Happy Friday: Extending the Life of Kid’s Tees

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Sent from reader, Tracy:

I have a tip to share. To save money on clothes for my son, I like to purchase him mock-layer long sleeve t-shirts in the Fall/Winter. When Spring comes around, I can cut off the extra sleeve length and that gives him a wardrobe of short sleeve tees for another season of use!


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Comments 31

  1. Maria

    Genius !

  2. Raedev

    I do that too! ☺

  3. TG

    Off the topic at amazon under armour storm scimmage bagpack royal/blaze orange for $18.56 and Wow wee Roborator blue is $55.67. Just want to update,maybe some one want to buy 🙂

    • pris

      Thank you just got one for my son!!

  4. Ellen

    Clever!!!

  5. Tammy Duttine

    Great idea! Thanks for sharing, because this falls under the “Now why didn’t I think of that?” category.

    • Momof3

      The same

  6. Nicole j

    I do this too!! Living in South Florida, these kind of “winter” shirts always go on clearance for $1-$2 but its so hot here that it just makes sense to cut off the long sleeves

  7. Angie

    Would never, never work for my son! He stains and or rips everything. Lucky you will a less messy and destructive boy!

    • Happymama

      Lol, I had one like that too 🙂

    • TracyMom

      My son is pretty messy & destructive. The most common comment I hear from others about him is, ‘He’s alllll boy!’ 🙂 I first started cutting off the mock-sleeves because he had a shirt where the whole long part was just white… and it got spaghetti sauce stains on it probably the first time he wore it. Instead of tossing it, I just cut off the sleeves. I also look for shirts with heavy graphics. 1) Because he loves characters and ‘cool’ graphics but also 2) because they hid stains a little better. My new rule- never buy any child any article of clothing with white in it! lol I am a SAHM, so we can get away with wearing stained or stretched out clothing around the house most days. We just have a ‘play shirts’ and ‘nice shirts’ section in his closet.

  8. Jenny

    I can’t believe I’ve never thought to do this. You are an absolute genius!! Thanks for sharing

    • Sarah!!

      Haha I thought the same thing!

  9. Workaholic

    I recycle my child’s clothes into outfits for my dog. Anything else get donated. My dog will never grow out of her outfits 😀

    • Trish

      Lol!!!

  10. Emily

    Great idea! Thanks for sharing!

  11. Krysta

    If you can do a basic stitch, you can make regular long sleeve shirts and transform them into short sleeves, too. Just cute them about 1 1/2″ longer than the finished length you want them to be. Turn shirt inside out and fold cut end 3/4″. Then see basic stitch and tada, short sleeves!

    • Krysta

      Cut*

    • TracyMom

      I love this!! Thank you for sharing! My son is getting to the age where he wants all his favorite characters on his clothing, but $20 for a kids shirt… common?!! This could really help stretch the budget and give kids the ‘cool’ clothes they want. Thanks!

  12. Krysta

    Sew* ha auto correct got me good

  13. A.Rich

    Wow perfect for play shirts love this idea.

  14. MosleyMom

    I do this for my kiddos’ pajamas. In the spring all the winter pajamas become short sleeved and shorts.

  15. Shannon

    I love stuff like this! I recently took our old 12 month baby dress and cut off the top bodice part and added an elastic and now it’s an awesome skirt that fits my 4 year old!

    • Mo

      Love it!! 🤗

  16. Lucy

    That’s a great idea!!! Thank you for sharing.

  17. Carolyn E

    Great idea! I also buy plain long sleeves and add them under his short sleeve shirts to get this look and to get more wear out of his short sleeves shirts!

  18. madymagu

    I also do this in reverse! When my kids (both boys and girls) outgrow their long sleeves and their arms are just a little too long, I cut the sleeves and add them to the short sleeve shirts to extend them into winter! Also works because if the middle of the shirt gets a stain, i can still salvage the long sleeves or wear a short sleeve over it to cover the stain. Also, if the shirt was a fav that they outgrew, i sometimes cut the shirt to make a pillow or to frame the graphic 🙂

  19. Jennifer

    I also do the reverse with baby legs to make short sleeve shirts long.

    • Mo

      You’re so creative!! I have boys, so not much legging-like except long underwear, but even if we had leggings, I never would have thought of this!

  20. Kristie

    Along the same lines: When my daughter outgrows her leggings I just cut them off to use as shorts….usually the kind of shorts I put on her under dresses. I just don’t feel comfortable with just panties under dresses, She is on the ground and upside down too much at this age to not wear shorts.

  21. Jennifer

    I also do the reverse, but use baby legs to extend short sleeve shirts.

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