INFANT SEAT COVERS

I make a lot of things but never seem to find the time to blog about how to make them.  Recently there has been a baby boom at work.  Several of my coworkers or their spouses are pregnant including my daughter JaNae.  I love to sew and create, so this baby boom has spawned some original creations and some cute copies of things I have seen on pinterest.  I love love love Pinterest.  It makes me wish I was a young mom again but at least my grandkids get to reap the benefits. 

It seems that the new moms have a competition going on as to who can have the cutest cover for their infant seat.  I have come up with some original designs and enjoy making them as baby gifts.  The first one I made was for my granddaughter Brecklyn.  Then I made one for my granddaughter Elyse.  My daughter Christin is a good little designer and she had picked out the fabrics she wanted to use in Elyses room and I used the fabrics to create the infant seat cover.  It was a black and white damask with pink and black polka dot fabric on the back.  Christin wanted pink dingle ball fringe on the edge.  It turned out so cute and she said she got lots of complements on it. 
I never make the same one twice. The creating and finding different fabrics is

part of the fun.  The size I work with is approximately 33inches by 42 inches.  I decide how I want to finish the edge and this determines if I leave the corners square or round them off.  I buy two pieces of fabric.  If the direction of the fabric does not need to run the long direction then 1 yard each of two different colors of fabric will work.  If you are working with fabric that is directional as the damask fabric I used for my granddaughters cover then the yardage needs to be increased to 1 1/4 yards.  For the edge fabric for binding you will need ½ yard of fabric or 41/2 yards if trim like large ric rac or dingle ball trim.  The straps are made by cutting two pieces of fabric 5” by 8”. 

The 5” by 8” piece is folded in half right sides together so it is now 21/2” by 8 “.  Sew along one end and down the long edge.  Turn right side out and press the open raw edge to the inside.  Stitch the end closed.  I like to use Velcro to secure the ends together around the handle of the seat. I use large buttons or flowers to embellish the straps.  The straps are sewn onto the finished cover.  I find the location by finding the exact middle of the finished cover and place the middle edge of the fabric 21/2 – 3 inches from the middle.  The straps will be about 5-6” apart. 

The car seat covers can be embellished in a variety of ways.  I like to appliqué quilts so it is fun to use appliqué as a way to decorate the covers.  If you have a sewing machine that does embroidery this would look cute also. 

I love the argyle design.  So I thought this would be cute on a cover for a baby boy.  I decided to make the design using diamonds of two different sizes.  I stitched over the larger diamond with a big x out of a contrasting thread using a decorative stitch so that it would show up better.  I used grosgrain ribbon on the edges to create a border.  I stitched the grosgrain ribbon down with the same decorative stitch in a contrasting color. 

I have some more designs in my head and fabric already picked out.  So there are even more designs to come.