So my niece Ava is now almost 4 months old and spends a lot of time in her car seat going here and there with her 3 older siblings. The car seat strap covers my sister was using were getting pretty nasty so it was requested that I make some new ones.
I first saw this tutorial on reversible strap covers from Alisa at the Sweet Life. But I decided to change the sizes a bit so the finished size is about 6″ long. They might be a tad long for newborns but they fit Ava’s car seat great!
I used pink polka-dots on one side and pink fuzzy fabric on the other. They were really quick to make and came out super cute. Ava loved them! Well, I think she did…she drooled all over them. And because they are reversible you can just flip them over and extend the life between washes.
Here is my tutorial…
Materials (for one pair)
- Two 7″ x 7″ pieces of patterned cotton fabric
- Two 7″ x 7″ pieces of soft and fuzzy fabric or another cotton pattern
- Two 7″ x 7″ pieces of batting (I like low-loft polyester because it doesn’t stretch like cotton batting)
- Two sets of 3″ velcro strips
Put the patterned cotton down first and match the right sides of the patterned cotton and the soft fabric together. Then put the batting on top. I like to sew with my batting on top because it stretches more and it gets caught in the presser feet if it is on the bottom.
Sew the edges with a 1/2″ seam allowance and leave a 2-3″ opening for turning.
Cut the corners and trim up the edges. Then turn right side in and iron flat.
I like to use sided steam a seam tape to iron in between the gap where I turned the fabric in. Then you can stitch it closed by hand.
Sew a 1/4″ seam around the edges. Watch your stitch length. You want to make sure it isn’t too small when you are sewing through all these layers.
Sew on the velcro on opposite sides of cover. One on the soft side and one on the patterned side. You can add a longer strip of velcro if you want…on second though, a 5″ would probably hold the edges a little more securely than my 3″ strip. I will try a longer strip next time.
Here you can see the velcro on each side. If you have a specific direction to your pattern, you need to pay attention to which way you sew on the velcro.
Fold it up and hook the velcro and you see how they work!
Now attach to the car seat! While Ava was sleeping she told me she wanted the polka-dot side showing!
Then later when she was up I thought I would take a pic of the other side of the straps. Isn’t she cute?!?
And of course I have to throw in a pic of her big sister Hannah…who was wearing the most adorable outfit! She loves pink…can you tell?
Man, I love those kids! Until later, happy sewing!
I’M LINKING UP TO THESE PARTIES:
Sunday: Homemaker on a Dime, I Heart Naptime, Under the Table and Dreaming, Flamingo Toes; Monday: Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across My Face, The Girl Creative, Skip to My Lou, Making the World Cuter, Polly Want a Crafter, Cherished Bliss, Dittle Dattle, One Artsy Mama; Tuesday: Tip Junkie, Kurtz Corner, Sugar Bee Crafts, Today’s Creative Blog, A Diamond in the Stuff, Hope Studios, Ladybug Blessings; Wednesday: Laugh Love and Craft, Lil’ Luna, The Trendy Treehouse, Women Who Do it All, Savvy Southern Style, Sew Much Ado; Thursday: Craft, Scrappy, Happy, Somewhat Simple, My Repurposed Life; Friday: Romantic Home, Lolly Jane Botique, Fingerprints on the Fridge; Saturday: Be Different Act Normal; Craft Envy, Kojo Designs, Six Sisters’ Stuff, Along for the Ride
