Would your kids be disappointed to receive a homemade christmas gift?

[Songofsixpence]

DD loves her Build A Bear and asked for some clothes/accessories for Christmas. The stuff is quite expensive for what it is, so I thought I'd make her some.

I used to do a lot of product photography and I had one of those old fashioned suitcases that I used as a prop stashed in the loft, so I got it down and have been making Build A Bear clothes over the last month or so and it's now full. I have bought a couple of pairs of actual BaB shoes to put in it, but the rest of it is homemade.

I've had various phases of being into sewing and crafting over the years, so had tonnes of knitting wool, fabric scraps and bits and bobs festering away in my junk cupboard so a suitcase full of stuff really only cost a few pounds.

I had thought she'd love it

Anyway, chatting to friends about Christmas and what our DDs are into this year, etc, pretty much all of them have said their DDs would be really disappointed to get a homemade gift, and gutted that the clothes weren't actual BaB clothes

So, I'm panicking about it now

Would your kids be gutted?

She has got other gifts, but this is one of her main ones to go under the tree.

That sounds absolutely fantastic (assuming you are reasonably good at sewing, anyway)!

DD has a very small bear that fits the smallest size BAB clothes. Over the years, it's acquired one official BAB tutu, plus a crochet hat, fleece jacket, pinny, skirt, ball dress, ski suit and sleeping bag, all homemade by someone cleverer than me.

Sorry, yes. I am reasonably good at sewing. My mum is a seamstress, I wasn't allowed not to be

It sounds lovely.

Your friends sound pretty tactless to be so negative about something you've put time and effort into and their kids sound spoilt.

My kids would love it!!!

Your friend is nuts!

I think in general, homemade gifts can be a bit dodgy for kids. But what you've made sounds wonderful, and I'm pretty sure that most children would be delighted to receive it! It's not like it's homemade soap.

There are some toys where the brand really does make a difference to kids, and others where it doesn't. Those home-made Tracy Islands were probably naff, but a home made fort would be neat. I also think accessories are a bit different to the main toy - dolls etc collect all sorts of clothes from all sorts of sources. One of my pride and joys was a Tiny Tears. A real Tiny Tears was important to me, a different similar doll wouldn't have been the same. But the fact that most of her clothes were home-made by my Mum was fine, very nice in fact.

Assuming the clothes are well made, I'm sure your daughter will be thrilled with a suitcase full of clothes. As you say they are and your mum was a seamstress, I bet they look great.

Some people are just 100% against home made anything for presents. Their loss, I think.

Will she even notice? It sounds great and I'm sure she'll be overjoyed :) Mine isn't into BAB but wouldn't notice if something was real vs home made unless it was really crap, which I'm sure yours aren't!

My DD would love it.

My mum knitted coats and jumpers for my barbie dolls, I absolutely loved them!

Another way to look at it, is that your daughter's bear has one-off bespoke designer clothes/haute couture. People pay £1000s for that in real life :-)

My kids would love it. They would think the things we extra special as they were home made. I still have the home made dolls clothes my mum made 40 years ago. What a lovely idea, your friend is crazy.

The only thing, I suppose, is if she was after some specific non-sewable accessories like tiaras or tennis racquets. If so, you could probably add one official thing to the shoes you already have.

Dammit, I've just looked at the BAB website and I think DS's teddy needs a black plush electric guitar (unless you'd like to make him one, Sixpence?)!

I think it sounds wonderful and my DD would have loved it

yes, my DC would have loved that.

how shallow & superficial those friends sound, as though the label is what matters.

Your friends sound rather rude! Why on earth would your dd prefer something with a particular label to something you've made specially? My own dolls and teddies wore all sorts (mostly dresses knitted by my nan) and so did my kids'. Your suitcase sounds brilliant.

My kids would love a case full of clothes, I doubt they'd even notice whether it had a label or not!
They certainly wouldn't be upset. My 5yo is really excited that I am making her a blanket at the moment.

Great idea. I have a friend that makes dolls dresses and dd is very happy when they arrive.

That sounds lovely. As a child I regularly had handmade clothes for my dolls and loved them, especially when doll and I got matching fabric clothes

I am not skilled enough at sewing but my kids would have been thrilled knowing I has especially made them, and were also pretty happy with non-BAB branded clothes for their BABs that I got from alrenative sources. You might be able to work in some personal touches (oh I think you've already completed your project, sorry) and create exacty the outfit they want and that's not available inthe shops.
Don't listen to your friends, you know your kids best. If you are not super label conscious and don't normally comment on such things they won't care either.

That sounds amazing! Mine wouldn't notice at all whether the clothes were handmade at all, I doubt, unless I pointed it out to them.

Mine have a mix of shop bought (lego and brio mainly) and homemade (den kit, dressing up clothes, new scarves) and they couldn't care less.

No my girls would have absolutely loved that when they were younger. And my nieces would love that now.

(Again, with the proviso that the clothing was reasonably well made and actually functional)

Any child who would be disappointed with such a lovely and well thought out gift lovingly made by a parent will have been badly raised in order to become so ridiculously consumerist and brand-conscious. Sorry but that's my honest answer. What on earth is the world coming to (and I'm normally very un-judgy about such things!)?!

Thanks

No, apart from shoes and a suitcase she hasn't asked for anything specific from Build A Bear.

The BaB suitcase is tiny, so I thought the one I already had would be better. She'll get money from my Nan so we can always go shopping after Christmas if she doesn't like it.

She just really asked for "clothes" but nothing specific

Because I haven't really had to buy anything other than elastic and Velcro, she's got far more clothes than she would have done if I'd bought them, and she's got other gifts she wouldn't have had as well as the clothes

My friends weren't turning their noses up at homemade BaB clothes as such, it was more the fact that they're for a present if you see what I mean.

And now I'm having a panic

Kitties I think a plush guitar is a bit beyond me, sorry!

My DDs would love that. Your friend is either nuts, jealous or has spoiled kids. If my DDs got that they'd be too busy dressing their ears up to look for the label.

I'm good at sewing but not good enough to make clothes. I wish I was as I'd have made them some clothes for their BaBs and saved a fortune.

Their bears not ears.