When I was pregnant with my oldest son (4+ years ago) I had a friend who was pregnant at the same time. She had her mom buy her a custom car seat canopy. It was fantastic! I loved how it covered the baby up but left room to breath and move. We were in Reno where it got cold and stayed cold. I didn't want to buy one so I looked up how to make one. I have made quite a few versions of these but this is my favorite one.
Ok so here's what you will need
Fabric :) I use two coordinating colors. I like to use just plain ol' cotton but I have used flannel. My mother in law has used silky flannel (a material that is silky on one side and flannel on the other) and that bubbly fleece. Choose your favorite fabric depending on how much work you want to put into keeping the fabric from stretching. I choose cotton because it's easier for me to work with.
Once you pick out your fabric get 1 1/2 yards of each
You will also need 1/2 inch wide elastic (about 12 inches). I use the non roll kind but I think any will do.
Coordinating thread. Pick something that compliments your fabric choices.
Straight pins. I use about 20-30 depending on how close I place them during the process.
A rotary blade, cutting mat, ruler and scissors. Oh and a safety pin.
Ok to recap you will need.
1 1/2 yard of main fabric
1 1/2 yard coordinating fabric
12 inches of 1/2 in wide elastic
Thread
Straight pins
Rotary blade
Cutting mat
Ruler
Scissors
Safety pin
This canopy is pretty straight forward. There are a couple of tricky parts but I hope I can explain how to do this with minimal frustration. It takes me about 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours from start to finish.
Ok so first things first. WASH YOUR FABRIC! I seriously wash EVERY piece of fabric I use with the only exception being drapery fabric. I do this for a few reasons #1 the trucks the fabric comes off of are NASTY dirty. #2 The fabric is pre-shrunk (is that a word?) anyway so if the item you are working on needs washing after it's done you can almost be certain it will maintain its shape afterward. #3 it makes it soft and smell pretty :)
Obviously washing the fabric makes it really wrinkly and a mess with the fraying that happens but to me it is worth it.
The next step it to iron out those wrinkles and fold the fabric. Here's a tip. Iron the fabric matching up the biased edges (the factory cut edges not the ones that are scissor cut from the fabric store)
Be careful lining up the fabric though. When I learned to do it this way I would get so frustrated because when I liked up the corners like so
This would happen!
So annoying! How was I supposed to make a straight crease if the fabric refused to be straight?!?!
Most of the time you will have to sacrifice a little fabric to get the edges to line up.
But when you do you will end up with a nice even straight seam
You will need to do this with both pieces of fabric.
Because the fabric shrinks and is never cut straight when you purchase it you will have to even up the raw edges. This is where the ruler and cutting board make their first appearance.
I fold my fabric in half again so I only need to make one cut per piece to make it even. I take the folded edges and line them up on one of the ruler lines on my board.
After lining it all up I line the ruler up with the lines I see above and below my fabric and run the rotary blade along the edge of the ruler (the rulers tend to slip and slide so I cut in smallish sections and move my hand up the ruler making sure the ruler is still where it needs to be between cuts) Please make sure to cut AWAY from yourself. These blades are super sharp!
After I cut the first fabric I fold the second and actually lay the first on top of the second and line up all of the edges except the raw ones which I will be squaring up. This way I know the fabrics will be pretty darn close to the same size all around.
Once again I line up the ruler. This time I use the makes on the cutting board and the straight line of the previously trimmed fabric as my guide. Then I just cut off the excess.
Next I cut 3 inch strips off of the recently trimmed edge. This will give you 4 strips that are 3 inches wide. We will use 2 of these for the ties and 1 for the elastic band at the bottom of the cover. The 4th will just be excess but because both fabrics need to be the same size once again sacrifice is in order.
The next step is to clean up the biased edges. I do this because they aren't as straight as I would like most times and sometimes I pick fabrics that aren't the same width or one shrinks more than the other so this way they are the size I want them. I take both fabrics and carefully rotate them on the cutting board. For this project I used my standard size cutting board. Its 18in x 24in I believe so moving the fabric is necessary. I have a 50+ inch cutting mat but didn't feel like taking that out for this :)
The next step is pretty easy. I round out the corners of the fabric. Make sure you round out the OUTSIDE edges not the ones with the fold. Otherwise it won't turn out and you may have just ruined the project.
So to round the edges I actually start at the folded edge of the top of the fabric (make sure this is the raw edge you evened up not the biased edge. this will make a HUGE difference) I just trim off a little and once I get to where I want to start rounding it out I just eyeball it and cut it with scissors. You can use a plate or bowl if you want to make sure its perfectly round. I have found it's just as easy for me to eyeball it.
So that's it for the cutting. WHEW right?
Here's the fun stuff. Pinning and sewing. You ready? Good!
First thing I do is sew the ties and the elastic strap. I do this by folding the 3in strips in half long ways right sides together. So they are 1.5in wide. I sew the long edge with an approx 1/4 in seam. I actually do a lot of my sewing by making the seam as wide as the outer edge of the foot of the sewing machine. It's just easier for me. If you do a wider seam your strips will end up a little more narrow than mine. I leave both of the short ends open at this time because it makes it easier to turn right side out.
At this point you should have 3 strips sewn inside out. Here is where the safety pin comes into play. At the top of the strip I insert the pin through just one layer of the fabric. Like so
Then I tuck the pin into the opening of the strip.
Then I feed the pin through the center of the opening for the strip. This will pull the end of the fabric inward and thus helping you turn the strip right side out.
Once the pin comes out the other side it should be pretty easy to turn the rest of the strip right side out.
Do this for all three strips.
The next thing to do is to add the finishing touches to the strips that become your ties. I do this by sewing around the outer edges of the material. For these strips I use the accent fabric instead of the fabric matching the top of the cover. You can do either.
Then for the next strip (the one you will use for the elastic band on the bottom of the cover) you will insert the elastic. First cut the 12in strip of elastic into two equal pieces. Then take one piece and insert the safety pin into one end.
Insert the tip of the safety pin into one of the openings of the strip.
Feed it in just enough so that the loose end of the elastic is rather even with the edges of the opening. I sew the elastic into the strip by going over it a few times with the sewing machine. This will keep the elastic in place for when you attach it to the cover as well as insure that the elastic won't come loose during the use of the cover.
Next you will just feed the elastic through to the end. The fabric should bunch up nicely. Then run the sewing machine back and forth over the end.
Set those pieces aside.
Next take the large pieces of fabric and lay them out matching up the edges. Make sure the right sides are facing in. Place pins all the way around. You can put them as far apart or close together as you are comfortable. I pin it just to make sure that they fabric doesn't move around so much.
This is also where you will first attach your elastic strap. This can be pretty tricky. Find a point along one of the edges where you would like to sew in your strap. I usually go just a bit above the top of the curve. Then pin the strip into ONE side of the cover.
You will attach the other side of the strap to roughly the same point on the other side. I do this AFTER I have sewn in the first side and sewn along the bottom edge of the cover. If you pin both sides of the strip to the cover it will cause it to bunch together from the beginning (I've done this and it makes sewing along the edge so much more difficult). If you just pin one side of the strap into the cover and then sew until the point where you will insert the other side of the strip it makes it a tad bit easier.
When you sew around the edges you will need to leave two holes. These are used to turn the cover right side out as well as places to insert the second strip of elastic. You can make one hole smaller than the other since only one will be used to turn the fabric.
To make the holes sew one seam along the top of the cover right below the starting of the rounded edge all the way over to the bottom point of the opposite rounded edge. Then cut the threads and move down a few inches and start another seam. This time go all the way around the bottom of the cover and up the other side stopping about 1.5in from the beginning of your top seam.
To turn the fabric just bring pull the fabric right side out through the larger of the two holes. You should end up with both of the fabrics right side out and the elastic strip on the outside now.
The next thing I do is iron around the edges. Make sure to tuck in the loose edges around the holes.
Now we are down to the final few steps. I know this is a long post but I think it's important to be thorough.
Now we will do the outside seam.
Once again sew along the top of the cover beginning at the beginning of the curved edge. Make sure you still have access to a section of the holes you created in the beginning. You will use these holes to pull the elastic through. You will still just sew a portion along the top. From the beginning of the curve on one corner to the bottom of the curve on the other side. I do the 1/4in seam here.
To create the pocket for your elastic I move the cover over to the very edge of my ruler on the sewing machine. It creates an approx 1/2in opening.
Once I reach the end of the first seam I did I continue sewing until the edge of the cover is at the outer edge of the foot of my sewing machine and finishing sewing all the way around ending at the beginning of your second seam.
I don't insert the elastic just yet because it causes the cover to gather too much to add the straps on.
To get the straps where you want them put the cover on your car seat and mark the best place for your straps. Make sure you pull it down a little bit over the top of the car seat to allow for the gather once the elastic is inserted. pin your straps in place and then sew a little square around the edges to keep them in place.
NOW I insert the elastic. This is the FINAL step aren't you excited?!?!
So put the safety pin into the end of the last piece of 6in long elastic. Find one of the holes on either side of the cover. Insert the tip of the pin into the hole.
Feed through just enough where the loose end of the elastic is pretty close to the outer edge of the hole. If there's a tiny bit hanging over that's ok you will just trim that off in a second.
To secure the end of the elastic into the cover line up your sewing machine needle with the opening of your outer seam and sew the opening closed making sure to sew over the elastic. I go over mine at least twice to make sure its in there good.
Pull the rest of the elastic through to the other end.
Repeat the step from the other side. I leave the pin in until the elastic is sewn securely in so that it doesn't shrink back to the other side causing a hole range of issues.
After the elastic is sewn onto both sides it should look something like this.
And there is the FINISHED project!
