Recycling and Reviving Warm Winter Clothes

Problems

A traditional deerstalker hat worn by Sherlock Holmes and sold in Scotland and England protects your ears from the cold and your eyes from light on snowy days. I had just given up hope of finding one when I saw it half price in the children's section of Primark in London, England.

1 HATS
Light hats blow off.

2 CLOTHES
Clothes are not warm enough.

3 SHOES AND SOCKS
Sensible summer sandals are too lightweight for winter walking and let in water and frost.

4 FEELING CHILLED

Answers
1 HATS
Sew a ribbon to secure your hat. To tie a bow under your chin, you need two pieces of ribbon. Allow a long enough piece to tie a bow. If your ribbon is too short. Use one piece of ribbon extended with a piece of elastic. Alternatively have a pice of ribbon or Velcro which links at the back of the neck under your hair. (Like the join in a baseball cap which fits different sizes.)

2 CLOTHES
Check the temperature at your destination. Pack accordingly.
Jumpers with worn sleeves can be cut down to make neck warmers. If you have old jumpers which you no longer like, or the body is too small or old but the arms still fit, cut out the arms to use as a warm lining for your jacket or coat.
Add a warm hat, matching gloves and a matching scarf. You could also cut arms off to make two mittens, a pair of fingerless gloves, or one muff.

3 SHOES ANS SOCKS
Travel with spare socks. If the pair you are wearing get wet in rain or snow, remove them and store them. The wet pair can be washed and dried later. Use a hair dryer in a hotel bedroom or gym, or a hand dryer in a public toilet. Meanwhile, wash your feet in warm water in a bathroom or toilet, dry your feet with paper towels, and put on the dry spare socks.

4 CHILLED?
INSIDE YOUR BODY
DRINKS
Coffee and hot chocolate and tea. If you don't like calories, drink lemon tea. If you like joy, drink mulled wine.
Warm your hands on the cup of hot drink.
Carry a thermos flask or hip flask to save leftover long drinks.

GLOVES, MUFFS AND HAND WARMERS
Gloves can be lined, waterproof, padded, mittens, fingerless gloves for typing, or fingertip sensitive so you can operate a mobile phone without removing gloves.
You can buy a muff. Or make a muff from an oblong of material made into a cylinder large enough to insert your hands and sleeves. Use fake fur, discarded teddy bears and soft toys, or from a cushion, or an old ski jacket, the back or the sleeves.

HANDWARMERS
You can buy gloves for ski resorts with built in hand warmers. (Might only last a few hours. But good for a special occasion such as New Year's Eve.)
Hand warmers are various types. Some use batteries. Look for rechargeable hand warmers.

In my late father's childhood, children went to school carrying a hot potato in their pocket for their lunch. You warmed your hands on the hot potato.

OUTSIDE YOUR BODY
Book a hotel with a Jacuzzi or Sauna. Warm up in a sauna in a hotel or gym.
Warm your hands in the drier in a public toilet.
Warm up in the hot shower in a hotel bedroom, a hotel gym, or by a swimming pool.

Story from Angela
One year I was planning to do a winter walk around the East End of London. Even in the house before setting off I felt cold. I thought, I can't go out in such cold weather.
I reflected that the previous year I had been in the USA, in a ski resort, and had walked around in much colder weather, with snow on the ground. What was the secret? Padded ski clothes.
I looked in my cupboards and suitcases and the attic for my ski clothes. Off I marched, in aki wear. When I arrived and we gathered to meet the tour guide, everybody stared at my ski resort, neon, day-glo colours. I don't know whether they are simply a fashion, or have a practical use in locating you lying horizontal amid the snow and if you fall over or leave an arm out when stuck in a snowfall.
I felt distinctly foolish.
However, as the hour long walk progressed, everybody else got colder, and colder, shivering, blowing on their hands.
At the end of the walk, an American woman said to me, "What a great outfit you are wearing. You were the only one dressed suitably for the occasion!"

SKI CLOTHES
Advantages of most ski jackets
1 Jolly colours; reflective - so you can be seen at night crossing roads.
2 Inside pockets give added security.
3 Strong zips and secure fastenings.
4 Sealed seams and no fiddly buttons leaving gaps.
5 Raglan or wide sleeves and armholes and shoulders so they cover thick jumpers underneath.

Tips
HATS AND HOODS
In previous years I have had to wear a brimmed hat covering the neck bought in a ski resort in cold winter weather.
This year you can buy brimmed woolly hats which cover your ears and neck, with a secure tie-ribbon from markets and pound shops.

When buying a hat or coat I always look for one with a hood to keep my head and neck warm in winter and cold weather.
I have also added detachable hoods from one black coat or jacket to another. All you need is a button on the back of the jacket or coat and a loop of ribbon sewn onto the hood the right length to hold the button. If you have time, add two more buttons at the corner of the hood. This gives a neater effect, more warmth, and added security against losing the hood.

Scarves which are too long and get in your food can be sewn together at the ends to make a snood which keeps your chest warm.


Websites for further research:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_warmer
http://www.xxl-sale.co.uk/search/?q=Hand%20Warming%20Gloves
Poundshop.com (Beanie hats, thermal gloves, thermal socks, £1.)
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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