Make Do and Mend

In the midst of WWII in Britain, spouses at war and stretched budgets left housewives to “make do” with what they had. Make Do and Mend was first published as a pamphlet in 1943, as a cheerful reminder of the techniques for household solutions provided by wartime government. Now, republished in the twenty-first century, these tips can be used to spruce up your household and wardrobe on a dime. The book includes old-fashioned remedies for everything from washing silks to repelling the “moth menace,” as well as patterns and directions on how to patch holes in clothing with stylish fabric, and how to take scraps of wool to create new looks. The book also includes “grand ways to eke out dated or worn cloths” and provides ways of “re-making old garments which you have never considered.” References throughout to the scarcity of materials speaks to how valuable these tips and tricks were in wartime Britain. For example, in a section devoted to the corset, readers are reminded that “now that rubber is so scarce your corset is one of your most precious possessions.”
From the “too-tight blouse” to the “cure for bagginess,” Make Do and Mend is filled with the charm and wit of the 1940s and provides the time-tested, fail-safe solutions from generations past that will be a delight to nostalgia seekers and homemakers of today.