I was a crafty fox this weekend. I finished not one, but two baby items. I’m only talking about one of them today, though…

So, remember about three weeks ago when I posted about stuff I wanted to make for baby prior to its arrival? One of those items was a car seat cover, like the one over at Cluck Cluck Sew. I finally gathered my wits about me and got to making one, loosely following that tutorial and a few others. It was a quick, gratifying, simple project.

Making stuff for babies is awesome. Moar instant gratification, please and thank you!

I highly encourage you to carve out just a few hours to make one of these for your next baby or baby shower. 3, maybe 4 hours will do, and you get a spiffy custom and useful object out of it.

Step one: Gather your materials.

Materials:

• 1 yard of print fabric for the outer (I used quilting cotton)
• 1 yard of backing fabric for the lining (I used flannel – this gives it some weight so it’s doesn’t just flap away)
• 1/4 yard of coordinating fabric for straps (a fabric quarter works well here, too – not pictured)
• coordinating thread
• 6 inches of velcro

Step two: Prewash and dry all of your fabrics. This is important so that your colors don’t bleed or run, and it’s also just good practice. Then iron everything.

Step three: Straighten out all of your edges and cut your outer and lining fabric to 34″ by 40″ (this was roughly cut to cut and selvage to selvage for me, after removing the selvage on either side and straightening out the cut edges). Round your corners at this point using a cup or bowl or fancy edge rounding guide.

Step four: Sew your lining fabric and outer fabric with right sides together, leaving a space to turn your fabrics right-side-out.

Step five: Turn and top-stitch your cover.

Step six: Cut your strap fabric into two pieces measuring 5″ by 18″. Fold a 1/2″ hem around the entire thing, then fold it in half. Top-stitch around the edges so your final straps measure 4″ x 8″.

Step 7: Sew a 3 inch piece of velcro to your straps. Make sure that you put the hooks on one side, and the loops on the other. Usually, placing these so that your hooks are on top and your loops are on the bottom is preferable.

Step 8: Sew your straps to the cover. I placed mine with the inner sides 12 3/4″ in from the long edges and 14″ down from the top. I stitched a 1 1/4″ rectangle spanning the entire width to hold them in place.

Step 9: Attach to a car seat and admire your work! Bonus points if you can get your cat to help you model it.

That’s it. It really is that easy.

Go off and make one for yourself, your sister, your neighbor, everyone! Keep those babies safe from curious hands and crazy winds.

Link up!