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| Baby Clothes Shopping Tips |
By:
Jan Bay |
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All parents want their babies to be neatly groomed and well dressed for their appearances in public. There are times when we may allow baby the occasional disheveled morning, toddling about the house in nothing but their disposable diaper and a stretch cotton shirt daubed in oatmeal from breakfast. There’s always a spoonful or two that just didn’t quite make the trip into their little mouths. If we’re staying at home for the time being, hit the high spots with a bath cloth and tend to some more pressing matters first. No harm done.
Baby certainly doesn’t have a fashion opinion. Nor do her playmates. The adults that are our friends and family members are the ones we strive to please and appease in the area of wardrobe perfection. Baby could not possibly care less what she wears just as long as it’s not uncomfortable. Trouble rears its ugly head and all your shortcomings come to light on that quick trip to the discount store with a little spit up on the onesie and the first person you see is your mother-in-law. You know the one. Yes, how lovely to see the sweet lady who regaled you with tales of how she saved rainwater to hand-wash your husband’s diapers. Wow! Under those circumstances, who wouldn’t be on a guilt trip and feel like an utter failure at mothering. What a horrible weight to bear.
It just takes so darn long to wash, dry and press the sweet little 100% cotton dress with the French Embroidery or the little Jon Jon with the trains done in perfect hand smocking. How much time it takes to prepare baby’s wardrobe is determined at the time of purchase.
WHEN TO PURCHASE
The time to buy baby’s outfits is not thirty minutes before baby is scheduled to be on display and available to her admiring fans. I know every young mom is busy. The laundry needs tending, the dishes need washing, and groceries don’t buy themselves. Use some discipline and put together an almost fool proof plan for saving yourself some time and effort in shopping for your baby’s articles of clothing.
WHAT TO TAKE WITH YOU TO THE STORE
Next time you are grocery shopping at the warehouse discount store looking at the bananas someone mentions that it’s going to be really chilly tonight. Yikes, baby needs a pair of footed pajamas. Do you dash two aisles over and grab a pair of pajamas marked for your child’s precise age and save yourself time? Repeat after me: A spur of the moment purchase is rarely a worthwhile purchase!
Do you have baby’s measurements with you? At the precise moment that you get baby dressed for bed and notice that her jams are too short, tight or worn, get the tape measure and go to work. Exercise your tailoring skills and measure the inseam, length of the foot cover if there is one, the width across the chest and length of the sleeve from the shoulder seam to the wrist. Add a couple of inches to these measurements if the garment is too small and should be replaced with a larger one. Write all of these measurements in a handy little notebook to keep in your purse. After all what good is it if you don’t have it with you at the store? Along with this notebook, in your purse you should have a small retractable cloth measuring tape to measure any items you are considering for purchase. This will save you from wasting money on a piece of clothing that has no room for growth, allowance for shrinkage or worse, one that’s too small and must be returned.
AVOIDING CLOTHING MALFUNCTIONS
Cute is great, comfortable and well fitting is mandatory. When shopping for baby clothing pay close attention to ease of use. Ease of use?
Dressing a baby on a good day is not the easiest undertaking. Dressing a baby on a tense morning is darn near impossible. Articles of baby clothing with properly sized openings and easy to secure fastenings are desirable. Believe me, attempting to squeeze baby’s head into a less than ample neck opening is NOT going to make the day start out on a positive note. Take a garment that has proven itself to be acceptable in this area, measure the opening and add this measurement to your notebook. Update the measurements as baby grows.
Opt for snaps over buttons on most articles of clothing. Cutesy shaped buttons are a real eye-catcher in the store, but giraffe shaped buttons don’t make for an easy suiting up process. Irregular shapes contribute to excessive wear and tear of the stitched finishing around buttonholes. Have you ever tried to re-finish a buttonhole? It’s nearly impossible even for an accomplished seamstress with a top-notch state of the art machine. The buttonholes on an infant’s clothing are microscopic and the fabric just never seems to be shaped properly after the repair. Really good grippers, snaps or Velcro will save you time and garment malfunction. Zippers have their place as well.
CONSTRUCTION
Inspect the clothing in the store. Are all seams sewn securely and are the raw edges finished properly to avoid raveling? Do the grippers or snaps seem to be attached to the fabric so as not to detach themselves from the fabric after many clothing changes? Does the Velcro appear to be heavy duty and the connecting teeth easily de-fuzzed? If you just couldn’t walk away from those giraffe shaped buttons, are the buttonholes well finished and the buttons sewn securely?
FABRICS
While organic cottons are all the rage, the deep, hard to remove wrinkles that come with them will never be acceptable. I love the 100% organic cottons, but even I must accept that this is not an easy care fabric. You can soak it in fabric softener to decrease the need to iron, but how organic is that? Personally, I don’t mind ironing one hundred percent cotton items. The process is soothing and relaxing to me. The smell is wonderful and it brings back good memories of my childhood. I just love to turn on some good music and iron away! This is something I truly enjoy when I have time. However much I enjoy this, when I’m pushed for time I want the option not to have to iron everything baby wears! The answer to this is to have at least a few of those smocked bubbles and shortalls in a blend of cotton and polyester. These items require little if any pressing. Launder these pieces in your everyday laundry soap of choice in warm water using a fabric softener if baby’s not allergic. Dry them using the perma-press setting of your dryer. Be standing ready when the dryer finishes its cycle to whip the baby’s clothing out before there is a chance for any wrinkles to set. Hang them on a nicely padded baby hanger and chances are nobody will be able to tell if they were ironed or not! Save the wonderful natural fabrics for special occasions or when you just want to rock out to good music and iron your cares away! Don’t laugh, I highly recommend it! |
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