jitkaau

Three dollars an outfit sounds like sweat-shop wages or child labour. The material generally costs more than that - imported at $1 per metre and then transport costs on top...?

Jingle

People working in "sweat shops" need those jobs, more money than not having a job at all.

flhomeschoolmom

It wasn't $3 an outfit, it was $3 per outfit PIECE, they are seperates. So about $6 an outfit, but this way she can mix and match them and have a total of 4 diffrent looks instead of just 2. Now, as to whether or not they are made in a sweat shop, or use child labor...not sure. They are from Wal-Mart, the brand name is "Faded Glory" (a popular Wal-Mart brand) and when I just looked at the inside tag it says "Made in China". :/

fred singer

the babies grow so fast ,too

BarbaraSue

Before you buy alot of patterns, get one you like-- one that cover most of the things you want to sew and compare the pattern to ready made clothes. I have found that the sizes are way off what you would buy. the amount of ease in patterns is close to 4 inches around the chest and hips.
the necklines can be very wide around in comparison to what you buy.

purplefiend

My youngest couldn't wear a newborn size either, she weighed almost 9 pounds. My oldest however was a little guy and wore preemie size for about 2 weeks and then went to newborn for another 2 weeks.

Rose_P

Thanks for all the links, but it still costs a lot to make baby clothes because of the price of fabric these days. When my DIL was expecting I considered sewing something, but it would have had to be only because it was a project I would enjoy doing to fill my time because almost without exception it would cost more to make something nice than to buy it, even in the kinds of places I shop, which would usually be Marshall's, Kohl's or the outlet mall, and that was giving no consideration to the value of time I'd have to spend. Quilting seems more rewarding for the cost involved, so I almost never sew any kind of clothing. I recently made a couple of cute pillowcases for my grandson (who is now 2). I think even pillowcases made from nice cotton fabric now cost more to make than to get ready made. It only takes 3/4 of a yard to make the body of a pillowcase and another 1/4 yd for the border. I guess if you're going to do something as a business you would get the materials at wholesale, but probably you'd have other overhead, and many of your customers will compare the cost to what they usually pay for mass-produced imports and may not understand that the handmade item is special enough to pay a fair price.

flhomeschoolmom

I used to have a set of baby patterns that covered: onsies, pants, shorts rompers, gowns, hats, bonnets, T shirts, kimono shirts, and diaper covers. Back then I did do baby sewing, but I sewed for preemies and newborns and donated the items to hospitals and NIN. Then my sewing machine tore up and we were trying to get the money to get it fixed (it was a 1969 Singer), I put the patterns in a drawer for storage, then a tornado hit my house, ALL of my patterns were GONE and my cabinet model sewing machine had went through my window. I just gave up. LOL. A few years later I began hand piecing quilts, and this past Christmas my DH bought me a new machine. My old one went out a window in March 2005....

Both of my boys wore preemie size for a bit. My oldest wore preemie for about a month, and he wore newborn for about 4 months. He was a tiny mite, but was bigger than his brother at birth. My oldest was 6 lbs. 1 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long. My youngest was 5 lbs. 10 oz. and 19 inches long. He was only in preemie for about a week, and newborn for about a week. By the time he was 1 month old he was 13 pounds!! Thankfully he did his weight gaining AFTER birth because he would have had to have been delivered early if he had gotten very big in utero as I only have 3/4 of a uterus...but still managed to carry my boys to term.

flhomeschoolmom

Most of the clothes I'm planning on making for my SIL involve what is known as "upcycling" and most people (especially me) have gobs of the stuff needed hanging around their house or it's easily and inexpensively picked up at thrift stores.

For a very long time I felt the same as you do about quilting vs. sewing clothing and I had absolutely no interest in sewing clothes. But in the early summer of 2002 something changed my mind. I had a cousin in Kentucky who ended up giving birth to her only son (and youngest child) 2 1/2 months early. For a very long time she didn't know if he would live or die. Her MIL went to find him a very small preemie outfit to be buried in should he die. She couldn't find it, she had to get a seamstress to make it and it cost a small fortune. She then told my cousin that she OWED her for that outfit!!! Thankfully the little guy never needed it, he survived and out grew that size while in the NICU. But my cousin had a problem, even when he was sent home he was too small for even store bought preemie clothes, she had nothing that would fit him. So I got some simple patterns and some fabrics and made him a few kimono onsies, pants, and hats and sent them to her in the mail about a week before he was released from the hospital, and I mailed her a diaper bag that I didn't use that was stuffed with recieving blankets (left over from my own boys) and my youngest son's outgrown clothes. But she needed so much more than the handful of preemie items I sent her. That's when I learned about NIN, and what they do. A sewing friend of mine told me to contact NIN in Kentucky and tell them of Lynna's situation, the hospital the baby was at, etc. I did. Lynna called me the day they got out of the hospital crying and said, "An hour after I got home with the baby, UPS showed up and delivered 3 fairly large boxes. I knew I hadn't ordered anything. The return label said Newborns In Need, and when I opened the boxes I found clothes galore, blankets, quilts, diapers in his size, and even bottles with the size nipples on them that the hospital used. And Ali, can you believe there was a letter inside one of the boxes that said someone had contacted them and that all of the items were mine to keep at no charge. I never knew so many people would care about me or my child." NIN sent her a couple of more boxes of clothes when winter arrived because he was still too small for store bought clothes. He was a failure to thrive baby. He was over a year old before he could wear store bought clothes that would fit a 6 month old!

I was so honored by what NIN did for my cousin that I began sewing and donating to NIN. I sent some items to the same chapter that helped my cousin and sent them a letter thanking them. And for about 3 years I continued to sew for NIN and donated the items closer to home.

burchquilts

Here's a nifty tutorial for "Big Butt Baby Britches"... cute!

http://www.made-by-rae.com/2010/10/f...ewing-pattern/