Make Do and Mend was one of several campaigns introduced by the British Government (with the help of voluntary organisations) to reduce clothing consumption and save resources during the Second World War. Offering practical guidance on caring for, altering, and mending clothes, instructional pamphlets were produced. In collaboration with voluntary groups, the scheme also offered classes in fibrecraft techniques, such as dressmaking.
From the outset of the war in 1939, resources had quickly depleted, and people were encouraged to participate in several different means of making the most of the clothing they already had. Where voluntary groups were already providing skills and techniques in making the most of garments, the Board of Trade published the Extension of the Life of Clothing – A Preliminary Investigation on 2 July 1941, a paper which considered how to reduce civilian consumption through prolonging the use of garments. [1]
Launched collaboratively by the Board of Trade in conjunction with voluntary groups (including the Women's Group on Public Welfare and the Women's Institute (WI), alongside the National Council of Social Services, [2] in 1942, the Make-Do and Mend scheme set out to promote education in the techniques of dressmaking and tailoring, clothes mending, needlework, and knitting, and garment care. [2]
With the rise in the cost-of-living index and the implementation of clothes rationing in 1941, savings could be made by creating garments through home sewing, knitting, and crochet, or through mending or altering old clothes, increasing appeal of using or learning new techniques. [2]
Make-Do and Mend cemented frugality through thrift as an important contribution to the war effort, [1] something which many individuals and families were already well practiced in, especially four years into the war. [3]
In 1943, the Ministry of Information showcased a newsreel which encouraged the civilian public to repair and alter clothing, and re-use fabrics in order to save valuable resources for the war effort. [4] Following the premiere of the short film, which depicted potential projects for the established home sewer, options for those willing to learn new dressmaking skills, and those short on coupons, [4] Make-Do and Mend was promoted further through several government-created promotional posters, [5] and pamphlets. [6]
The Board of Trade produced the first Make-Do and Mend informational booklet in 1943, which contained further information regarding the scheme, and was circulated amongst the population. Such instructional pamphlets contained advice including different ways to mend, darn, and patch garments, how to protect clothing from moths, and methods of laundering, as well as instruction on re-modelling men's clothes into womenswear pieces. [6] Advisory booklets, along with other promotional materials including films and posters which were used to inform the public of the benefits and methods of mending and making-do, often depicted Mrs Sew And Sew, a character who became very well-known as part of the campaign. [7]
Alongside governmental initiatives, the popular press not only advertised the campaign, but produced several practical guides on caring for and mending clothes as well as dressmaking techniques, alongside articles covering the Make-Do and Mend scheme. [3] Evening classes teaching different skills were held by the Women's Institute and the Women's Voluntary Service (WVS), [3] which also served as a collective space to share solidarity with others. [3] The WVS established clothing exchanges where children’s garments could be swapped once outgrown, a further way to access scarce clothing during wartime. [7]
Clothing is any item worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural products found in the environment, put together. The wearing of clothing is mostly restricted to human beings and is a feature of all human societies. The amount and type of clothing worn depends on gender, body type, social factors, and geographic considerations. Garments cover the body, footwear covers the feet, gloves cover the hands, while hats and headgear cover the head, and underwear covers the private parts.
Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a sewing needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving fabric, archaeologists believe Stone Age people across Europe and Asia sewed fur and leather clothing using bone, antler or ivory sewing-needles and "thread" made of various animal body parts including sinew, catgut, and veins.
Knitting is the process of using two or more needles to pull and loop yarn into a series of interconnected loops in order to create a finished garment or some other type of fabric. The word is derived from knot, thought to originate from the Dutch verb knutten, which is similar to the Old English cnyttan, "to knot". Its origins lie in the basic human need for clothing for protection against the elements. More recently, hand knitting has become less a necessary skill and more of a hobby.
Rationing was introduced temporarily by the British government several times during the 20th century, during and immediately after a war.
Darning is a sewing technique for repairing holes or worn areas in fabric or knitting using needle and thread alone. It is often done by hand, but using a sewing machine is also possible. Hand darning employs the darning stitch, a simple running stitch in which the thread is "woven" in rows along the grain of the fabric, with the stitcher reversing direction at the end of each row, and then filling in the framework thus created, as if weaving. Darning is a traditional method for repairing fabric damage or holes that do not run along a seam, and where patching is impractical or would create discomfort for the wearer, such as on the heel of a sock.
A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician.
The Royal Voluntary Service is a voluntary organisation concerned with helping people in need throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1938 by Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading, as a British women's organisation to recruit women into the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) services to help in the event of War.
Mary Brooks Picken was an American author of 96 books on needlework, sewing, and textile arts. Her Fashion Dictionary was published by Funk and Wagnalls in 1957.
Complete garment knitting is a next-generation form of fully fashioned knitting that adds the capability of making a 3-dimensional full garment. Unlike other fully fashioned knitting, where the shaped pieces must still be sewn together, finished complete knitted garments do not have seams. The knitting machines' computerized instructions direct movement of hundreds of needles to construct and connect several tubular knitted forms to create a complete garment in a single production step.
Haute couture is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design. The term haute couture is French, "haute" meaning "high" or "elegant," and "couture" translating to "sewing" or "dressmaking." The term haute couture generally refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the 18th century, or to the upper portion of a modern dress to distinguish it from the skirt and sleeves. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Paris became the centre of a growing industry that focused on making outfits from high-quality, expensive, often unusual fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable of sewers—often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques. Couture translates literally from French as "dressmaking", sewing, or needlework and is also used as a common abbreviation of haute couture and can often refer to the same thing in spirit.
Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic Era. Although usually associated with clothing and household linens, sewing is used in a variety of crafts and industries, including shoemaking, upholstery, sailmaking, bookbinding and the manufacturing of some kinds of sporting goods. Sewing is the fundamental process underlying a variety of textile arts and crafts, including embroidery, tapestry, quilting, appliqué and patchwork.
Paper clothing is garments and accessories made from paper or paper substitutes.
The CC41 Utility logo was an identifying mark of products produced and sold as part of the British Government's Second World War Utility Clothing Scheme.
The Utility Clothing Scheme was a programme introduced in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. In response to the shortage of clothing materials and labour due to wartime austerity, the Government's Board of Trade put the Utility Clothing Scheme in place in order to standardise the production, sale, and purchase of clothing in wartime. The Scheme embodied a variety of measures to ensure the availability of fabric, clothing, and shoes, which were proposed to ensure availability, no matter of the consumer’s socioeconomic circumstances.
Women's Home Industries was a company founded in 1947 in London to earn export revenue for the UK in the post-war period by harnessing women's craft skills, such as knitting and needlework.
Feed sack dresses, flour sack dresses, or feedsack dresses were a common article of clothing in rural US and Canadian communities from the late 19th century through the mid 20th century. They were made at home, usually by women, using the cotton sacks in which flour, sugar, animal feed, seeds, and other commodities were packaged, shipped, and sold. They became an iconic part of rural life from the 1920s through the Great Depression, World War II, and post-World War II years.
Bernadette Banner is an American YouTuber, author, and former costume assistant currently based in London.
Shuitianyi, also known as “paddy field garment”, "Shuitian clothing", or "rice-paddy robe", is a non-religious Chinese patchwork gown which was made and worn by women in China during the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty; it was made by using many pieces of fabric sewn together ; the clothing reflected the era's tendency towards fashion novelty during the Ming dynasty.
Muriel Craigie, OBE (1889–1971) was a leading Scottish suffragist, honoured by two nations as a major volunteer organiser in both World Wars, and a 'noted educationist' during local authority education reforms.
Visible mending is a form of repair work, usually on textile items, that is deliberately left visible. The dual goals of this practice are to adorn the item, and to attract attention to the fact it has been mended in some way. The latter is often a statement of critique on the consumerist idea of replacing broken items with new ones without trying to bring them back to full functionality. In other words, the repair is supposed to be a new and distinct feature of the item.