When I went into the basement to check out the baby stuff after I found out I was having another girl, the carseat made me cringe. The underside of the lining was all beat up and melted and the top just was not cute. A long LONG time ago I bought the tutorial pattern from this etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/GeorgiaLeighDesigns?ref=seller_info with the intention to redo it when keira was using it. I was terrified to try so I decided to do it now. My husband didn't even understand my fear of doing this and he could care less about this kind of thing. I am not a pro at sewing and i'm not AMAZING as everyone keeps saying. The only thing that makes me impressive to others is the fact that I try stuff and with each try I get better and better. All they see is the end product. I guess I'm just super determined or something!
All I got from the tutorial I purchased was basically take a seam ripper to it, take pictures of it as you go so you know how it goes back together and trace the pieces you took apart to make new pieces. if I would have known that, I would not have bought the pattern. THEN I found this FREE tutorial online: http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2011/02/recovering-baby-car-seat.html SIGH.
My seat is a very simple, basic one that isn't very tailored or forgiving if it isn't PERFECT like the one it came with. I was afraid of that. I wanted a seperate part up the middle, shown in black minke, so I cut it and added 1/4" to the cut edges of the new pieces to make it fit.
This new one is not a very snug fit which I'm disapointed with, but it's still better than the last one. I might figure out some sort of velcro to attatch it to the seat better. The back is not pretty and I probably should have used just plain black cotton to line it with because I had to replace the batting. You don't want to leave batting exposed. Instead I used pink fuzzy material I already had on hand. it made it more poofy and bulky. also, at the top of the seat lining are pleats that I didn't made big enough and I tried to fix after the binding was already on. As long as you don't look underneath, it's an ok seat cover! :)
THE CANOPY
The canopy was more intimidating to do than It should have been. It was the most fun to do! most come from the store without an under side, so I did one for this.
my favorite part is the ruffles I did!!! :) I can't wait to put my baby in it! now to make strap covers and a head rest.
