h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I put mine on tonight and wondered if I was the only person still wearing hers (it doesn't even fit me properly, as I have changed shape slightly during the past 24 years). Then I remembered my mum still has hers ...

We made ours in needlework in the first year (year 7 UK nowadays), ready for when we did domestic science (ie, cookery) the following year.

But we don't have the clay triceratops I made any more

Mol

I never made an apron I made a little shopping bag with an elephant on the front and yes 24 years on I've still got it.My mum however found her apron when she moved house, she will be 66 this year!

Yes, I've still got my aprons - in a box in the attic.

We made two aprons at primary school.

The first was a knitting apron, designed to tie round the waist and keep the work clean.
Mine was blue and had my name embroidered on the waist band. Each letter of my name had to be done about seven times, my stitching was so bad - and despite being washed a few times over the years, the whole thing still looks grubby.

The second was the one made in P7 - like Mol's, for Domestic Science when we went up to the Big School.
Mine was grey, white and pale blue gingham - and there's not a chance in hell of it fitting me now - except in a very odd sort of French Maid fashion .

Did anyone knit a tea-cosy at school? We did the one with the chequered design, where one colour was passed behind a block of the other colour and pulled tight to make little 'puffy' bits which would insulate the tea-pot.

Crikey, you've got me started now.
The first thing I ever knitted at school was a scarf with triangular points at the end, one of which passed through a loop on the other to make it sit snugly around the neck.

My handwork at primary school was pretty abyssmal - which is rather ironic as I now make my living from manipulating sharp pointy things in people's mouths.

I don't know aobut the apron. Chances are it's hidden away in the back of the linen closet in my parets. But I know they still have the Pig and Hedgehog my sister and I made in first year (high School) art classes.

I remember making the apron though - and the knitting classes. that's where I learned to read and knit at the same time. God but I was nerd!

Zantic

We didn't do knitting at school

I forgot that with the apron, we made a matching alice band. I'm not sure where that's gone, though.

The sewing machines at school were dreadful, tiny press on the pedal, nothing happened, a little more, nothing happened, a little more, zoooooooooom! One wiggly line of stitching in the wrong place. When I was making a silk bridesmaid's dress a few years ago, I thought how surprised my needlework teacher would be if she could see me doing it.

We also did embroidery samplers, which I enjoyed doing so much that I finished off several of my friends' ones too

Mol

I dont have an apron but I still have the foot-stool I made in woodwork classes.

It has been re-seated a few times but the woodwork is as sound as the day it was made 40+ year ago. They dont make 'em like that anymore.

Donald

I didn't make an Apron in school but I did make a couple of skirts, I took embroidary CSE (showing my age now) and got a grade one pass, the Tablecloth I cross stitched and the applique seagull flying over cliffs is still on our wall 20 years later, I still cross stitch and knit, my mum still mutters about how she was able to knit in class when the teacher was reading out loud, I could knit by then, tought by mum but I was never allowed to take it to school

Ok here comes the plug The h2g2 Craft Guild is here A2750302 if anyone is intresting chatting and swapping patterns and ideas

Oh heck, I just don't have *time* for doing crafts and stuff nowadays . Although, thinking about it, a virtual craft could be cool ... I think I'll start on that tapestry *right now* .

Donald, I am impressed by the footstool. My brother made a key holder in woodwork (three pegs in a strip of wood: I mean, it's very good, but quite, er, small) (although, thinking about it, what's a footstool but three pegs in a circle of wood?). I didn't do woodwork, of course, being a girl.

Do young people still learn this practical kind of stuff at school?
*thinks: that should probably be "are they taught" ... which is not quite the same thing*

Mol

One of the most useful things I was taught in school was how to change an electrical plug.
Stood me in good stead that - but less important these days now that everything comes ready 'plugged'.

>> what's a footstool but three pegs in a circle of wood?). <<

Three legs and a circle of wood! I'm insulted!

This one is four legs with batons joined with mortise and tenon joints and a basket-weave seat of sea-grass. Although called a footstool, it is quite comfortable to sit on. I did make a coffee table as well which was three legs and a circle of wood, but that fell apart years ago.

As for young people learning artisan skills to-day, I doubt it. It is all computers these days which wouldn't be so bad if they were also taught spelling and grammar which, judging by some of the things a read on the Internet, is a dying art.

Donald

>> One of the most useful things I was taught in school was how to change an electrical plug. <<

Thats on of the skills I learnt in the Army, along with making beds, scrubbing floors, cleaning sinks, darning sock and ironing shirts. Join the Army and be a man they said - and the first three weeks were spent learning "womans work". I uppose it's better now that females are more integrated into the Army.

Donald

we had to buy our aprons for woodwork and metalwork
1 term of 1 year we did do domestic science
I was better at that than metalwork
the ashtray I made had a little hole in 1 corner, very messy

I think my "pinny" got consigned to the tip when we cleared Mum's house....it was bottle green and white gingham with my initials on the folded over top corners...

I dropped out of CSE needlework - the skirt I made was unidentifiable!

I did woodwork at school, the first year secondary which is now year 7 I think I made a chopping board which was used by mum until it warped so badly it couldn't be used anymore, A tray in year 8 that was again used until it fell apart and in year 9 a small bookshelf which my ex husband has, I think the basic, cookery,needlework, woodwork and metalworkare still taught in schools, I know nothing crafty like simple needlework is taught in primary schools well not in Hampshire anyway

My mum still uses the apron I made at primary school with potato prints in dye on the front!

My girls are both still at school and, yes, they do still do cookery and needlework (although now called food tech and textiles!) and the girls also get the chance to do woodwork and metalwork which is a lot more than we were allowed to do in my day

I never made an apron at school, but my sister did, and I still have her apron in use. It looks ugly, the grease is part of the tissue now, no matter what I try, I can't clean it, but I don't take any other apron

Thats on of the skills I learnt in the Army, along with making beds, scrubbing floors, cleaning sinks, darning sock and ironing shirts. Join the Army and be a man they said - and the first three weeks were spent learning "womans work". I uppose it's better now that females are more integrated into the Army.

Oh Donald!
I learned how to change a plug and iron (but not to Army standard) at school. I learned about mopping and how to clean a carpet with a glove of sellotape in the Army, as well as ironing and bulling boots/shoes. You could slice tomatoes with the creases I put in shirtsleeves. (btw, the guys were always better at the "woman stuff" than we WRAC were...)

Getting back on topic. I never made an apron, but I have several stuffed felt animals that I made in Junior School (well, they reside with the Gruesome Twosome now) In the 1st year senior I made a skirt, but no idea what happened to that, then in 2nd year I made a blouse with set in sleeves while the others (I was new to the school) made an elasticated waisted skirt.

My blouse is still around, my mum has it. I was, however, asked not to continue with needlework because "I was rubbish" (teacher's comment) which was so obviously not true that my mum screeched with laughter. As we still do now, about 30 years later, because I make goodly percentage of my, and the gruesomes, clothes. I did music instead and truly was rubbish at that.

(it was an all girls boarding school, woodwork was a dirty word - although I took it up recently, and it's great fun)

In my school boys had to do cookery and needlework too, you should have heard the whinging, My hubby's dad (A Flight sergant) taught both his son's to iron, something I was forever grateful for cos I hated ironing shirts, My ex would also never go out unless his shoes were polished and always wore a shirt or polo shirt, something he's not doing these days I'm afraid to say

I made a little yellow and blue apron. I am sad to say that I also sewed little bells on the pockets.

God only knows what I thought I was doing

Soooo you lot actually finished yours...