian cast it off!

Beginning to be organised and, hopefully, generous

For a small girl at that time I had the most amazing wardrobe of clothing and really I think I must have been quite spoiled, but not too much because when my younger girl cousins (whom I saw every Saturday) admired what I was wearing I would let them try it on. Already the beginnings of my organised mind were obviously beginning to show for I would get my notebook out and write in that I had promised to Linda, or Barbara, or Susan, or Wendy, a particular outfit, and the date I had done so! I would also tear out another page and write a memo to my mother, so that she didn’t give it to the wrong girl!!

What goes around comes around

Of course that really paid off because my Mum would then receive as donations to the cause her sister’s or sisters-in-law’s own clothes to remake for all of us girls. Naturally from all these remakes of dresses and skirts and off-cuts we had even more off-cuts and so began my interest in small pieces of fabric and what could be done with them. The obvious thing was to make a quilt! My aunts suggested that I begin with something smallish, perhaps for Koly, my bear. So I did.