Making Toddler Clothes Last

     

   

             I am a life long, multi generational lover of saving money and DIYing. I especially love to repurpose my kids’ clothing, because they go through clothes at extraordinary rates. And even between the three of them, clothes are rarely left in good enough condition to be passed down. In some cases, by remaking clothing items into something new, I don’t have to spend any money, which I love to do. 

            It’s getting to that time for Lovebug to start potty training. We use disposable diapers. We had cloth for a long time, we used it on and off, mostly during the summer months when I could line dry the diapers. But these were really more of a luxury than a practicality. We pay for water by the usage and properly washing a load of diapers every day or every other day really adds up on the water bill. I finally decided to let go of my stash and I traded 15 SunBaby snap closure, pocket style diapers and 20 flat microfiber inserts for 37 pieces of 2T clothing.

            Everything was in excellent condition; some items still had tags on,  just folded up and grown out of before they could be worn. It was a great deal! The clothes are adorable. Now, winter has come to an end and summer is upon us, so she doesn’t need long sleeve shirts anymore.

If I give them away or sell them, I still need short sleeve shirts for spring and summer. The shirts fit her everywhere except for in the sleeve area. Hey, here’s a thought. Why don’t I just redo the sleeves on her shirts and then they’ll last until she outgrows them? The shirts fit now but they definitely won’t fit next winter.

             

        This long sleeve flower print shirt was absolutely adorable, but the sleeves were a very tight fit right from the start. I simply cut along the seam, creating a cute hemmed edge of the shoulders, with no sleeves at all. Very nice for the warm weather.

 

This flowery shirt was adorable with these blue tights and one of Lovebug’s favorite winter outfits. I trimmed both the sleeves and the pants. 

I cut the sleeves short, folded the edges under and sewed them. I hemmed the now capris with white thread to match the shirt and added lace bows to the sides. I did a second stitch in blue to secure the hem and blend in.

I also paired the blue, white and red capris with her July 4^th outfit and she is going to be absolutely adorable for the 4^th of July.

Now for absolutely no money, I have two adorable summer shirts and a pair of shorts, custom made for Lovebug.