Making Her Clothes Last! (Part One)

Children!

They grow so fast!

Unfortunately, the money tree can't always keep up, can it? I'm trying to alter some of Paige's clothing to be wearable longer. I love the instant gratification of projects like this. A little whack here, and a gather there, and you have a whole new article of clothing! And you've saved some money, too!

I thought I would share a few of the ones I've done recently, to help inspire other moms who might be in the same boat. :o)

The first is this adorable little sweater. It's a Walmart brand, and I find that their tops are always too short and wide for Paige!

So I added fabric from the sleeve of this cardigan around the middle, and made a matching bow, then I stitched on some buttons to accent! Ta-da! New sweater!

This was a polo that was too small around Paige's cute little toddler pot-belly. Off goes the bottom half, and on goes a piece of fabric I had on hand! I used the bottom of the shirt to add little coordinating pockets.

(Notice my black tea lemonade making a surprise appearance in these photos. Oops!)

Sometimes extending the wearability is as easy and picking up one of those onesie extenders. Attach it to the snaps on the bottom, and it adds some length! Perfect for shirts like this one, which was already too short when I bought it. Arg!

Another easy fix! This super cute sundress from Old Navy is a size 12m. But I love how it looks as a tunic, over some leggings!

Or sometimes it's as easy as snipping the attaching threads on cuffs, to make the sleeves longer.

This little tank fits around Paige's middle, but the short straps were making the armhole cut into her underarms. So I snipped them off, and used some eyelet lace to make longer straps!

(if you add lace to the bottom of your tank, make sure it's only on one side, so you can still stretch the shirt around them!)

Don't you hate it when clothes fit in the wrong season? I loved this "lil' pumpkin" shirt, but it was too big last fall, and now that it fits, it's not exactly pumpkin time anymore! I cut the picture out, and did a reverse applique of a heart, then added some gathered polka-dotted jersey (from an old pair of her leggings). I'm saving the pumpkin applique to add to something this fall!

This tank fits fine, but it's covered with stains on the front. Yuck. So I added some ribbon and flowery ruffles to hide it! :o) So spring-y!

This little onesie was too short, even with the extender, so I cut it off right above the legs, and added jersey ruffles from that same pair of leggings. I used the very bottoms of the legs, which had cute embroidered edging, to make little gathered flowers.

It's still a little snug, unfortunately. I think I might use this technique along the sides, to give it some extra room!

There were a few things that I couldn't really make big enough, so I saved them for scrap fabric! They're perfect for little bows, hair clips, and appliques! That really comes in handy when you can't run out and buy new cute fabrics!

I'll have another post on this subject (for the bottoms!) coming soon!

I didn't include full tutorials for these, because they're pretty simple (and it would have been the longest post ever!), but if you have any that you'd like to see a full tutorial on, please let me know, and I will try to get one out!

And I'm sorry there are no boy clothes included in this post. I get quite a few requests for boy tutorials, and I'd love to do some! But the truth is, I don't really have a craft budget, which is why 95% of my projects are done with what I have on hand. And since I don't have any boys, I don't have any boy things on hand! So I'm sorry that I neglect the boys so much! However, Dana, from MADE, and Rae, from Made by Rae, are two amazing bloggers who are doing boy tutorials ALL month long during February! So if you have boys, definitely check them out!

Take care, and happy recycling!! :o)