Even if you only have one child, you can do the hand me down thing. Yep, you sure can. You can give your child his or her own hand me downs. It sounds crazy, doesn’t it?
Think about it. If your child’s jeans still fit around the waist but are quickly becoming too short, you can make them into Capri pants or shorts so your child can get as much wear out of them as possible. This has worked out well for me, since our schools only allow shorts that come just above the knee. “Shorts” that long are hard to find! It’s easier just to make your own, and you’ll get more bang for your clothing buck.
You can also go through your kids’ warmer weather clothes and see which items won’t fit again next year. These can be made into clothes that he or she can wear now, by simply cutting off pants and cutting off sleeves on long sleeved shirts.
Of course you don’t want your kids walking around looking like they’re wearing hand me downs, so don’t just cut the clothes off and leave them that way. Hem the edges or add different types of trim.
Do your kids still have sweats with elastic at the ankles? These are so yesterday, but they will look cute if you cut them off and make them into Capri length pants. Instead of throwing them out or leaving them sit in the drawer because your child doesn’t want to wear them, cut them off and hem them. Even if your kids only wear them for play clothes, they’ll still get more use out of them.
If your children’s clothes need patches, try adding cute ones or letting your child hide them with “graffiti” using fabric paint. Also, remember that kids love worn out, torn up jeans, so see if you can’t make an accidental tear look like it was intended.
*Check out my article in Kid’s Crafts for other ways to save kids’ clothes.