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:: March 27, 2007 I Require Baby Clothes and a Serger
Hello mothers and perpetual baby-shower-gift-buyers alike ... I need some advice! Where (online or otherwise) do you buy unique baby clothes that a) aren't like $28 for a newborn onesie, b) aren't gender-stereotype-indoctrination-city? (I don't necessarily need my baby to be making clever statements or expressing his parents' pop-cultural tastes and political leanings, but a sprinkling of that is OK.) With all your answers I maybe I'll get a little link collection together to share? Of course I will thrift, make, etc. but a gal likes to shop new sometimes too. (Especially for the insane number of pregnant people I know!) Speaking of making ... the need for all these little cotton jersey things makes me want a serger more than ever, so any pointers to a decent, easy-to-learn, budget, all-purpose serger would also be appreciated. posted by in Baby
Comments While I love online retailers that trend toward the modern, we simply can't afford their prices. An easy place to get cute clothes at any average sized mall is Gymboree. I really love a lot of their styling and while it is more than I would spend at full price, I generally get things 50% off or usually more by shopping at the end of the season for the following year. I also do that at boutiques. Their prices are outrageous, but shopping past season is the way to go. It makes it affordable. If places like Modernseed and other online shops I REALLY love ever had bigger markdowns than 25% off I would definitely shop there, but they never seem to. Posted by Amy on March 27, 2007 5:19 PM funny cause I was just packaging up a little box of boy thrift for you :) don't know how you feel about the big box, but target has been our salvation for boy clothes. their oshkosh for target stuff is really cute. very classic retro cute, not too over the top with cars and crap. oscar is essentially a walking ad for them. the only other bit of advice I have is you never need as many clothes as you think for them. boys at least. Posted by hillary on March 27, 2007 6:20 PM I like Babystyle esp. their cotton pants. They are around $16 but my son wears them all the time and so I've gotten them 3x as he has grown. They come in nice colors some which are not gender specific such as red and green and also can be found on sale on their website. I also like Carter's plain white one-sies and you can embroider on them, do iron-on's, freezer paper stencils, applique - I've tried all of these with good results. Another option if you have this in your area is a Daffy's. I always find great clothes like Tea Collection and nice European brands at discount prices. Posted by Nancy on March 27, 2007 6:49 PM I love to bargain shop and I have gotten so many great deals by this stragety: I go straight for the "sale" or "clearence" racks and I scour them. I also do the same thing when I go to an online clothing store. I go straight to the on sale stuff first. I will even buy clothes for my son that are a bigger size, estimating what size he would be in for the season of the clothing. I have found some great deals on Oldnavy.com, Gap.com, and childrensplace.com. I have even gotten lucky buying on ebay a couple times. Also, there might be a Children's Orchard or similar store like it in your area. You can find new, or gently used clothes there. I love your blog, keep it up! Posted by Kristen on March 27, 2007 7:04 PM We laid waste to the San Marcos outlet malls when our son came to live with us. He's three, so we missed out on the baby clothes and he begged for trucks and puppies, but everything we got was between 40 and 70 percent off retail at Gap, Gymboree, Children's Place, etc. All I cared about was that people wouldn't know I'd been a mom for four hours just by looking at him, no cartoon/TV/movie characters plastered all over his body, and that the construction looked sturdy. I'm still using the same Kenmore serger my parents bought me for my 15th birthday. (Yes, I was a big dork twelve years ago, too.) No input on anything current, since there's nothing wrong with mine that cleaning and blade-replacing hasn't fixed. Posted by M on March 27, 2007 7:06 PM One word for you Posted by Kathleen on March 27, 2007 8:01 PM I really like american apparel (you can order online - www.americanapparel.net). The shirts and onsies are so soft and you can put whatever you want one them - freezer paper stencil, applique - I've given them amny a times as gift. Just so you know, their stuff runs small. I have a babylock serger and it is very practical although the one I got was expensive but my husband bought it as a gift and got 40% off for a 4th of july sale, go figure! Posted by shannon on March 27, 2007 8:28 PM When I was expecting my first (and only) boy, I shopped Naartjie (http://www.naartjie.com), Baby Gap outlet, Gymboree (on eBay). I love european style clothing though. I would not and will not dress him in cartoon characters, sports outfits or John Deere tractors. (oh and no camoflauge). Also I have a Babylock serger and love it. It's a bit pricy though. Once you own a serger - you won't know what you did without it. It saves so much time and your outfit looks professional. Posted by Amy S on March 27, 2007 9:09 PM my cousin recently informed me of www.willheron.com/children.html, also found at the austin's farmers market. here in vancouver, canada i just hit Mountain Equipment Co-op (www.mec.ca) and p/u the organic onesies for $8 a pop to personalize. Posted by melissa on March 27, 2007 10:04 PM I have a Babylock too and love it. I had an Elna before and also liked it. The Babylock is self threading, a feature that is worth the extra cash. Posted by joyce on March 28, 2007 7:33 AM I have a singer serger and got it from ebay for like 180.00. LOVE IT! Posted by Adrienne on March 28, 2007 8:12 AM I second the recommendation for Will Heron's work: http://www.willheron.com/children.html He will even mix and match the shirt color and design you want, just let him know! Posted by Skye on March 28, 2007 8:47 AM While I LOVE to look at Gymboree clothes, I still find them a little expensive for my taste. Most of my kids clothes (mine, too) come from Target and Wal-Mart. Target always has great stuff at regular prices, and their constant sales just make it even better! And you can't beat the easy pull-on shorts at Wal-Mart for like $3.98, and t-shirts for about the same price-plus they do a great job with all the mix and match stuff! I just can't/won't spend a lot of money on clothes they are just going to grow out of really fast, OR get it all stained by playing in the backyard or on the playground, or with paint within a couple of weeks. The Carter's and Osh Kosh outlet stores in San Marcos are great, also. They are always having 40% off sales...that's when I like to cash in! Posted by Lauri on March 28, 2007 9:26 AM Here are few of my favorite Etsy shops with kids stuff. I second Daffy's - it can be very hit or miss, but they do tend to get cute European stuff. Speaking of which, you might want to check out Du Pareil Au Meme (dpam.com), a French company with really cute stuff. I happened to catch their winter sale and bought several dresses, two coats and a few shirts for about $100. Shipping is a bit of a killer, but worth it if you buy a bunch. You can get on their mailing list and keep an eye out for their next big sale. I blogged about them here: http://middlechild.typepad.com/notes_from_a_middle_child/2007/03/du_pareil_aux_m.html I'm also posting a grocery bag holder I made from your tutorial today! Posted by Carrie on March 28, 2007 11:53 AM I also have and love my Bernina Bernette Funlock (model 4C I think). A good 4 thread serger that you can also use as 3 thread when you're using more delicate materials. I see some on ebay for $125 but I'd look for a used one at the local sewing machine shop to make sure it's properly serviced. Personally, I'm longing for a Bernina coverstitch machine (model 9DCC), but I'd never leave the house and go to work, so maybe it's better I don't have one. Posted by Silvia on March 29, 2007 9:56 PM For baby clothes come on down to San Marcos to the outlet malls! This week will be really busy, with people from Mexico on vacation for Holy Week. But there are lots of kids' stores. I have a Babylock Imagine that I just bought from the ladies at Sew Much More up on Anderson. It's awesome. They have used machines, too, but they'll talk you into a new one if they can. Posted by S on March 30, 2007 8:11 AM have you seen those beautiful baby clothes posy things you can buy for a gift? I made one myself and it was remarkably easy. The gift was VERY well recieved so it was worth the effort. You can see mine here http://missminnie.typepad.com/minnie/2007/03/its_a_grrrl.html Best of luck Posted by Miss Dot on March 30, 2007 8:18 AM I don't think anyone has mentioned http://www.hannaandersson.com/home.asp?cchkrd=y And I know you are trying to be price conscious, but there are a few places you can go for inspiration and sales? Good luck! Posted by Amy Lu on March 30, 2007 8:56 AM I just got a package in the mail today of more than $100 in 2T, name-brand (Babystyle, Petit Papaton, Baby Gap, Charlie Rocket) boy clothes, all bought on eBay for about $35 (+ $7 shipping). I LOVE Babystyle. It's roomy and long-lasting, hip and gets lots of compliments. I wouldn't dream of paying full price for it, so I scour eBay -- I've gotten TONS of Babystyle and Zutano stuff there. (Much of it we're handing down to you, actually.) Posted by melanie on March 30, 2007 8:59 PM children's place is a very good store for neutral clothing, a lot of it is very cute stuff at cheap prices, they dont put alot of branding on the clothes. As far as sergers go, i used to work at hancocks and we had a couple of white machines for less than 300 that were excellent for learning, and also worked great. Good luck with the search! Posted by elizabeth on March 30, 2007 10:08 PM As for sergers, I tried a bargin serger and for being new to sergers, I found it to be a nightmare, esp when sleep-deprived ;-) I finally scraped together my pennies and made the best sewing purchase in my history - the self-threading Imagine from BabyLock. http://www.babylock.com/sergers/product.asp?Product_ID=BLE1AT It is worth it's weight in gold. It is not at all temperamental like the White and it has never met a fabric (and I subject it to a lot) that it didn't like. I was sewing clothing for sale so I needed something reliable. I know it is a lot but good luck with whatever you choose. You may want to check ebay. I found one going for a very good price. http://cgi.ebay.com/BABY-LOCK-IMAGINE-SERGER_W0QQitemZ280098659782QQcategoryZ83960QQcmdZViewItem Posted by cheryl on March 31, 2007 9:28 AM For the baby clothes, I second Old Navy and Target. Cheap and hold up plenty well for how fast they outgrow them. If your kid is an eater like mine was, don't buy too many 0-3 mos. She outgrew them in about a month and didn't even start as a big baby. If you can buy out of season, on sale, all the better! Have fun. Posted by Melissa on March 31, 2007 9:12 PM Good luck in your search for non-gendered baby clothes. I live in BC Canada and just had my first grandchild so am back in the baby section again - I raised 5 children and had no problem finding gender neutral clothes for them - coveralls, jeans, sleepers, etc. Today, I found it very difficult to buy anything for the baby before he was born - virtually nothing was gender neutral - if the colour was neutral, then there was lacy trim on the colour or trucks appliqued on. What does this say about our society? Scary! Posted by cindy on April 1, 2007 8:56 PM okay, it's not exactly clothing but you have to check out babylegs.com they sell baby leg warmers so your rashy little one can stay warm and get circulating air at the same time. they also make diaper changing a breeze (well... almost). Posted by eliza on April 4, 2007 1:18 PM I just discovered your blog :-) My daughter just turned 12. So I can't tell you much about the state of buying baby clothes right now. Right now, eBay is my friend. My daughter grew 6 inches last summer and went through 3 sizes of pants! I could have spent a fortune even at the clearance rack. When you do searches on eBay be sure to include one of the following keywords: "NWT" or "NWOT" (that's "new with tags" and "new without tags"). You will be shocked at how many people buy clothes rip the tags off and then can't return them. Just recently I bought myself a pair of Banana Republic jeans with the tags still on them for $15 on eBay and these jeans were over $70 in the store. It's definitely worth a look. Posted by Jennifer on April 5, 2007 12:11 AM I have to second the ebay suggestion. Find stuff you like on other folks' sites and then search for it on ebay. Right now, I like Posted by Nicole on April 5, 2007 8:59 AM i'll also vote for babystyle. often unusual colors, good quality that doesn't distort with washings/wearings, not everything is covered with writing (although they have plenty of that as well), and at the end of the season, they always have fantastic sales and additional markdowns. i also love love love tea collection stuff. we're lucky to have tea collection sample sales around here, but otherwise, i always buy ahead (we've been hoarding 3T stuff around here for the past year, and we've stuff got a year to go!). Posted by shiso mama on April 7, 2007 11:55 AM I love babies with no cute stuff to distract from their newness except for some subtle color. Here's a link to Dharma Trading's undyed cotton infant and toddler wear ready for your dyes: http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/3283-AA.shtml?lnav=clothing_infant-toddler.html. I also like http://www.basicbrilliance.com Posted by Cristina on April 7, 2007 4:24 PM I am a big fan of the Target line of baby/toddler clothes as well. The cottons they use are soo soft and retro. Babystyle is a big favorite of mine as well for basics. But a good place to check out is TJMaxx and Marshalls for more special outfits. I have found Catamini there for $8 (normally going for $60) I love the European design. Posted by Rachel on April 9, 2007 8:49 AM http://www.sagecreeknaturals.com/ just wait until you get into toys....so many amazing and beautiful toys (handmade and organic) out there.... Posted by Katie on April 13, 2007 8:49 PM |