Things to Do with Old Clothes

*This is a collaborative post.

I am not going to lie, when you first have a child, if you can, you go completely over the top when purchasing new things for them. You are so excited about the new arrival and it is so hard to resist all the extremely cute things. This is particularly true when it comes to clothing for me. I have always been fortunate that people were very generous when giving to Alyssa. From the wonderful gifts at my baby shower to all her birthdays and just random occasions. However, when you get so much it means that when she grows, which she seems to be doing a lot of at the moment, it means I have a lot of clothes that could have a second life somewhere else. So here are a few suggestions of things to do with old clothes.

Alyssa has some really lovely clothes and because she often has so many they do not get a lot of wear and tear before they become too small. This is even truer when she is in school 99% of the time because she spends so little time in her normal clothes. With the planet being in it’s current state, we need to do all we can in order to reuse or upcycle our existing products to stop the constant need for brand new items and this includes clothing.

Another factor of course is the fact that buying for babies, kids, teens etc. can get really expensive so by doing things with your old clothes you can actually find ways of making or saving money when it comes to raising children.

Obviously, one of the most obvious things to do with clothes that have been outgrown is to pass them on. We are lucky that Alyssa has her little cousin Lily Bean who is a whole year younger than her which is actually pretty perfect. Lily is not a huge girly girl like Alyssa but she does still like pink and of course Alyssa has some nice shorts, trousers, jumpers, t-shirt dresses etc that are perfect for Lily, even if she is learning how to muck out on her Alpaca farm.

Another thing I do is to resell items on eBay. Alyssa has had some really nice items that have stayed in great condition, particularly party dresses. Or sometimes she simply won’t like something and that is okay because her clothing is how she expresses herself and I have very little say in what she wears anymore. So, I put together bundles or individual items and I sell them on eBay and then the money I make from this, goes towards buying her new clothes that fit her new size.

Finally, I always try and keep a few bits of both her and my clothes aside and take them to clothing recycling banks which will then be either given to charities in the UK or abroad. I do this with our shoes as well – there is even a charity to give your old bras to as well!

So you see, if your child has outgrown their clothes, unless they are in tatters, do not simply throw them away, as there is always something that can be done with them. If they are in tatters, then why not cut them up and use them as dusters or rags when cleaning!