Store Old Baby Clothes Or Refashion?

So far, I have been storing little caterpillar's outgrown clothes in those big bins up in the attic. But since I discovered this amazing world of refashion, I wanted to open all those boxes, and look for clothes that I can work with. Well, that means I will have to break my current working system. Let's see how it works now, and try to figure out how to change that to satisfy my new urges.

Well, I cannot explain the system without telling you how I organize her closet, which is actually bigger than mine. Yeah, we have a very small "walk-in" (that's what the builder called it, actually should be walk-through) closet for our master suite, but that's another post later. All little caterpillar's current clothes are either hanging in her closet, or folded nicely and stacked in canvas bins. I explained how I set it up when I was pregnant.

Here is how I utilize the space now. On the top shelf, there are 4 bins. I know, I can install another one above that to use all available space, but so far, I feel that's not necessary yet. OK, back to the bins. The two big bins on the right hold all her future clothes. We buy lots of her new clothes off season. Since I am crazy about making or refashion clothes for her, we probably need more bins for that. The left most bin holds her shoes and costumes. The one next to it, at the most convenient spot, holds all her socks and hats. I just realized that the tag on that one has another amazing use. Our nanny is much shorter than us, so she cannot reach lots of stuffs in our house. But she can reach that tag. So, she just pull the tag to take the bin down, looking for socks, instead of move a chair over. On the first tier of the shelving unit, there are 3 bins. One for all her pants, one is for her tshirts and other tops, and the bigger one behind the door is for some very thick and warm winter clothes. The bin on the bottom shelf hold some extra sweaters, and the winter clothes that are just too big. Extra comforters and pillows are stacked next to it and behind the door. You see the pattern here, I put all less-used stuffs behind that sliding door, so they are there when I need them, but not in the way. There is just enough space under the bottom shelf to put a underbed storage box there. That one holds all the brand new baby gifts we got earlier. Some of them were too small when we needed it. So, they are future baby gifts for my friends, if any one will have a baby girl for a change. They all had and having boys. What's up with that? Well, my girl will be the only princess in the group. The hanging organizer holds some extra blankets for now.

The clothes that little caterpillar wears most often, are hanging on the rod. I just group them by categories, sweaters, sweats and jackets, pjs, onesies. The dresses that not suppose to be folded are hanging on the rod behind the door, so they are not in the way.

Now, let's talk about how my system works. Whenever little caterpillar outgrew some clothes, I just put them in another underbed box under her crib. I could do what Sherry from Young House Love did, leave a gift bag in the closet to hold them, but little caterpillar is very curious, and she will pull everything out and tear the bag to pieces. I have to use something she cannot open and destroy. When that box is full, I simply carry it up to the attic, and empty everything into the bigger boxes. The ones that I never let her wear (some hand-me-downs were just not my style), we just simply donate them. The toys that she outgrew also ended up in the attic.

Now since I added refashion to my agenda, I have been watching for candidates (the first several might become victoms). I can follow the wonderful tutorials on Ruffles And Stuff, especiall these two to extend life of tops and bottoms. Who knows when we are going to have a second child. There is no point to save everything now. The ones that cannot be refashioned, will be cut up and used as applique. Cannot wait till the weather gets a bit less cold, so I can spend sometime up in the attic sorting and digging. I probably will need a bigger WIP box. And these will be the perfect projects to use the scraps, and maybe use some of the gorgeous fabric from my stash. Let's face it, when kids old enough to go to school, they will not want to wear some homemade clothes any more. So, I have to seize the moment, and she won't be able to tell the difference if mommy made some mistakes. Babies are too cute, doesn't matter what they wear.