|
 Sources for low cost clothing, pros and cons of making clothing, systems for hand-me-downs, accepting clothing gifts from others, and other clothing related topics.
Clothing hasn't been much of a challenge in the last few years because many families in town won't accept pass-on clothing from someone else, and when you have a big family, everyone assumes you need it. Spring and fall often come in with huge boxes and bags of clothing being left on our doorstep. When kids get beyond the hand-me-down stages, we do a lot of shopping at Wal-Mart, with occasional trips to second hand shops. We don't encourage the kids to HAVE a lot of clothing. The girls always have way more than they need, because they are given so much. But normally we have them keep just enough to last a week, so they can do their laundry once a week. I don't have a problem accepting stuff that is passed on from other people either. We thank the giver, and then go through the stuff for what we can use. If we cannot use it, we either pass it on again, donate it somewhere, or offer it to the friendly dumpster on the street (because a good portion of what is in the sacks is unwearable). I don't feel the least guilty about throwing away clothing that is unwearable. I have no compulsion to save it for rags or to salvage fabric because I know I won't use it. I do clip buttons off before discarding them though, a habit I cannot rid myself of. Here is an article by another mother of many: When It Comes To Clothes, How Much Is TOO Much?
by: Shiloah Baker
As a mom of a large family and being separated from my husband for almost a year (he was in Iraq), I had to learn how to pare down and come to terms with my need for too much! I have five children and am pregnant with my sixth. With my husband gone, I was doing over 22 loads of laundry a week. I was just overwhelmed to say the least. One day I realized that my dream of having the kid's dressers and closets always filled was actually a nightmare! I noticed that while I bought them lots of nice outfits, they always seemed to be wearing the grungier ones a lot. I realized that it was because they were always in the bottom of the hampers! I also realized how overwhelmed my children were when it came time to picking out clothes. My 3 year old would empty her drawers every day and that last outfit in there is what she wore!!! I asked around for advice and ideas on what others do before I decided to cut the clothes down. Here are some of the ideas that were given to me:
I wasn't going to answer this because I don't have any children, but here is my thinking, I have a ton of clothes as well. Every three months or so I decide I need to go through my closet and I get rid of anything that does not fit, I will never wear or I don't like. My feeling is I have enough and someone out there can use it more than I can. I am sure that a local women's shelter or charity would love to have the clothes your children don't need or wear anymore. I always take a bag into work to one of the ladies, at least where I used to work, it's nice to see the smile on someone's face when you give them something, all my clothes are very nice and very well taken care of, even if I got them from a thrift store, eBay or garage sale. Getting rid of some of those clothes will cut down on your laundry I am sure of it.
-Jennifer Hoodjer Oh this is a good question. I tend to overbuy clothes for my kids because I hate shopping for myself so I shop for them. I too had laundry coming out my ears so I started making the kids wear their pajamas at least 3 nights before washing them. Pants and shorts also got wore about 3 times before washing them. Shirts were put into the dirty laundry basket if they were dirty which most of the time they were. If they didn't look dirty they got hung back up. This cut down on the kids laundry a bit.
- Jodi Lundell I love this web site below. Maybe you can find something that will help you. If you find a solution let me know. http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/childbdrmorganize.html
- Brandy I try to have as FEW clothes as possible, FORCING me to do laundry every week. Ok, I have out a few spare things. This way when Olivia goes and empties her drawers, it is not so much to pick back up...
-Georganne Here is what I did:
I can't do laundry baskets for each kid's room or they become play toys. I tried that earlier this year and nipped it in the bud quickly. I may have the older girls start washing their own clothes next year. They are still a bit young now. They do help put things in the various machines and put folded clothes away so that is helpful. We just had too much. I liked the idea of having one dresser split between two kids and if it all doesn't fit, then get rid of the rest. When we started we had each child with a dresser and each were spilling over. The clothes closets were packed with clothes. Another problem I had was- I go through the small stuff often, so none of the clothes are too small!!! So, I moved dressers out of the bedrooms. Two children share a dresser each (about 6 drawers total). When my husband came home, he helped me get completely caught up on laundry. We sat down with each child and ALL of their clothes. Each child got 7 outfits (7 shirts, 7 pants or shorts or both), 3-5 Sunday dresses and 5 pairs of pajamas. If there were still 1-2 outfits that are just too cute to get rid of, we put them in a "rotating bin". The rotating bin is kept high in a closet and every few weeks, you may exchange one outfit for one out of the bin. Thus keeping the 7 count even. If they got a new outfit for Christmas or birthdays they have to get rid of another one. We also have a "winter clothes bin". This bin also has 7 outfits for each child and the Christmas or winter dresses. This is kept separate from all the other clothes (usually high in a closet).
I did have a hard time getting rid of a lot of the clothes, but I kept with my mantra of "Tailoring down makes my life easier and gives me less work". I REALLY enjoy having less clothes. The kids are always in decent clothes and its easier to keep up with it.
We ended up getting rid of 10 trash bags and two LARGE bins full of clothes to Goodwill. I hope this article is an inspiration and help to you as you organize your clothes! Shiloah- CEO of the Baker Household, Eternal Companion to Ben Mom to Cailynn-10, Charisa-8, Benjamin-7, Makenzie-4, Madison-2 & Meredith- 11 months The Homemaking Cottage
www.homemakingcottage.com
The Enrichment Cottage
www.enrichmentcottage.com
A Homemaking Journey
www.ahomemakingjourney.com
|
