6 Best Supplies To Sew Baby Clothes

heather handmade sewing

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After making lots of baby sewing projects for my three kids and lots of baby showers gifts, I’ve found my favorite supplies to sew baby clothes.

Besides the typical sewing tools you find near a sewing machine, there are six things that have changed the way I sew baby clothing. As I’ve sewn for my three babies first years of life, it’s been a slow learning process.

I have found certain things make it a incredibly easier and cheaper for me. Some are cheap or free items that I have in my stash and others were purchased. It’s so fun to baby sewing projects for baby showers when I have the right supplies!

6 Best Supplies To Sew Baby Clothes

6 Favorite Supplies To Sew Baby Clothes

Free Baby Sewing Patterns

I love to sew clothing for babies, but I don’t always love buying new patterns when my kids grow so fast. Usually I end up using free baby sewing patterns since there are so many good free patterns out there.

I love free sewing patterns because it helps me learn more about sewing and pattern shapes without costing a lot of money. It also helps me decide if I like a pattern designer, and sometimes I end up buying the children version of the same pattern.

baby leather shoe sewing pattern

Scraps of Fabric

Anyone who sews starts collecting so many scraps of fabric. And the best part about sewing for babies is using up your small pieces of scrap fabric to make clothing!

I have a whole list of fat quarter clothing projects to get you started. Lots of these use free sewing patterns, and there is some projects for knit fabric and some projects for woven fabric.

sew fat quarter skirt

Tips to Upcycle Clothing for Kids and babies

I love re-using the hems and the neckband if I can. Knits can sometimes be a struggle to sew, so I often try to find a way to use something partly finished to make it easier.

I love reusing t-shirts, men’s button up shirts, and shirts. It’s great to be able to reuse button plackets, hems, pockets, collar, cuffs and sleeve plackest.

There are so many ways to upcycle but I have a list of how to upcycle for babies and kids and a bunch of free patterns I used.

upcycled baby shoe free sewing pattern

Plastic Snaps

The best decision I ever made was to buy some plastic snaps. Now that I’ve used them multiple times I have no regrets at all. Here’s how to install plastic snaps.

It makes the leg opening closures way quicker than hand sewing snaps or buttons and making buttonholes! I have used them on everything (overalls, onesies, rompers, etc.) since I bought them.

snaHow to Install Snaps on Baby Clothesps on baby clothes

Elastic

Elastic is a great closure to use for babies since it’s easy to work with, and it’s soft and comfortable for babies to wear. I have found that I need and endless supply of elastic.

It’s just perfect for baby stuff. I have used it on baby shoes, baby pants and leggings, diaper covers, and even baby dresses.

organizing elastic

Tricot Interfacing

Have you ever made cute baby dresses and the hem or neckline always needs to be ironed flat? Adding interfacing to those areas will help prevent the need for ironing!

I also have found that whenever I’m adding snaps or buttons I need just a little bit of interfacing to keep the fabric strong. I love tricot interfacing because it’s strong but soft. It can be used on both woven and knit fabric, but it’s not too heavy.

What is Interfacing? // heatherhandmade.com

What are your favorite supplies to sew baby clothes?

If you make something using this sewing project, Iā€™d love to see! Please share it on social media with the hashtagĀ #heatherhandmadeĀ and tag me!

supplies to sew baby clothes
heather sewing

I believe small sewing moments can create great joy. Find your own ā€œrightā€ way to sew. -Heather

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Found your blog from the Sew-vivor posting. (Congrats on making it in the top 15!) I've tried my hand at FOE and just CAN. NOT. get the hang of it. I find ribbing to be so much easier. What's the trick?? Should I not be stretching it as I sew (like I would with ribbing)?

I do stretch it as I sew. I also kind of do it like binding where I sew the elastic to the inside of the item with a zigzag stitch, and then I sew the front down with a straight stitch but I'm stretching it the entire time. Maybe I'll do a tutorial!

I've just discovered your blog while looking for baby sewing patterns, and it's amazing! Thank you very much for sharing your skills and your imagination šŸ™‚ Greetings from Switzerland

Great post! I need to break down and buy those snaps…where did you get them? And I've never used fold over elastic! I guess I need to investigate!

I bought yards and yards of FOE for diaper covers. That is such a great tip to use them to finish off neck lines. Thanks for the tip.

Just wondering- do you prefer plastic snaps over metal ones? I've actually never seen plastic ones, but I don't shop at craft stores often, mostly Wal-Mart.

I've used both, but I've never tried the metal ones on baby clothes. I feel like the metal ones are stronger and more heavy duty, but you have to use a loud hammer to put them in. The plastic ones are strong enough, but you use quiet pliers to put them in. I found that it was hard to hammer/pinch the metal snaps as much as they needed and so they might fall off. The plastic ones are really easy to pinch and never fall off.