So I Got Bored Today. . .

It's only taken 4 months of living in Vegas to realize there are only two seasons:  hot and windy and cold and windy.  Now that it's moving into the "cold and windy" phase, I've been worried about MJ getting chilly on our morning walks.  It's not that it's extremely cold, but that wind has a BITE to it and, well, not taking a walk is just not an option with a certain Oskar dog in the house.  So I started looking into car seat covers and was blown away:  we're talking $50 to $100 for a nice, pretty car seat cover!  Ridiculous! It's nothing more than a blanket with some straps on it. . . which got me to thinking. . . I could make one!  I had some beautiful Vera Bradley fabric I had gotten while I was still in Korea (I miss Happy Quilt) and, luckily, some matching fabric.  A quick Google search for directions and a few hours later, I had my car seat cover.  Here's a look at how I did it if you're interested in making one for yourself or someone else (it would make a quick and easy baby shower gift!)

Here is the fabric I chose for my project.  You need about a yard and a half of each.

First cut out two strips of fabric from each pattern measuring 9" X 3".  These will be the straps that hang on your car seat.  Set aside.  Then, cut each fabric into a square yard piece.  Depending on your car seat, you may need to alter the size (perhaps 40" X 34", but a yard squared worked nicely for me).  Lay your large squares WRONG SIDES TOGETHER on your working surface.  Make sure you line them up precisely.  Use a bowl to round the edges of your squares.  I only wanted a slight rounding so used a small cereal bowl.  You could absolutely leave it as a square, but I think the round corners had a nice touch. :)

After that, put your fabric squares RIGHT SIDE together and sew around the edges, leaving a space open to turn your fabric right-side out when finished.

After turning right-side out, iron it so it lays flat then top stitch around, making special care to sew the hole you left open during the original stitching.

Next up, the straps.  You'll sew these exactly like the larger pieces.  Take the pieces of fabric and put them WRONG SIDES together and then sew, again leaving a hole open to turn it right-side out.  Turn it right-side out, iron flat, then top stitch.

Next comes the velcro.  If you're buying specifically for this project, I'd recommend getting the NON-sticky kind; the sticky kind gums up your needle.  However, all I had was the sticky kind so I made due. Take the rough side and sew it to the top of the inside fabric; take the soft side and glue it to the opposite end of the outside fabric.  Sound confusing but it's not.  This picture should help explain:

Next, you'll need to figure out where exactly you want your straps.  I placed my cover on the car seat to make an estimate.  I pinched the area of fabric where I wanted it and stuck a pin in it to mark it.  After measuring, it ended up being about 12.5" from the top of the cover, and each strap was about 10" apart.  

Next, I sewed the straps in place using a rectangular sew and then zig-zagging across the middle for extra strength.  Viola!  A car seat cover!

Such an easy, quick, and cute project.  I started this around 2:00 this afternoon and was done by 6:30. . . and that's with a break for a Matty feeding, a walk with both boys, and dinner for myself.  And tomorrow morning, Oskar and I can enjoy our walk knowing that MJ is warm and snug inside his car seat. :)