The idea

cardigan

I cry every time I watch Toy Story 3, which seems to be a lot lately as the kids are obsessed with it. It’s the bit where Andy grows up and doesn’t need his toys anymore, so he gives them away.

Oh man, I’m getting teary even now.

I have to be all like, “Oh no, mama’s not crying. I just have something in my… eye.”

I’m just not good at this growing up thing. I swear my kids are going to be 60 and I’ll be 90 or something and I still be squeezing their wrinkled cheeks and saying, “Please don’t grow up. I love you just the way you are.”

I’ve been reading this book lately…

book

Actually I read half of it in one sitting, and I will finish the other half by the end of this week. I love it. I’m an emotional, far-too-attached to things kinda person. I keep ticket stubs, and things I once used at a very important time in my life because I want to remember it forever. But on the other hand, I can be ruthless and throw stuff out. Like I threw out ALL my school stuff and I now kinda regret it. I wish I’d kept just a little bit of it to show Lacey. Ah, I’m a women of extremes.

I’ve known for a while that I need to get rid of some things. Namely baby clothes. But it’s the hardest thing about the kids growing up. They have so much attached to them. I can hold them and be taken back to the moment I took them home from hospital, or ‘insert-other-memorable moment here’. But it’s time…

Marie, the author of that book, says that we have to hold things in our hands and decide whether they spark joy. If they do, keep them. But I can’t be using these things to spark joy for the rest of my life. Plus their taking up almost a whole car space in our garage. It’s time.

I’m pretty certain that my two girls have made our family complete. I’m not committing 100% because you just never know, but I think we’re done. I love our family, and I don’t quite fancy pushing another baby out because already I can’t cough or jump on a trampoline without fear my insides might fall out {too much? Sorry}.

But I think I have a brilliant idea. One that I’ll take credit for but really should be thanking Judy Blume because I’m sure I read about it when I was 12 years old. OK, Judy… you can have the credit for this one. The mother in the story turned the daughter’s clothes into a quilt. And it sounded beautiful. It evoked memories and was just so… nice {and not weird at all}.

Maybe I could do that?

Would it be freaky to turn little patches of their beautiful things into a blanket? I could be 90, just home from bingo… and I could make myself tea and cake, and wrap myself in my blanket and dream about the days they were little, running around and driving my a little bit bonkers. Wouldn’t that be fabulous?

So does anyone know if there are people that do this? I don’t sew, so it’s never going to happen with my hands… but I actually think I’m going to make this happen. Tell me if you know a good quilter! Please!

77 thoughts on “The idea”

  1. There’s a wonderful company based in the UK, called Love Keep Create. They made my daughters clothes into a beautiful keepsake Bear for her first birthday, & I’ve just sent off more to be made into a quilt and cushion now that she has moved into her big girl bed. I’m absolutely thrilled with them x

  3. Beautiful idea Chantelle! I am at a similar crossroads. I have packed the newborn clothes into boxes, ready for Vinnies, but somehow they are still in our back room… One of my besties, Siobhan Rogers, is a bit of a rockstar in the quilting world. She has just published her first book, By The Block. Check out her website http://www.siobhanrogers.com.au. She is in Sydney.
    Larissa x

  4. People do it all the time. My mom is working on two for a good friend of mine – she has twin boys. I’m afraid my mom is a bit far away for her to help you 😉

    Be prepared for it to be costly. People are always shocked at how much my mom’s quilts cost. Hand-crafted isn’t like popping down to K-Mart & paying $50 for a quilt.

  5. I have a quilt my mom made me from all kinds of things. Bits of my clothes, other blankets, cloth toys. It’s lovely.

  6. The best I can do is make pillows. I can’t really sew. Anything else crafty and no problem…but not sew. I think it’s a lovely idea. We kept a couple of baby things from each kid and they have their own totes of “baby” things. We are in the process of packing up for our move to the coast so I’m going through everything with the “spark of joy” thing being taken into account every few minutes. Charity is getting a LOT of stuff and the bin is getting some of it too. Trying to let go. It’s not easy.

  7. My sister passed away late last year. I have slowly been making a rag rug (no sewing skills required) of her old clothes. It is a very healing process and one which fills me with love and sadness all at once. X

  8. Etsy has custom listings there is also a lady down here but its a bit of a trek kerrie (kittyandzac) on facebook that sort of thing is right up her alley Im sure there is similar up in queensland.

  9. While reading your post I was going to suggest this then read that’s what you were thinking! People definitely do it, I think it’s a great way of keeping the memories without the clutter. Practical too 🙂

  10. There’s an episode of ‘rules of engagement’ when Auldrey makes a quilt out of her husbands old T-shirts. Not the stinky BO ones; the ones from old concerts, school etc.

  11. Perfect idea, a friend did that once. When I ssw it I wished I hadn’t got rid of everything…I do still have a box for each of my boys filled with s few precious baby moment is though x

  13. That would be perfect. I took all of my daughter’s favorite tee shirts and cut them up and made a quilt with them when she went to college. I also interspersed hand prints from her cousins and paw prints from her puppies at the time. The handprints of the baby on that quilt just turned 18 and graduated from high school. It is well worn and well loved! I am all for your idea.

  14. I have never thought of doing this with kids clothes, sounds like a great idea though! My husband has a lot of band and concert tshirts, and by a lot I mean drawers upon drawers of them, so I have told him that one day I’ll be making them into a quilt … a really, really big quilt! He’s not so keen 🙂

  15. I JUST had this done with some of my daughter’s clothes that had extra meaning! I sent them to a woman on Etsy, I’m sure you could find someone there! I even just blogged about it: http://www.ferball.com/2015/06/baby-clothes-quilt.html How funny, I posted about this less than a week ago! I’m very sentimental about things, and I really wish my dad wouldn’t have donated all of my mother’s clothes so soon after she died so that my sister and I could have had quilts made.

  18. Remind me to never watch Toy story 3 with you! It gets me every time when Andy drives down that street off to college! So glad to hear I’m not the only one though.

    I saved 2 giant vacuum bags of the kids baby clothes and stored them under my bed for 2 years then over summer we had a massive de-clutter and I donated some and gave some to our new nephew. I love the idea of the quilt. My friends mum did this with her dad’s shirts after he passed away. He was known as the crazy shirt guy so now they live on in a beautiful quilt that she sleeps with every night.

    I’ve bought a quilt for my little miss and a few gifts from “Sew fun by Monique” on Etsy. https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/sewfunbymonique
    She is just divine and her quilts are amazing and sewn with love. I’m not sure if she makes custom quilts but definitely give her a try. Such a great idea xx

  19. I plan on doing the same thing. I’ve given my Mum special pieces from my kid’s clothing over the years (and corny collectable tourist t-shirts we’ve collected on holidays, even preschool and school uniforms) and once she has enough she will make a quilt for me! It’ll be the most valuable thing I own I reckon!!
    Great minds think alike. (Thank you Judy Blume! Also, I got the idea from the good ole’ Twilight movie – where Bella’s Mum gives her a quilt of all the places they’ve been)
    Cx

  20. My mum is a wonderful sew-er, she embroiders, makes quilts and all sorts. She made almost all of my clothes when I was little (and many of her own too). Every now and again I see pieces of fabric in her new quilts that were once a top or a dress or the lining of a skirt or hers or mine. 25 years after it was worn they are still popping up all over the place.

  21. I love this idea. Especially as I love sewing (and live the quilts I’ve made so far)
    A friend is coming home from AbuDhabi later this month and has asked if I can help her do the same thing you want to do. She has all her sons favourite onesies and wants to keep them in a practical way.
    I’ve been keeping my own favourite t-shirts to cut up and turn into a quilt – need more tshirts first though.

    The link shows you the last quilt I made – so far have all just been with quilting fabric, but I’m happy with my progress!
    https://www.facebook.com/bubajouniehandmade/posts/1594495484166429

      • Yeah, I want to make a decent size quilt. I guess I could start sewing rows with what I’ve got at the moment, have it sort of chronologically ordered? But I probably won’t. I think I’ll just keep stashing till I have lots to use.

  22. .Hi Chantelle…. I’ve been hearing about this ‘Japanese tidying up’ book and plan to buy it for myself….. I’ve done the main decluttering of my house and it’s the little bits and pieces that I need to let go of that have to be done.. very hard to let go…. I love the idea of a quilt made out of the children’s clothes…..
    Hugs… Barb xxx

  23. It would be awesome and you should so do it…just like on Gilmore Girls. There’s an episode when Lorelai’s mother goes up to Lorelai’s bedroom and on the bed is a quilt made from Rori’s baby clothes and I always wished I’d seen it before my girls were older and I’d given their clothes away…

  24. Oh man, we are SO similar it’s scary!
    I too am an over-emotional, way-too-attached-to-things type while at the same time can be super ruthless about other stuff and go on a total ‘let’s get rid of all the things’ rampage.
    As someone who doesn’t have kids nor a crafty bone in her body, I think your blanket idea is a beautiful one and something you should definitely do.

  26. I am planning to turn my kids baby blankets into a big patchwork style blanket for them. One each. I have kept just the most special items of baby clothes and I have found joy in knowing that they other things are being worn and enjoyed by friends and relatives children. I was only able to feel good about passing them on when my mum presented me with all my childhood dresses for my daughter to wear, but they were so 80’s I didn’t put any of them on her!

  27. I totally did this with my son’s old clothes. It was mostly from when he was 2-5 years old. Lots of T-shirt prints, cute little pockets from shorts, a piece of embroidery from his bear robe, interesting stitching and details were included. He loves his blanket. And even though he’s almost 10, he still looks at it (and uses it) with pride. I guess it brings back lots of memories for him and helps him to realise how much he’s grown. I hope you do it with the girls’ clothes. Or get someone to do it for you. You will all cherish the outcome for years to come. And you’ll be up cycling!

      • I think I have my mother to thank for the creative skills. She’s a always sewed and made stuff since I can remember. I didn’t get the bug until my late 20’s and now I can’t go a day without doing something creative. Great stress-relief. Also as a side note one of the denim panels on this quilt/blanket has the outline of my son’s hand embroidered on it too. A great little permanent imprint of his small hand at the time.

  29. If you ever watch the movie Step Mom, Susan Sarandon makes a quilt for her daughter and & cap for her son. I thought this was the most fabulous idea when I watched it. But be warned, if you cry at Toy Story 3 you’ll be sobbing watching Step Mom…sorry 🙂

  30. My mum kept some of my better baby clothes, and my daughter wore them home from hospital. I will keep them, and some of her best for her to give to her babies (If and when she has them)
    But I love the idea of making a patchwork quilt from the clothes. I think it would be beautiful, and something you could pass on. Maybe you could enquire with somewhere like a spotlight or lincraft store – they’re usually crafty people and might know someone who will do it or where you could learn to do it (If you’re sewing enabled, unlike me)

  32. My dad passed away 2 years ago and my mum made me a quilt with his shirts… I love it! Every time I see it on my bed it puts a smile in my face 🙂

  33. I think this is such a special and beautiful idea. One of my friends Mums made a rug/quilt out of special clothes and blankets from her childhood and gave it to her when she had her first bub – just so special I cry just thinking about it!

  34. Also read the book Grandmas attic. The grandma makes a quilt and each fabric has a story…

  35. There’s a very talented lady who also uses baby clothes and makes them into teddy bears etc.-another cute idea! I do like the quilts though, as they can be used forever!

  36. Yes people do this. Kelle from Enjoying the Small Things had this done I am pretty sure with t-shirts from her kids. I love the idea. I ended up giving away the baby clothes – my daughters clothes to a friend whose husband walked out while pregnant and my son’s clothes to a family who had their son 9 weeks early before they had really bought anything. It helped my heart to know they were going to really appreciative families. I still am not ready to give away the cradle we used for the kids. Silly because I feel done but I just don’t want to let it go.

  37. You could take photos of your precious things like ticket stubs and put them into a photo book with little stories about each of the items. Tuck a couple of the really special items inside of the book even pieces of material with little tags attached. Reducing clutter at its finest.

  38. Toy Story 3 gets me every time too. The bit at the end where Andy’s giving the toys to Bonnie. So sad.

  39. My mum did this for me when i left home! Its well loved (and a little frayed) i will have it forever!!!

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