Infant car seats are limited in design options. Often, only one or two designs are available each season. If you are fortunate enough to be the recipient of a gently used car seat, your baby's seat will look dated and the fabric may even be worn. An economical option is to make your own infant car seat cover. The cover can be made from quilting weight cotton or upholstery cotton. Best of all, you will be able to choose a fun novelty print fabric.
Disassemble the Old Cover
Step 1
Remove your old car seat cover from the seat. Label the back of each piece of the cover. Mark touching corners with the same letter so you will know to join these two corners on your pattern. Mark the location of the elastic ends.
Step 2
Open the seams of the cover using the seam ripper. The seams will be easy to see from the back of the cover.
Step 3
Iron each piece of the cover.
Prepare the Pattern
Step 1
Place one piece of the old car seat cover on the dull side of the freezer paper. Trace around the piece with a pencil. You do not have to worry about adding seam allowances because you have disassembled the cover.
Step 2
Transfer all your marks to the pattern. Continue tracing around each pattern piece until they are all transferred onto the freezer paper.
Step 3
Cut the pieces out. Cut slits where the seat belts will go through.
Make the Cover
Step 1
Lay the cotton fabric on a flat surface and trace the pattern pieces onto the cotton fabric. Transfer all the pattern marks to the fabric. Cut each piece of fabric. Cut the seat belt slits out.
Step 2
Lay the polyester quilt batting on the flat surface. Cut around each pattern until you have them all cut out.
Step 3
Lay the interfacing on the flat surface and trace around each piece. Transfer all the pattern markings to the interfacing and cut.
Step 4
Sandwich the panels together with the interfacing on bottom, batting and then fabric on top, facing right side up. Pin the pieces together so they do not slip.
Step 5
Stitch the edges of all three pieces together using an overlock stitch on your machine or use your serger. Work the car seat in sections. Satin stitch around the edges of the seat belt slits.
Step 6
Cut elastic the same size that you removed from your old car seat cover. Stitch the elastic on in the locations indicated on your pattern.
Step 7
Assemble the padded sections together, using a straight stitch and 1/4-inch seam allowance. Trim the edges.
Tips and Warnings
- Be sure to notice the direction of your print.
- Do not take the car seat apart before you label it completely.
Things You'll Need
- Old car seat cover
- Seam ripper
- Iron
- Wide freezer paper
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Cotton fabric
- Interfacing
- Polyester quilt batting
- Pins
- Sewing machine or serger
- Thread
- Elastic
