Parents are loving one mom’s clever winter clothing hack — and it’s helping families save big as the temperatures drop.
Instagram user @sarahstaysathome went viral this week after sharing a genius trick to make kids’ winter coats and snow pants last an extra season. In a video posted on November 12, Sarah showed how to use a feature built into many children’s winter clothes that allows parents to extend sleeves and pant legs as their kids grow.
“PSA to all kid parents out there. Um, make sure you are checking your kids’ winter gear for the outgrow feature,” Sarah began in her now-viral clip. “I know specifically Columbia does it in all of their kids’ stuff, but there’s a lot of other brands who do it too, so make sure you’re checking when you’re shopping, um, or before you buy new the next season.”
She demonstrated how to use a seam ripper to let out the hidden stitching that shortens sleeves and pant legs. “I am working on extending out my daughter’s, um, arms on her coat and legs on her pants because they are too short here, but they still fit in like the body length, so it’s just this little seam on the inside of the arms and it extends out. You just take a little seam ripper. I’ve been doing it and you just kind of pop the stitches and then it’ll extend like another inch.”
Sarah showed off the results, saying, “You can see here this is the sleeve that I’ve extended and this is the sleeve I haven’t. Here it is on the pants too. Literally saves me every year so that I don’t have to buy new stuff. I can get like two years out of it versus having to buy every single year.”
The mom added that this simple hack has become a shopping non-negotiable for her. “Anyway, I hope that’s helpful. Um, I know it’s a non-negotiable for me when I’m out shopping for winter stuff, I’m always sticking my hand up the sleeve to feel for that little seam because I wanna make sure I get as much use out of that stuff as possible. They just grow so fast.”
She wrote in her Instagram caption: “This blew up on TikTok so had to share it here too! Check your current winter gear before buying new, and if you’re out shopping for new stuff make sure you’re looking for this feature! More and more companies are utilizing this now, but @columbia1938 is always our favorite!”
