amitymamaThe Attachment Parenting Community

~Meeshi~ · 03-30-2003, 11:19 AM

I am sitting here, drooling over these adorable clothes you all are making!!

Back when I was on tour, I did a lot of sewing, mainly patchwork and strip stuff... My mom had a nice machine and all of the supplies I ever needed.

I am such a cheapskate, partially by necessity, partially by nature. I'd love to find a used sewing machine and start making clothes for the girls. Our clothing budget is *so* small, almost everything that I've bought for the girls has been second hand. And the few splurges for special outfits have been for homesewn goods. I actually prefer homesewn clothes to manufactued ones anyway.

So, the point of this thread is to ask, can you get into sewing and do it *cheaply*? Can you find nice, cute fabrics and on a budget to boot?

If I found a used machine for, say $30-$40 (which is what they alsoways seem to go for in the swap sheets), how much more would I have to put into it? Fabric, needles, bobbins, patterns, thread and so on...

April · 03-30-2003, 11:44 AM

On somethings it does and somethings not. KWIM? I can buy a 2 yard of knit fabric for $8 and make 2 pairs of shorts and 2 shirts for my boys. Sometimes, I see a fabric I really like for the same price, but it's a twill and can only make 1 outfit. I will go to Joann's on sale days and get the 99 cent patterns. I also look thru the clearance racks. I use my 50% off coupon on stuff that isn't on sale. Walmart has some good fabric sometimes for $2 a yard and even $1 a yard. You could really make some nice little outfits for a real bargain, sometimes you have to hunt. HTH.

Marion · 03-30-2003, 11:53 AM

Well as far as the kids' clothes go, it really kinda evens out. I usually buy inexpensive clothing for the kids anyway as they grow out of them so darn quickly. I find that it's less painful to sell/give away those clothes when I didn't pay that much for them to begin with.
For my clothing, it really is cheaper. I can get fabric for myself because a lot of stores have more "adult" type fabric on discount that they do childrens' fabric. I have hit a lot of good bargains in the dollar bin at wal mart and have made myself a number of shirts for about 2$ (includes notions, such as elastic, thread, bias tape, etc)
I started out sewing because I wanted to save money. Now? Nope, I spend more on fabric and notions than I EVER would have on clothing. Not to mention the 4 sewing machines and the serger, countless yards of fabric in storage, special elastic, snap setter, etc.
So you CAN do it, you can make your clothing and the cost CAN be considerably less than store bought items but it usually ends up becoming an addiction and you'll probably end up spending more money on fabric than you can possibly imagine. Now, I'm not saying that to dissuade you at all. I'm just giving you a little forewarning

First a sewing machine, then a serger, then a better sewing machine, etc...If you can control yourself, great! But me? Nerp, I love fabric and notions!

CarterNOwensMom · 03-30-2003, 11:53 AM

I agree that it depends on the fabric you buy. I am a total cheapskate too, and I generally won't buy fabric for more than $5 a yard.

When the kids are little, you can often make them a couple of things from one yard. I got some corduroy on clearance at Joann's for less than $3 yd, and made him a pair of pants and shorts, not bad! I have big enough scraps to use for patchwork too.

Often I find things in the remnant bin, which is the best bargain of all! If there's a fabric I love that's more than $5, I use a 50% off coupon.

Stuff goes on sale all the time at the chain fabric stores, so there's almost no need to pay full price. There's a great sale this weekend in fact!

Another tip is to buy an extra yard, and make something to sell. That often recovers the cost of the fabric for you. Trading is another frugal way to get fabric.

You can do it mama, we're here for you!

mamabear · 03-30-2003, 11:54 AM

I agree. It depends. With discipline, shopping sales, and recycling items, it sure can...maybe not over garage sale t-shirts for a quarter, but definitely over consignment store or Goodwill prices.

I also allow us some more expensive fabrics that I wouldn't be able to afford a ready-made item in...um that was worded badly...I mean, I get some hemp knit and make us some clothing and feel really styly for $6 for a t-shirt for me, I could never pay $40 for a shirt for me. So in that sense I allow us certain indulgences that are definitely more expensive than secondhand but are items you just can't get secondhand.

Definitely shop the sales at Jo-Ann's and the bargain bins. Also I've found that thrift stores often have fabrics for cheap.

BonaDea · 03-30-2003, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by )O(Meeshi)O(
So, the point of this thread is to ask, can you get into sewing and do it *cheaply*? Can you find nice, cute fabrics and on a budget to boot?

Yes you can, but not as inexpensivly as second hand clothing imo. It is more difficult to find things I like second hand as the kids get larger. 65cents, 95 cents a garmet can't be beat imo. I'll even splurge and get something and spend $1.95. BUT I'm not geting things I love I'm getting basics that work. Now on the other hand I splurged and spent almost $3 a yd on fabric the other day and I have got fabric I love in the perfect dresses for dd for $3 ($35 in the botiques downtown) and my time. Yes, I could count all the notions but I was collecting those long before I started to make clothing. I also sew asembly style so I have 7 dresses instead of 1 and 3 of them are gifts.

Hints: WalMart Fabric $1, $2, even the $3 and change stuff can make inexpensive items the really light up kids eyes. JoAnn's get on the mailing list and only buy when things are 40%-50% off or use a coupon.

Quote:

If I found a used machine for, say $30-$40 (which is what they alsoways seem to go for in the swap sheets), how much more would I have to put into it? Fabric, needles, bobbins, patterns, thread and so on...

IMO make sure you get the machine serviced prior to really using it or the headache may very well turn you off. Here servicing machines runs from $60-$100+ depending on the machine and the service location.

Notions: Run to JoAnns all notions are 50% off until today. Get some needles. Wait on the bobbins until you have a machine since not all machines take the same bobbins.
Patterns: start a list and only buy when they are 99 cents.
Thread: wait until it goes on sale or only buy some white and black to tied you over until it goes 40-50% off.
Fabric: I'd hold off 'cause stashes get out of hand fast. But things you love at a bargin I'd get anyway (((((

ktashes · 03-30-2003, 12:31 PM

ITA on how the other posters save money!

Sewing doesn't always save me a lot of cash but it does keep me from buying those pretty dresses that are way expensive and made with slave labor. In the humanitarian respect, it's MUCH cheaper kwim?

Say I don't get any sales but find some nice cotton fabric, I can make the girls 3 or 4 dresses for under $40 (zippers etc included) whereas I would have to pay as much as $25-$50 for the same dress in a dept store (even $20 at walmart).

For casual clothes, if you're anti walmart then YES it's way cheaper! Plus you can get zippers, patterns and thread for pretty cheap on ebay also.

I think the best part of it all is seeing something YOU made on your little one yk? It makes the money well worth it!

Scarlet · 03-30-2003, 12:50 PM

I agree, it totally depends...

diapers and covers... absolutely. No question.

clothes for me... usually (for one, I don't tend to buy used for me, for two, I've never seen a used nursing that would fit me just the way I wanted and was the style and print I liked for $7 for instance, but that's what it cost me)

clothes for the kids ... sometimes, fact is, for me, while I buy some thrift store stuff for them, I also splurge on cute sometimes. Also, like someone said, I'm finding it harder and harder to find clothes for my almost-7-yo that aren't worn out.

Also nothing beats the excitement that lights up your kids eyes when they have picked out some fabric and you have made a pair of shorts for them with (whatever) on them especially for them. A pair of shorts takes less than a yard so even if they choose $6/yd fabric it isn't such a big deal.

Don't forget though that thrift stores aren't just for buying used clothes to wear. No reason why you can't cut stuff down. I went to an outlet mall a week or two ago with a friend. We found a $3 rack in Carters and some cute stripey leggings in boy colours. I wanted some for my two year old and they didn't have his size so I bought a 6X pair and remade them. Top quality fabric (good and heavy knit with some lycra) and they fit exactly how I wanted them to.

Daisy Duck · 03-30-2003, 01:19 PM

Marion... my oldest LOVES your new sig picture... he wouldn't let me scroll down to read the rest of the responses! He just wanted to look at Scoop! And he wanted to know who was on his Scoop! I've never seen a big BTB toy like that one before.

And now back to the topic...

Sewing no longer saves me money for the most part... I buy fabric, notions and patterns and never get the time to sew. But there are some things I've sewn (recently too!) that cost me next to nothing but I've seen sold in catalogs for $30 each. I made mini chef pants for my guys and "saved" $60 because I didn't buy them (not that I would have bought them). And next on my list of stuff to sew is little chef jackets for the boys. I've seen them go for about $45 each and they only start sizes at 3-4 years.

So I'll be saving about $150 on just those two outfits if I ever get them completed! All the fabric I have used and will use is already in my stash.

Now I really need to get working on making diapers and covers now that I have lots of PUL in my stash to choose from. But my excuse now is I don't have suitable inner material for the diapers.

grtlyblesd · 03-30-2003, 01:25 PM

Paul would say it was probably cheaper when I was addicted to Gymboree, LOL. (When Annaliese was a baby/toddler, we belonged to a snooty playgroup. She never wore the same outfit to playgroup twice.

)

Yes, I was thrilled to find I could get 3 t-shirts to just a smidge more than a yard of fabric. Even at the $4/yd PRR fabric, that's less than $1.50 a shirt. But when I celebrate my joy by buying 20 yards of the stuff, well, then it's not a bargain any more, you know?

If your kids can wear Off The Rack clothes, meaning there are no shape issues and you don't find them totally revolting, and you don't love to sew, don't bother. If you have a chubby or skinny or whatever child, or you think current styles are disgusting, then it makes more sense. I can find RTW clothes I like for my girls, sure. But only in $$$ pricey catalogs. Makes more sense for me to make their dresses than wade thru the brittney wanna be crap in stores looking for something wearable. And in that case, I can make them cheaper than ordering from say Hanna or Land's End.

LaVieBoheme · 03-30-2003, 01:29 PM

Lately I've been on a STRICT budget... when I've bought fabric I've pretty much stuck to the dollar table at Walmart when I find 100% cottons, or the clearance racks at Joanns... last month I got a TON of 100% cotton wovens for $.88 a yard. Cute ones too! Ones with watermelons on it, a plain teal cotton, a really pretty print with gorgeous pink roses, a soft pastel bunny print..

Of course then I buy my $4/yd PRR.. but still I think thats a good price for knits.. I haven't been able to find knits really really cheap.
All my flannels I have that have prints I got from Joanns on black Friday when it was $.99/yd

I did buy some organics last month from a co-op.. but most of them were only $5-$6 a yard.. so I think thats a really good price for organics...

Hey Meeshi.. stick with me girl, I can help ya find great deals.

I'm queen of bargain hunting! *lol*

The fabric in my sig pic that Faith is wearing was only $1.88 a yard at Joanns and I only used a yard for this dress!!!

Miss you girlie!!
~C

jacNal'smom · 03-30-2003, 01:42 PM

Mainly because I am picky about what she wears and the stores that carry stuff acceptable to me are Gymbo, Lord & Taylor, Jacadi, etc... I can't afford to get her clothes there and now that we have left the toddler section, the main options seem to be shorts cut way up to her butt, shirts that say "nasty" with rhinestones, stuff with feathers on it, etc... I guess I still like her to look like a little girl...she is only 5 after all!

I usually frequent the clearance rack at Jo-Ann's or use my 50% coupons. If it is for something special that my mind has conjured up...like the outfits in my siggy, than I don't mind spending more for the fabric.

What is almost always cheaper to make? Pajamas. I usually get t-shirts and basics off the clearance rack a year ahead. The rest, I end up making. Oh, since you would be sewing for 2 girls, it would be less costly as you would save fabric if you made them stuff with the same fabrics...

Ariane · 03-30-2003, 02:29 PM

If you adhere to a strict discipline of buying only cheap fabrics on sale, yes it does save money, especially when sewing for me like others said. But even for Eve, if I wait for good sales, it's worth it. I just bought a nice knit at 1$ (CDN, so about .60 US), and I'm going to get 1 sleeper and 2 shirts for about 1.30 US + the price of the zipper for the sleeper. Hard to beat !

I find that the cheapest way to go is to decide on what to sew based on what you find - kind of "going with the flow", or "going with the finds". If I have an idea in mind and start looking for the right fabric, it almost always ends up costing as much as RTW, if not more. But then I have the satisfaction of having sewn a garment just like I wanted.

arasmama · 03-30-2003, 02:59 PM

Well, I don't think it saves money. If you shop garage sales for clothing you can definitely do cheaper than sewing, even sewing cheaply BUT you aren't going to get super cute high end boutique looking clothing at garage sales. Plus, I never find organic and hemp at garage sales.

I would say, sewing is cheaper than mall clothing, walmart/target clothing, and boutique clothing, costs about the same as goodwill and thrift stores and more than garage sales.

tara · 03-30-2003, 03:31 PM

I agree that it depends on how you want the clothes to look and what your tastes are in terms of fiber content and style. Sam has a mix of RTW and home-sewn clothing. I haven't yet conquered my fear of sewing shirts, so I caved and bought a handful of cotton t-shirts when I saw them for $2 each. I bought solids so they will go with all the print shorts and pants I make for him. I definitely come out ahead compared to buying his clothes at Lands End, department stores, or places like Gap/Children's Place, etc. I'm not into character clothing or logos, so that limits what I'd buy in RTW anyway.

I would budget in $$ for servicing any machine you buy second hand. Money well spent. Jenn had some good advice re: planning for purchases of thread and other notions.

Good luck! If this is something you want, you can do it!

Tara