DIY Thursday: Carseat Canopy

I see those cute car seat canopies everywhere!  They weren't around when I had my first 2 kids.  All we did was throw a blanket over the car seat.  But every time I have seen one I have wished I could have had one.  Then I look at how much some places are charging....the least expensive has been $30 and up to as much as $60.  Are you kidding?!  There is no way I will spend that much....I'll just keep throwing a blanket over the top.  But then because of the wonderful world of Pinterest, I found a couple tutorials on how to make them.  Once I read them over I realized that there really isn't much difference between making these and making a double sided receiving blanket.  So I decided I was going to make one for next little girl (this will probably post after I have had her).    So here is what I did, and I will include the links to the tutorials that I used as well because I'm sure my instructions won't be very clear.

I got 1 1/2 yards of 2 coordinating fabrics.  I got a little extra just to be safe....plus I used a coupon so it didn't cost much more for it =)

Put your right sides together and make sure your fabrics are the same widths, if not trim them so they are,

Then measure 1 yard (36 inches) and I actually did about 37 in to allow for seams (but hindsight, I wish I would have done it about 40 in just to have a bit more length in the front).  

Then trim your fabric, but don't throw out the scraps.  You will use those for the straps to hook to the car seat handle.

Then pin your edges together and sew about 1/4 in seam around it. (make sure the right sides are together) and leave part of one side unsewn so you can flip it right sides out.  Once you have it sewn and flipped, then find the part you didn't sew, and pin it together.  I fold the edges down so it matches how the rest of the fabric looks.  Then do a bit of a decorative stitch (I just used zigzag) all around it.  This adds a bit of decorations and also will close up that hole.  I wanted to do a pink stitch around but I can't remember where I put my pink thread....so I just did black.  I also ironed mine before I sewed it, just so the edges were flat together.  Now you are done with the big piece.  Easy, huh?

The next part is a bit more tricky.

Take your scraps and measure them 3 inches by 7inches (once again, I did about 7 1/2 to allow for seams)  Cut 2 of each pattern.

Then You put the right sides together and ew around the edges, except for one side.  You will need to flip it right side out.

Once you have the three sides sewn, and then flipped out, do the same thing as with the big piece and do a stitch around the outside to give a bit of decoration and also to close off the end.  Do this with both sets of strips.

Now is the velcro.  Decide which side you want to have facing  place the velcro on opposite sides (I had one on the polka dots, and one on the opposite end flower side so when you put them together it makes a loop)

Then sew your velco in place.  

Then, fold your big piece of fabric in half, and measure down 18 inches (this blog did an excellent job of explaining this part)  Then on either side of that, measure out 3 inches, and then make a line 2 inches long.  This is where you will be sewing your strips on.

Measure down 2 1/2 inches on your strip and place that on teh line line you just made, and pin in place.  Then on the opposite end measure up 2 1/2 inches and pin.  You will sew it to the big piece of fabric on these lines.  Make sure you do the Fabric facing down that you want to be seen when it is velcroed together.

Then viola! You have your canopy.  Just attach to the car seat.  If you are like me and don't sew lines that straight....that's ok....this project is very forgiving!  I know a lot of my lines were straight and you can't tell....the only ones that would be really visible are the ones on top and they can easily be covered.   

I sewed cute little pink flower buttons on the top of my strips to add some decoration (and to cover up my really crooked seams from sewing the velcro in place.  You can use snap buttons instead of velcro if you want.  And some people just skipped the strips and sewed on some wide ribbon and then just tied the carseat in place.

It's up to you!  Here is the other tutorial I used ( I didn't sew the lines in the thirds like she suggested but you can =)  ).  I went back and forth between them.   It's always nice to have several sources because one part was clearer to me on one, and then on the other it helped more.   

I love well it matches the new car seat I bought.  I bought this fabric months ago, pretty much as soon as I found out we were having a girl and then I found the stroller and car seat combo on sale a few months later and it was fate that they matched so well.  My old set is from when my almost 8 year old was born so the car seat was expired and the stroller was trashed.  I splurged and got me a new one since all of the other baby items I had I was reusing from either or both the other kids.

You can find this awesome post linked up to the following Fantastic Parties: