More pressing matters are afoot, anyhow--the big garage sale fundraiser for Willow's school is next week, and in lieu of giving the school any meaningful monetary donation this year (except for the meaningful size of tuition) on account of we're very poor, I'm poring through our house, which really isn't crammed with stuff we don't need despite photos to the contrary, to find all the stuff we can donate. This coincides neatly, of course, with the seasonal transition of winter wardrobes to spring ensembles, and so what have I been doing? Cutting pants into shorts and long-sleeved shirts into short-sleeved shirts, of course.
This is a very useful thing to do, but with more than one kid, the calculations of what gets altered can be quite complex. Sydney is simple, since I don't plan to birth more babies: long pants that aren't fancy enough to attempt selling to Once Upon a Child and that likely will be too small in the fall are cut into shorts. Same for long-sleeved shirts. Long pants that Sydney grew too tall for during the winter are dragged back out and any her waist still fits into are cut into shorts. Weird stains I haven't been able to soak out are covered with jaunty fleece or uphostery fabric appliques. She tries them on, and cuteness prevails:
Notice that some fabrics do better with hemming, and with some, you don't have to bother: kids are the only group who can still pull off the frayed look.
Now with Willow's clothes, I have to set aside not only what she'll likely still be able to wear next fall, but also what is in good-enough condition to pass down to Syd. This winter was the first one in which Will was hard enough on her clothes to actually blow out the knees of numerous pants. Any pants with thin knees get cut into shorts. Pants that I hated the look of often look cuter as shorts. Don't forget to cut the shorts long--not only might you want to hem them after all, but with all the sunshine they're going to get, the kids are going to grow like weeds. I always cut the kids' stuff pretty long, anyway--I do NOT like the look of short shorts, even just girl-style short, on little girls. My girls are proud of their bodies, and I'm fine with them showing them, but this look just seems, maybe because teenage girls also like to get their hoochie on in short shorts, too sexualized for kids. So cut them long, hem them if you want, add appliques over weird stains.
Winter clothes--sweaters can be worn longer if you add a front zipper so you don't have to squeeze protesting heads through outgrown neckholes. Or, you can cut the sleeves off and hem them with a zigzag stitch for a cute vest. Or, you can cut them in half in the front and hem the raw edges and just let the kids rock it like that on a cool night.
The joy of bare knees and elbows after a long, wet winter--do you remember how awesome that is? If you don't, ask my kids. They'll tell you it's pretty sweet.
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