Refurbishing baby clothes

Almost all of our baby clothes are hand-me-downs. In fact, almost all of our baby things are hand-me-downs. We've been really lucky to get some great stuff from friends and also worked hard to get stuff from freecycle, neighborhood moms listservs, and yesterday's big garage sale clean up. So we have tons of clothes and only some of it is nice. Since we do have so much, we've been choosy. We didn't keep anything that is stained or too worn looking, but we did keep stuff we don't really like. It would be so much fun to go shopping and buy clothes that we love, clothes that we can't wait to dress our baby in, clothes that make our baby look cool and hip and fun. But we don't want to spend money on clothes that last about 3 months before the kid grows out of them, so we're making due with what we have.

We've gotten some really cool gifts that will make our baby look like a rock star - I Love NY onesies, a onesie that says "My Moms Rock", a onesie that says "Punk Baby", a t-shirt that says "Barf Vader", a t-shirt that says "Aren't you a little short for a storm trooper?", a sleeper in 70's colors of orange and reds, an Indian baby outfit, a bib that says "HRC baby", a onesie that says "Chillin in my crib", a bib with a robot on it. And we've gotten some cool things as hand-me-downs or from the thrift store - a camouflage t-shirt and hat, a KISS t-shirt, a Chinese outfit, two African outfits, a fleece leopard print hoody and pants set. These are things we can't wait to dress our child in.

But some of the other stuff is plain, or cutesy, or even ugly. And this is where K has been working her magic. She's been ironing things onto these onesies and sleepers and t-shirts to jazz them up, using iron on letters, premade iron-ons, patches, and things printed from the computer. Now we have some really fun clothes that were only so-so before.

We got a pack of white onesies as a gift and she ironed on sayings like "The force is strong in this one...", and "Everyone loves a Southern Girl". One says "The Prettiest Thing in Silver Spring" which is a quote she from her historic Silver Spring walking tour - it used to be the logo for a car dealership back in the 70's when our neighborhood was pretty shabby and a car dealership was the prettiest thing in Silver Spring. Now it will be our baby. Another says "Silver Spring's Ambassador of Love", a take on our favorite band They Might Be Giants' slogan "Brooklyn's Ambassadors of Love". One says "BRAT" in sparkly letters.

We had a night gown and a footed PJ that were both decorated with baby chicks. She added "Hatched by two chicks". A sleeper covered in clouds and moons now says "I love the nightlife, I've got to boogy". A sleeper covered in hearts says "I love my mommies". An ugly onesie covered in turtles and chicks now says "Fashion victim". The camo t-shirt says "Rock Star". A purple onesie says "SUGAR" across the bottom. A t-shirt says "Nobody puts baby in the corner". A fleece outfit for winter has an anarchy patch.

She's done many, many alterations. We keep a drawer of clothes to be altered always adding more, always coming up with more ideas. These clothes are fun, better than going shopping for clothes because these came from us. They are our ideas and they make us happy. Although it would still be awesome to go out and buy new clothes.