Carseat Canopy

        There is something wrong with me. seriously. I wanted to get this sewn before I had Carli, so I started and finished this Thursday and I had her Friday. I'm nuts!

       The zebra print is a bit much, but it was cheap at walmart and I only a little left of the animal print after doing the carseat recovering and diaper bag. I had black fabric that was pretty much free that I purchased from a garage sale last summer. I used that for the inside.

I purchased this AWESOME pattern from:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ElizabethWyatt?ref=seller_info

It is worth every penny! I'll tell you why!

 The canopy is extra long in the front and back and sides. The last one I had barely covered her feet in the front and it was always flying up in the wind. 

The back also has this awesome bustle that you can snap up and let the baby get some air without exposing her to sun and stuff. I'm still overwhelmed by zebra print. I really wish I would have gone with something not so loud.

The front has a zipper that you can open to see her, or give her some air and still block the sun while still allowing you to use the handle to cary her. I love the girly ruffle detail or you can do a less girly piping detail.

Inside there are 2 convenient toy loops that I always wished others had. They are placed right below the straps used to attatch the cover to the carseat.

            All these combined make for a very user friendly and cute canopy that baby can sleep comfortably under.

           While making this, I was so rushed that I didn't take my time to read instructions carefully and am used to patterns with a ton of step by step pictures. This pattern is a lot more like the patterns you purchase in the store. If I would have slowed down I would not have gotten frustrated during the zipper/front and back assembly process. AND I should know better than to cut the zipper short before the thing is done. SO DUMB!!!! that lead to a lot of safety pinning and taping to make sure it stayed the way it was supposed to before completion. I ended up adding a lot more time than needed and using my seam ripper way more than I like to just because I hurried. ANYWAY, it turned out fine and works! again, not perfect, but nothing of mine ever is. :)

Recovering my carseat

         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.