question about baby clothing stored in the attic for 20 years
 

My kids are now 22 and 21 years old and I still to this day haven't had the heart to part with any of there clothing from the first three years of their lives!! I stored it all away in boxes up in the attic. I didn't have the heart to sell it or give it away.......call me crazy! Yes, I'm a sentimental soul!!! Four years ago I was bitten by the quilting bug and was just thinking .......ya know, I could make some quilts out of their baby clothing! But, my concern is whether or not the heat from the attic has damaged the fabric. What kind of advice would you have and do you think it would be worth my while......20 years later!!!

How can you possibly know whether the fabric is good while it's still in the attic? Get it down from there! If there's any mold, I would dispose of it quickly. Otherwise, wash and see how it looks (and smells). I would expect to find mostly knits, not particularly good for quilting, but if you're sentimental enough you will find a way to use it. Be sure to post your results - looking forward to seeing it.

My daughter had alot of little cotton dresses and they both had cotton jumpers. Just thinking that the heat might have weakened the material over time.

I would do as the other posters indicated. Throw away any with obvious problems. I would then launder them and, well, try and rip them ;-). If you can tear a hole in it easily, then the heat has damaged the fabric. If you can't tear a hole in it, it will be fine. If there is an item of special sentimental value that failed the rip test, you can always back it with an iron on interface. would probably be very good for an applique.

what i have found from storing my kids clothes:
elastic will have disintegrated(not a problem if you're cutting up fabric)
any stains will reappear(even though you made sure they were gone when you put the item away)

wash & dry the clothes- sort through them - choose the ones that you like/have special meaning/ you want to use---AND USE THEM! unless of course you think your kids are going to want them when they have kids of their own- you could save just a couple special items to pass on for that-

Like others have said:

Step 1: Get them out of the attic.
Step 2: Check out the garments - some might still be 'good' - others might be in the 'what was I thinking?' category - others might have disintegrated

Many fabrics do just fine when stored - the yank/tear/rip/tug test is quite effective to see how strong a fabric still is.

How I do the test: I grab hold of two spots on a piece about six to ten inches apart - depending on what it is - and give a firm tug/yank on it - if nothing happens - then I consider it usable - if it comes apart/tears/shreds - it's discarded.

Elastics are notorious for giving up in heat.