Baby clothes outside the (big) box

So, my baby has maybe 5 items of clothing (ok, not counting socks) that I actually bought for her new--mostly when she was still gestating.

Other than that, everything was via gifts, Craig's list, garage sales, and generous medical school faculty.

I'm really glad that I made the decision to go used, in part for environmental reasons, and in part because jeeezus, that baby grew FAST.  She started out in preemie sizes (she was six pounds and change at birth). She is now very comfortably wearing 12-18 month size.  (Yes, I know, she's not actually six months old yet).  The typical clothing item has lasted under a month before she grew out of it; some were closer to a week.

BUT.

Every so often I still drool over baby clothes.  If anyone out there has a baby in their life that they need to shop for, I suggest thinking a bit outside the (big) box.  Instead of Baby Gap, home of the baby harem pants, try Etsy, home of fabulous home-crafted items.  In my favorite Etsy baby shop, the seller makes things like this beautiful sweater, using felted wool from old sweaters.  They're "upcycled" clothing.  My only issue with it is that, frankly, I'd like one in my size:

Size 6-9 months

Or, if you're just sick of bubblegum pink and navy blue being your only colors of choice, you can select from a wide range of hand-dyed onesies in colors like cabernet, oyster, and poppyseed (3 for $26):

I suppose this wasn't quite in time for Christmas, for those of you celebrating--but, never fear, the little one you're shopping for is likely to grow out of your present quite soon--and then maybe you can consider something homemade!

a non-disclaimer:  just so you know, I'm not getting anything from posting this. I just like the idea of upcycled, hand-crafted baby clothes:)