Ripped jeans.

This morning as I was hanging out the washing I was relieved to find a hole in Miss Pepper's jeans. You can see it there, just under the red flower.

Bren's Mum bought these jeans for Indi waaaaay back about eight or nine years ago. All three of my girls have worn them. They've been hemmed, let down, patched and repatched many times. Loved. The other day I noticed that they were a tad too short for Miss Pepper, my littlest and last.

So what do I do with them now?

I was relieved to see the hole because it narrows down the options and some of the guilt.

I am so happy to hand most things on to friends or op shops when we are done with them if they are in good condition, but there are some things that I just can't.

One of my friends has recently inherited a suitcase of baby clothes that her and her sisters all wore and then all her nieces and nephews wore and now its time for her own babies to be dressed in these white hand knits and nighties.

I love the idea of keeping clothes my kids wore for their kids to wear but most of the things I want to keep are well worn items I made, my girls wore and wore and wore and will realistically never serve any purpose but the sentimental one ever again.

So far I have two and a bit boxes of clothes Miss Pepper has outgrown and I have put away. Two and a bit boxes of little hand made bits and pieces I have made, friends have made, or bought or knit by a grandmother no longer with us. Each has its own story.

These little patched up jeans will be carefully folded and added to the contents of the boxes this afternoon. Maybe one day the girls will take them to school for show and share, maybe one day we'll sit together and go through the boxes telling the stories, maybe one day I'll tell them to their kids or maybe one day I'll come across the boxes and see that I've kept way too much and chuck them out. Who knows.

Its a little bit sad to think of these jeans not being worn again and put away in a box, but they sure have had quite a life...well you know what I mean.

Do you keep many of your kids' old clothes? How many? How do you decide what to keep and what to give away? Has anyone actually made one of those quilts out of all their baby clothes? And if you don't have kids yet, have you started a collection of clothes for when you do?

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend where ever you are.

Bye now. XX