What to do with beloved handmade baby clothes

[Octagonchecker]

My MIL went through a phase of making a lot of clothes for DD (it was during lockdown, she's too busy now!) We have an entire attic bag of beautiful, colourful clothes for about 9 months - 2 year old age. I have a 1 year old DS now so I'll give him the few items that would suit him, it's mostly pretty girly though. All of my friends and family who are likely to have children have had them now and it's ALL been boys, except one baby girl who was born in the opposite season. I can pass on a few things but it's mostly summer dresses that would fit her in winter and heavy things that would fit her in summer so I can't pass on much. I'm keeping some of the kids' baby clothes to have made into a quilt, but it seems a shame to deconstruct the handmade ones for that! I don't like the thought of selling them on vinted because stuff only seems to sell for about £2 on there and it seems so cheap like I'd be devaluing them. If I donated them to charity who the hell knows what would happen to them, they might go to people who appreciate them or just get turned into car seat padding. You can tell I'm really sentimental about these clothes but I have this huge bag clogging up space. What would you do with them?

No one else is going to value the baby clothes as much as you do, especially handmade ones. I have seen some crafty people on Etsy who offer a service to turn scraps of special fabric into teddy bears - might that appeal?

Give it to a friend or relative who is having a baby. Mention just one or two items that you're especially sentimental of, and ask for a photo of their kid wearing them. That's what I did with my sentimental baby clothes and it gave me closure about them!

I would just keep them. If you have grandchildren it will be very special for your children to look through the handmade baby clothes as adults.

I put my babies in some of my 30+ year old babygrows and outfits and it was so special.

I handed it to my sister's daughter.
If not it would have been in a closet forever I guess.

You need to talk your MIL first. Different people have different views on where their homemade clothes should go first. Some people get really pissed off if you donate or sell them. I would prefer they were given to a baby bank or to a women’s shelter.

If your MIL thinks you’re not valuing her work by giving them away or selling them, ask if she minds if they are turned into the quilt. She may prefer that the the pieces are still with you. It does seem a shame to cut up a perfectly fine outfit for a quilt. However, your MIL has picked those fabrics with you and your DH in mind. So it makes sense to use that in a quilt. If it’s going to be sold or donated and it might be turned into anything, at least you have control of what it is turned into.

Use some as dolls clothes? Ultimately they may as well be in the bin if in the loft as they’re being used as much. and if you keep all this stuff you won’t have any space - it gets harder to get rid the longer you have them!

shelters or baby in need collections? They’d be going to a very deserving home

Give a few of your favourites to your MIL and ask her to make them into a memory bear (if she can sew I assume she’ll be able to do this too, I sew and have never done it but could find a pattern online and figure it out). If she’s busy it might take a while but I’m sure she’d find the time at some point and then you get a memento to keep of them.

Have them made into a patchwork blanket?

I would choose one or two of my favourite outfits, ones that I could look at now and then and have good memories from, as a form of 'thank you' to your MIL.
This way you can show your DC when they're old enough to appreciate, and perhaps the items might even be kept and worn by a future GC.

If you don't like keeping a large bag of clothing around, it seems the nicest way to part with the majority of them, and still feel that you appreciate the love, time, and effort it took, especially at such a stressful time, which makes the clothing feel even more precious.

The remaining clothing you can have made into a 'memory' quilt, as you said you'd be doing.
The rest I would donate, perhaps to a shop that specialises in 'higher end' or 'hand made' creations.
As they charge a little more, you can rest assured that the buyers would want them and care for them.