More Baby Accessories

Well, still no baby, and I have to admit that I’m getting a little impatient for the arrival. I washed up all the little baby things this weekend, found my Boppy pillow and the car seat. Everything was looking a bit tired and well worn and I decided that maybe it was time to freshen things up a bit. Foolishly I had thought that I didn’t have time for these projects, but really I seem to have plenty of time.

I started with the car seat, it is still in great condition, but the boring liner is really kind of ratty (and ugly, so ugly there will be no picture). After carrying two other babies the cover is a little worse for wear. I traced the cover onto brown paper bags. It was a little awkward, but manageable. My cover is four separate pieces, a center piece, two sides pieces, and a back sleeve piece that slips over the back of the seat, there are also four elastic loops that hold the pad in place.I used a yard of pre-quilted fabric, I just fell in love with this batik pattern. It seemed a little pricey (it was on sale for $13.99, normally $19’99), but there was no way I was going to quilt my own fabric, and really once you buy 2 yards of fabric for the front and back and the batting you’ve spent about that much and you still have to quilt it! I cut and sewed the pieces together and tried it on the car seat. I was able to make some small adjustments and get the elastic placement perfect. The only thing left was to add the binding all around and it was finished, it really improved the look of the seat.Next I decided to make a cover for the seat to keep the sun and drafts out. I used this tutorial from Vanilla Joy. I did change the straps a little, I just made tubes and I used a decorative stitch to edge stitch the finished cover. This would make a great baby gift, it’s really a great way to customize a blah baby carrier.I also decided to make a matching Boppy pillow cover using another tutorial from Vanilla Joy. The cover turned out great, I have another pattern that I’ve made covers with and this one is much better. It didn’t give a yardage needed and unfortunately 1 yard wasn’t enough to do the entire cover, but I like the pop of orange on the back. The zipper makes it so easy to get on and off, my other pattern used an overlap and it was quite a wrestling match to get the pillow in and out of the cover. I used 1/2” seams to get a slightly snugger fit and I also had to get by with a 22” zipper, which did work out, but barely.

I have a few other projects in mind, since everything is so matchy-matchy, you’ll notice that some of these fabrics were also used in the swaddling blankets. Maybe some burp cloths or a diaper clutch or a few more Boppy covers and I still need to make some nursing tops.

[Edited to add: When altering any form of safety device (in this case a childs car seat), please be sure to consult the owner's manual and research proper techniques and/or materials for the project.]