As your family grows in numbers, one thing quickly becomes very clear; hand-me-downs are a genuine blessing. Children grow quickly, and continuously buying clothes to fit their current size can get expensive. Using hand-me-downs, whether from your child’s older sibling, or from other family groups, is a great way to prevent a clothing cost blowout.
You’ll also save a lot of space and waste. Hand-me-downs are a far more environmentally friendly way of getting clothes than regularly buying newly manufactured pieces.
Nonetheless, there is a big “but”.
No one – especially kids in the midst of developing their own personalities and sense of style – wants to wear clothing that’s a poor fit, faded, damaged or even – heaven forbid – out of style.
There’s a strong likelihood that any single hand-me-down has some kind of problem with it. That’s where you’ll need to get creative so that your kids will still love their clothes.
Here are some simple alterations that you can apply to hand-me-downs to give them a fresh lease on life and give your kids unique fashion that suits their sense of style.
1. Get the scissors out
There isn’t much that a good pair of scissors can’t solve. Long sleeved shirts become light short sleeved shirts. Pants become shorts and shorts become skirts. Jeans become fashionably “distressed” and a t-shirt becomes almost anything you want it to be. For stains, you may be able to incorporate some creative cutting to get rid of the stain. If the hand-me-down is still not fitting perfectly, consider using it as the base material to make something else entirely.
2. Get help for alterations on hand-me-downs
Speaking of ill-fitting clothing, if it’s a hand-me-down that’s really worth saving – perhaps a suit or a blazer – then an expert may well be able to assist you. Hemming and taking clothes in and out to create a better fit is their bread-and-butter. While this will be more expensive than a DIY job, it will result in clothing that may as well be new. It will also be less expensive than buying new clothes altogether. Every child needs good “formal” wear in their wardrobe, and if you’re on a budget this is the perfect way to ensure they do.
3. Get yourself a sewing machine
Learning how to use a sewing machine will become a major asset in helping you customise hand-me-downs to your kid’s tastes and preferences. An easy way to customise a piece of clothing, is to stitch on a patch unique to your child’s interests. It could be a favourite animal, or a place the family went on holiday, for example.
Adding lace or ribbons to an otherwise dull shirt can give it new vibrancy and life. Modern sewing machines are neither expensive, nor particularly hard to use. The results more than justify the investment in learning how to use them.
4. Get the kids to personalise their own clothes
Depending on your child’s age, you probably don’t want the children messing around with that sewing machine you just bought. Despite this, there are so many other things that you can get the kids to do with their own clothes, and they’ll love the opportunity to get hands-on with customisation.
Get a stash of fabric markers, fabric glue, sequins and other sparkly trim, then encourage the kids to think about what they’d like to do with their “new” hand-me-downs. It’s a good exercise for stimulating the child’s creativity, and it won’t be the end of the world if they do something disastrous to a hand-me-down. You can be much more certain that a child’s going to get a lot of wear out of something that they actually designed themselves.
Why stop at hand-me-downs?
None of the above tips are difficult or costly to implement, but will guarantee far better results when convincing your kids hand-me-downs are the best choice. And who knows? Once you’ve been bitten by the clothing bug, it may become a new hobby.
Hand-Me-Downs with LOOKSMART
All 120 LOOKSMART Your Stylist Tailor stores across Australia and New Zealand provide professional bridal dress alterations. Our tailors and seamstress are experts in all wedding dress and suit alterations.