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8 cute crafts you can make with your baby’s old clothes

Holly Riddle
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Stop! Don’t throw out that old favorite onesie or donate the dress that your baby wore for their first Christmas. There are ways to repurpose baby clothes – use all of your favorite, used baby clothes for cute crafts and DIY projects that result in keepsakes that your family will cherish for years. Check out these eight cute crafts that you can make with your baby’s old clothes.

Stuffed animals

Did you know that you can make stuffed animals out of old clothes? Making stuffed animals out of old clothes at home isn’t as difficult as you think, either. All you need is a pattern, a few sewing skills, and some stuffing. 

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Finding a pattern is easy enough online, depending on the type of stuffed animal you’d like to make. Then, gather up your supplies, including the clothing, thread, scissors, sewing gear, filling, and any extra decorative pieces you want to use, such as buttons or trim. Follow the pattern instructions, and you’re done. That’s it. You have a beautiful keepsake stuffed animal and an upcycle project you can brag about.

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Baby headbands

baby with dad
Halfpoint / Shutterstock

Make use of smaller bits of fabric and any elastic that your baby’s old clothing might contain when you use old infant clothing to create a baby headband, perfect for photos and everyday wear. The project is fairly simple and comes together with a bit of fabric glue. If you want to add buttons or other decors, you might need to break out the needle and thread, but otherwise, that’s it. 

Baby clothes quilts 

Are you a skilled quilter? Is someone in your family? If so, use all of those older baby clothes to create a beautiful keepsake quilt. If you’re still learning the quilting ropes, this is also a great opportunity to learn a valuable skill from another family member. 

If you’re not quite up to making your own baby clothes quilt, though, you can also order a baby clothes quilt from a range of vendors. All you have to do is ship them your clothes, and they return the finished quilt. 

Wall art

This is a craft only for those items that you know you never want to give up. Think items like the outfit your baby came home from the hospital wearing or what they wore for their christening ceremony. A baby clothes shadow box is an easy DIY project that requires minimal crafting materials and can be done in an hour or two. Hang your new wall art in the nursery and, you’re done.

Doll clothes 

If you have a child who’s all about American Girl (or similar) dolls, then you already know how pricey that doll clothing can get. Thirty dollars? For a shirt for a doll? That can add up pretty quickly. 

Luckily, you can turn your child’s old baby and toddler clothes into doll clothes with a bit of sewing. 

Christmas ornaments 

For a smaller, holiday-time project, you can repurpose some of your baby’s old clothes into Christmas tree ornaments. With scissors, either sewing gear or fabric glue, and a bit of thread, you can create dozens of these little ornaments. While they would look great on your traditional Christmas tree, you might find that you also like them as holiday decor for the nursery. 

A keepsake pillow

If you don’t have enough spare baby clothes to make a full quilt, you may want to try a keepsake throw pillow, a great addition to any nursery chair. A simple pillow is a quick and easy DIY project if you already know how to sew, but if not, a pillow is a beginner-friendly sewing project to start with. You can go with making just a simple pillowcase, or go all out with extra decor, like trim and ribbons. 

New accessories 

Baby on blue background
Julie Metcalf/Shutterstock

Sure, your baby might not be able to fit into that onesie anymore, but they can definitely still fit into a cute infant cap that you can make using the onesie’s fabric. While a baseball cap definitely might seem like a harder DIY project to try, it’s not as difficult as you might think. All you need is a pattern, the old clothes, and some interfacing (aka, something stiff to create the cap’s bill), as well as your sewing materials. 

Get crafting, with easy projects that will make use of all those old baby clothes

Whether you’re currently drowning in outgrown baby clothes or you anticipate that you will be soon, don’t hesitate to try your hand at one of these eight projects, all of which result in new keepsakes, toys, or accessories that you’re sure to love. 

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Holly Riddle
Holly Riddle
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Holly Riddle is a freelance food, travel and lifestyle journalist, who also dabbles in copywriting, ghostwriting and fiction…
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