Car Seat Cover

I never had one of these for Avrie.

I see them everywhere and wanted to try and make one for the baby boy coming in just a few short weeks.

I LOVED the way it turned out!

this picture has the corner flipped so you can see the underside fabric

here's how to make one for yourself:

Materials needed:

• 2 yards of coordinating fabric: 1 yard each (cotton is good for all season, flannel/ fleece/ minky is good for winter)
• Thread
• pins to hold fabric together
• sewing machine
• Any accessories you want to add (buttons, bows, flowers, trim, etc)

1.  cut a rectangle that is about 40 inches x 34 inches with rounded corners.  You can cut one piece of fabric first, and then use that one as a guide to cut the other.  That is what I did, but you can also lay the two fabrics on top of each other, printed sides facing inside towards each other.  I did mine with rounded corners, but you can leave it rectangle if you want.  To do rounded corners I grabbed a bowl and traced it on each of the corners.

Once you have both pieces of fabric cut identically, pin them together so they don't move.

I sewed a 3/8" seam allowance on mine.  Before you sew it up all the way, save about a 4 inch gap.  Pull the fabric through to turn it right side out.  Once you have it completely turned out, top stitch your opening to close it off.  After you finish stitching it up, iron it flat so that it is easier to sew.

Once it is ironed flat, stitch around the edges to give it a nicer look and to keep it in place.  I used a 3/8" seam allowance.

Now come the straps.  Some people like Velcro straps, I personally like tie straps.  Using the scraps of the underside fabric, I made my straps.  I cut (4) 3.5 inch by 42 inch strips and sewed them the same way I did the main part.  Sew around on 3 sides, leaving one short side open to turn the fabric.  Turn the strips right side out, and iron flat, as well as turning the open short side in.  Topstitch all the way around, closing the opening.  Do this to the remaining strap. Stitch around each strap to give it that finished look and to help keep it in place.

Next you’ll want to figure out where to place the straps.  Every car seat is different, so if you are making it for yourself, you might want to try to figure out the best place for the straps by draping the blanket over the seat and marking where the straps work the best.  I sewed min 19 inches down, 13 inches in on each side.  Sew them long ways to your car seat cover

and there you have it!  your carseat cover!

have fun!

-Nikki

Fabric Flowers #2

These were made for Sarah's wedding.

They are very simple to do!

We made them as wrist bands, but you can make them into pretty much whatever you want!

Here is a pretty good tutorial.

Have fun!

-Nikki

Fabric Flowers

I LOVE making fabric flowers!  Mostly because they are so easy and cheap!  Avrie has bows and flowers coming out her ears.  And the fun thing about fabric flowers, is that you could totally make headbands for yourself as well!

Here is one type of fabric flower that is probably my favorite!

I got the tutorial from here.

They really are very cute and super inexpensive!

have fun!

-Nikki

baby girl tutu

, I absolutely LOVE all things girly.

And that can definitely be seen through my little girl.

When Avrie was first born, I knew I wanted to make her a tutu.  I got a lot of compliments on it and it was SUPER EASY to make!

Instead of typing up all the instructions, I will send to you to this site.

 It is definitely cheaper to make a tutu than to buy one. Mine cost me about 10-12 dollars.  For baby tutus you need to get about 1/2 yard of 1/2 inch wide elastic. You can measure it around her waist after you get it, but you wont need any more than that. You also need to get about 6 yards of tulle. If you decide you want 2 colors you need about 3 yards of each color.  For 3 colors, you will need about 2 yards of each color. Then you cut the tulle in strips 2 inches wide, and cut the length double what you want the final length to be because your going to be folding it in half. For example...I like Avrie's tutus about 7 inches in length so i cut the trips 14 inches long. Hope that helps!

Have fun!

-Nikki

baby taggie blanket

When Avrie was a baby, Derek's cousin made us this adorable taggie blanket for her.

She LOVED it!  Only problem, is this blanket was pink and my baby due in July is a boy.

I decided to teach myself how to make it, but in green this time for my boy.

For written instructions this tutorial is very helpful!

Have fun!

-Nikki-