Handwork – Page 4 – Deborah Makarios

November 28, 2022October 19, 2023

Flannel Petticoat II: It Came from the Mending Basket

I recently discovered a fabulous way of reducing the pile of things forming archaeological layers – or possibly new civilizations – in the mending basket. Bin? Absolutely not. Forced labour? Also no. The trick, it turns out, is to shift the goal posts.

The mending basket has got a bit out of hand…

For a ridiculously long time, I have had a flannel nightie in my mending basket, waiting for a mend. Button-bereft garments come and go, elastic waistbands stretch and are replaced, tears are darned or patched, but this was beyond me. The worn-through yoke needed replacing. Did I know how to replace a yoke? No. So I left the nightie in the basket until such time as enlightenment descended.

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May 31, 2022October 19, 2023

In Praise of Old Technology: the Flannel Petticoat

Flannel petticoats, where have you been all my life?

Last winter I made myself a flannel petticoat. I can’t remember why – it was just one of those sudden certainties that seize upon me (like the Dishonour Cow). I just knew that I needed a flannel petticoat, eftsoons. (2. (now archaic), soon after.)

And how right I was. You don’t notice any sudden change when you put it on of a chilly morning, but believe me, you notice when you take it off. Off your outer layers come, with scarcely a change in your temperature. And then you remove the flannel petticoat and suddenly YOU ARE COLD.

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August 21, 2021August 21, 2021

The Birth of a Sock

There comes a time in everyone’s life, sooner or later, when they stop partway through getting dressed, and, for the first time, ask themselves that deep question: where do socks come from?

Fear not, your questions are about to be answered, in the relative anonymity and privacy of the internet (relative to your settings, choice of browser, &c.).

The process begins when a sock egg is laid. These eggs can be found in great numbers at your LYS (Lair of Young Socks), where you can select the sock species of your preference. As socks do not like the solitary life, it is generally best to get two eggs of the same sort, although some advanced practitioners have had success with combining two eggs of complementary though different species.

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