Mrs. Sew & Sew

Woman's Friend No. 997 June 15, 1995

   

Woman and Home,  January 1945

Woman's Friend, 3 August 1945

Mrs. Sew-and-Sew was created by the Ministry of Information to encourage wartime Britain to 'Make Do and mend', she appeared in magazines, leaflets and posters, explaining how to patch, darn and alter worn clothing. Above are a few examples from my collection of 1940s magazines. Please click on the articles to enlarge.

A patched overall from the charity shop in Deptford

My friend Betty Keith who was a young girl during the Second World War talks about her experience of mending:

'My Auntie used to sit for hours darning socks, mending socks because you hadn't the coupons to buy them then you see. When we were bombed out it came down in the most beautiful pure silk linen, what can I say.... my Auntie played pop. She said we should have got that parachute for making underwear. We spent the next twelve hours in the air raid shelter.'