August 14, 2012

Car Seat Canopy Tutorial ~ FREE!!!

A While Back, I Saw A Car Seat Canopy on My Friend's Daughter's Car Seat & She Told Me That Someone Had Made It For Her.  So, My First Thought Was, "I Can Make Those Too"!!! It Just So Happened That I Had Planned a Trip Up To Hobby Lobby (the closest one to me is 45 minutes away!!!), So I Figured I Could Pick Out The Material While I Was There Since They Have the Most Adorable Patterns! I Went A Little Nuts & Bought Enough Material to Make 10 Canopy's! Now That I'm Blogging I Had to Purchase More Material so I Can Post on My Blog a Step-by-Step Tutorial on How To Make One Yourself!

Now, These Tutorials are All Over the Internet & There Are so Many Versions (some I would like to try at some point), But Mine is the Simple Car Seat Canopy....



Items You Will Need:

1. 1 1/2 Yards of Two Different Materials (pre washed & ironed)
2. Thread
3. Sew On Velcro (not shown)
4. Buttons



The Process:


Lay Both Pieces Out Flat, Right Sides Together
Measure From One Sided Salvaged Edge 41" & Mark All The Way Across
Cut Off Piece Using Your Mat & Rotary Cutter (if you have them)
Save That Strip for The Straps!!!



Square Up Your Material By Cutting Off One of The Other Edges. This Allows You To Have A Straight Edge To Measure From For The Next Step



Now That 3 Edges of Your Material Are Straight, Measure 31" From One Side To The Other Starting From The Edge You Just Trimmed Up

*** Basically You Want Your Material To Be 41" x 35" ***



Now Grab Something Round (a plate is a great choice) & Round All 4 Corners



Pin All The Way Around Your Material
Be Sure To Leave An Opening (a trick I learned is to use 2 red pins to mark your opening!!!)



Sew a 1/2" Seam All The Way Around
(don't forget to backstitch where you start & stop)



Cut Out Notches on All 4 Corners. This Makes The Corners Smoother When You Turn The Fabric Right Side Out



Now For Your Straps ~ Same Idea ~ Lay Your Fabric Flat With Right Sides Together & Cut Two 5" x 9" Pieces (you'll see why so much, later)



Pin & Sew a 1/2" Seam, But DON'T FORGET To Leave An Opening!!!
(sorry this picture is turned sideways. I need a better photo program on my computer!)



Turn Both Your Canopy & Straps Right Side Out & Iron Flat



Now Sew Your Top Stich. Sew a 1/4" Seam All The Way Around. Be Sure To Close Up The Openings On Both the Canopy & Straps With Your Top Stich!


Next You Sew The Velcro To Your Straps.
(not sure what happened to that picture, but it's pretty basic and you can see some of it below)



Placing The Straps In The Right Spot Can Be Tricky, But This Is The Best Place I Found...
The Center of Your Straps Should Measure 15" Down From The Top Of The Canopy 

Then, They Should Be 6" Apart From One Another. You Will Want to Find The Center of The Canopy's Width & Measure Out 3" For Each Strap.
In My Case, The Canopy's Width Was 34", So The Center Was 17", So I Place The Straps At The 14" & 20" Mark.


 


Pin The Straps In Place & Make Your Mark For Where You Will Sew Them Onto The Canopy. I Used My Ruler Because I like The Width, But You Can Use Whatever Width You Like.






Now Sew Along The Marks You Just Made, Starting & Stopping At The Seams On The Sides


Now It's Time To Sew On Your Buttons. I Hand Sew Them On, But If Your Machine Can Do It & That's Easier For You, Then By All Means...Go For It!



Tah-Dah!!!  You're Done!
Pretty Simple, Right?!


Here Are A Few Others I Did Before. I Didn't Do The Rounded Edges On These, But I Prefer The Way It Looks, So I Am Doing That From Now On.




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