Ren is three months now!
I’m loving this stage right now! He’s making all sorts of noises, smiling so big and giggling! It’s my new purpose in life to see how big I can get him to smile or how much I can make him giggle. I’m afraid I won’t get anything else done during the day! He just melts my heart.
It’s amazing how quickly he changes! I swear the car seat gets heavier every day! No matter how much he changes and gets older, my husband and I still sit around and stare at him as if it’s for the first time. We are in constant awe and totally smitten… if you can’t tell by how I’m rambling on about our babe.
With all the craziness around our house this summer I didn’t get to as many DIY projects as I had intended for baby. I did manage to pin an idea for every day of the rest of my life on my Pinterest board “our first babe” so if you need ideas, there are plenty there.
Of all my project plans, I finally made a car seat cover before baby’s arrival. I am so happy with how it turned out and glad I made this baby necessity!
By doing this DIY project, I saved some money and managed to create a one-of-a-kind and improved design. That’s the goal of DIY projects isn’t it?!
This sewing project is very easy. Choosing the fabric was probably the hardest part. Luckily my husband was waiting in the car while I was in the fabric store so I was forced to choose quickly.
I chose an upholstery fabric in a gray and cream print (because I didn’t know the gender at the time) and a soft cream blanket fabric for the interior. *If I were to do it again, I would have gone with a gray interior because the cream gets a bit dingy looking. The upholstery fabric was the best choice because it is sturdy and works as a good windbreaker in the bitter winter wind.
What you need:
Upholstery Fabric
Soft Interior Fabric
Scissors
Pins
Sewing Machine/Thread
Velcro
How To:
1. Cut the cover fabric and interior fabric to the following dimensions.
Length: 40”
Width: 35”
Also, cut straps from the cover fabric to add later.
Length: 10”
Width: 4.5”
2. Place the right sides of the exterior and interior fabrics together. Sew around the edge with about ¼’’ seam allowance. Leave at least a 5’’ area unsewn and use this area to turn the cover right-side-out after sewing.
Now, pin the small open area shut (folding in the rough edges). Sew along the edge to seal the opening and continue around the entire cover to give it a finished look (about ¼’’ from edge).
3. Now the cover just needs straps to secure to the car seat handle. Take your cut straps and fold in half length-wise. Pin around the edges.
Sew along one short edge and the long side, leaving the opposite short side open for turning. Turn the fabric strap right-side-out. Pin the opening shut while tucking the fabric inward to create a finished hem look. Sew the end shut.
4. Locate the appropriate area for the straps. Here are the coordinates I used for the strap placement on my Graco Snugride car seat.
Pin the straps at the center and sew a short seam to connect to the cover. Important: Sewing through both layers of the cover will keep the cover from separating and sagging into the baby’s face!
5. Place the Velcro onto the straps. The first piece will be placed on the backside of the strap and the second on the front side. That way when the straps are rolled around the car seat handle they will meet correctly. You may want to figure the placement based on our car seat. However, if you are making this without the car seat nearby, plan for a handle with at least a 2.5’’ diameter. It doesn’t have to fit tightly around the handle to work well, it just has to hold the cover out of baby’s face.
Sew around each square of velcro to secure well.
6. Optional: Embellish your cover! Add a monogram or add faux buttons or ribbons on the straps! I didn’t add any bells and whistles to mine but the options are endless if you choose to adorn and personalize your cover.
Place the cover through the handle and pull straps up to the handle and attach. Simply pull the cover up and over the handle to reveal baby. Occasionally I take the cover off the car-seat to use as a blanket. It’s so soft and Ren likes to lay on it too!
I hope you find this tutorial helpful whether you are an expecting mother or a DIY gift giver!
Have you made anything for baby lately? What should I try next?
Thanks for sewing with me! Happy creating!
Lauren
Hello,
I am new to sewing and want to try this project for a friend, she has a similar car seat so I figured I could just follow what you did, however, I don’t know how many yards of fabric to get.
How many yards of fabric should I get of each type?
Thank you,
Blanca
Thanks for stopping by, Blanca! The size is 40 inches by 35 inches and how much fabric you will need depends on the cuttable width of the fabric you choose. I would suggest taking those measurements to the fabric store so the cutter can help you since every fabric is different. As a good rule of thumb, I would suggest buying 1.25 – 1.5 yards (of each) for this project to ensure you have enough. Always good to have a little extra (or maybe that’s because I enjoy collecting fabric! haha!) Please let me know if you have any other questions! Hope this helps and let me know how it goes! 🙂
With summer coming here in Texas, I wanted to find a nice lightweight, breathable cover for my daughter to use when taking my grand baby out.
As everything out there is heavy and for cooler weather, I searched for options to make my own and didn’t really see any I like, until I found your post today. I’m going to make this week/weekend. I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks Lauren!
That’s great Kelly! This simple tutorial could easily be used to make a lightweight summer cover instead! I would even think about eliminating the second interior fabric altogether. That would make it super-light and great for the summer heat in Texas! Hope it goes well! Thanks for stopping by!