“MAKE DO AND MEND”

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 233, 29 June 1944, Page 6

“MAKE DO AND MEND”

Board Of Trade Helps With Clothes Problems Practical help in regard to clothes and the consequent saving of money and coupons is offered to the women of Britain by the Board of Trade, which has issued a series of Make Do and Mend pamphlets to aid the solution of problems that have to be faced in all homes because of the war. A set of these pamphlets has been received through the oliice in Wellington of the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom in New Zealand. They illustrate in a simple, direct way, with the aid of diagrams and illustrations, how garments can be mended or renewed. If a dress problem is difficult, or if women have not done a lot. of sew ing, they are invited to take their patching and renovating to a “make do and mend class. Local evening institutes, technical colleges or women’s organizations run classes and there are citizens’ advice bureaux, which tell inquirers where and when these classes meet. One pamphlet covers every conceivable type of patching; that on darning says “a neat darn is a real badge of honour these days ; others deal respectively with remaking a coat, getting a new frock from two old ones, and by careful cutting..being able to have' enough good material from a man’s shirt for a little frock and knickers for a two-year-old child. “Every woman is her own clothes doctor.” declares the pamphlet on treatments for clothes complaints. There are directions for lengthening frocks, repairing pleats, decorative elbow patches, replacing pockets and giving new life to a pullover. With the pamphlets goes, a large poster showing that needlework is not enough. Girls should be able to do jobs round the house to help win the war. There are hints on ironing wisdom, washing, care for a sewing machine, care of brushes, curtains, loose knife handles. At one time it was said that the. women of wartime England declared it was “smart to be shabby." The pamphlets illustrate how easy it is to be smart, but not shabby; it is generally recognized that smart clothes are a morale builder and as good as a “pep" talk to the feminine wearer.