An Oriential Flair

About the same time I received my first Alchemy request I had another Etsy shop owner contact me about making a custom cover for her new daughter. She wanted to use a single fabric rather than multiple, coordinating fabrics.

She purchased this wonderful print on a midweight linen. I used a new pattern for this cover. The "back" of the seat is one piece and the "seat" is one piece. It is easier to put together and all the raw edges are bound in a bias binding. This canopy is also finished with bias binding because I felt that using the linen as lining would have made it too thick. Also, the back of the linen seemed to be a complementary color.

This cover was made for a SnugRide that has a three point harness. I don't have a SnugRide with a three point harness to model the covers on which is why there is not a harness threaded through this cover. This is another reason "slip covers" do not work for car seats. The SnugRide alone has three harness styles, two canopy styles and a major design change which increased the length of the seat back. All these are variables that I have to identify before I make a cover so that the cover will FIT.

Alchemy on Etsy

So there is a feature on Etsy called Alchemy that people can use to request a custom item. I activated that feature in my shop and a couple of days later I had a request. It took a few days for the fabric to arrive and I will have to admit the denim and quilted cotton became a little too thick to sew easily. But the cover is cute in a simple way. This is the first canopy I did not use a lining for. Instead, I bound the raw edges with some bias strips made from the green. I had to "unquilt" the green fabric to make the bias strips but it was worth the effort.

But what about the boys?

As I surfed around looking at the other online outlets for car seat covers I noticed that covers for girls were well represented but there weren't alot out there for boys. Now, I am not into the trendy, that is what custom covers are for, but I thought I would try something classic. I had a piece of a woven suede-like fabric that I had purchased a couple of years ago to make a jacket. I didn't end up making the jacket but I kept thinking it would be a great fabric to make a car seat cover so I went shopping for a companion fabric.Here you go!! Styish in a GQ kind of way. So I listed it on Etsy.

A day or so later I was contacted by someone who wanted the same seat cover but for a SnugRide. I still had some of the brown suede fabric left over so I ran down to my local JoAnn's and bought some more of the blue to make this cover:I just hope the two mommies that bought these companion seat covers don't attend the same play group.

Etsy, Sweet Etsy

So I realized that Craigslist porbably wasn't the best venue for my talent. I got a few nibbles but I also got people telling me that replacement covers shouldn't be used because they are not "origional" equipment. Now I think of myself as a hard nose about car seats, but I think that is going over the top. I also had someone post that replacement covers shouldn't be used because they weren't flame retardant. Well, personally, if your car is on fire and your baby is inside I think you have more to worry about than weather or not your baby's car seat cover is flame retardant. I would want to get the car seat and the baby away from the flames so I never needed to know if it was flame retardant!!!

OK, I digress...

So...another online outlet for handmade goods...HMMM...

How about Etsy!?!?!?!!!

So I gave it a try. I posted my Bangle Dot SnugRide cover and in that posting I mentioned that I could do custom seat covers. Enter Adrienne Berry from Dingbat Press. She was expecting #3 and wanted some style in her car seat. She had looked for car seat covers before her other two kiddos were born but they all looked too slipcover-ish. She contacted me about the possibility of making a custom seat for her. You bet.

Here is the cover I made for her and her sweet son, Charlie. She started the process with only two weeks to go, then Charlie came early. Nevertheless, she got her seat cover the day she brougt Charlie home. She left me some wonderful feedback:

Heather,
This is simply amazing! I sew a lot but a car seat cover is one thing I don't ever want to attempt. I'm so glad I found you and will be leaving positive feedback tonight on Etsy. I've looked over the years each time I've had a kid and have never been in love with how most of the covers are made so I've never ordered.
With your cover I seriously can't imagine a better product. The craftsmanship is impeccable and is made like a REAL carseat cover should be: to FIT. I might be back for a second (if I can find some cute enough fabric the second time around) so I can switch them out for laundry time! Great work, you really know what you are doing. This is certainly one of a kind, I'll be gushing about you for ever I think!

Bangle Dots Everywhere

I decided that I need to make a cover or two to show what I can do. I looked around at other covers that were available online and none of them seemed to FIT like the ones I knew I could make. Many advertised that their covers could fit many models of car seat and I knew from my experience in making covers for differend car seats over the years that these other covers couldn't truly FIT any car seat. So I made this pair of seats.

Actually, I bought enough fabric to make one and I had enough left over to make the second one. I hate to waste fabric so I made it work! The center panel of each car seat is called Bangle Dot and I purchased it at JoAnn Fabrics. The burgandy is a quilters solid and I lined the canopy with a stretch poplin that I found on the "red tag" table for $2 a yard. I bought the rest of the bolt so I got an even better deal. I LOVE A GOOD DEAL. Currently, I am keeping the SafeSeat cover for my self because we are thinking about having another baby and our track record indicares it should be a girl (4 precnancys=4 girls, 1 boy). The SnugRide version is currently available for sale on Etsy.

For the Little Sports Fan

I started my car seat cover making venture by trying to use one of my favorite sites on the web...Craigslist. I advertised in Seattle for three weeks in a row. I got couple of nibbles, then a bite!! A mom-to-be had been given two Graco SnugRide car seats but one had a cover that was a bit warn and the other was pink and black. These dedicated sports fans were expecting a boy!!

These are the results. A Dale Earnhardt Cover and a Seattle Seahawks cover.The Dale Earnhardt cover is made with flannel, not a fabric I had considered before. It turned out really cute and should be warm but I am not sure how durable it will be.

The Seattle Seahawks cover is make of a poly cotton with the green accent color out of a 100% cotton quilters solid. All these fabrics were easy to work with and they look great!!

For Alison Claire

I would have to say that this is the car seat that started this latest venture. I have been makeing car seat covers for about 15 years because I love to sew and I love car seats. I enjoy doing it and it doesn't take me a lot of time to make a cover. I made this cover to replace the run of the mill Graco Safe Seat Step 1 cover for my niece Alison Claire, who was born on May 19, 2009. Her mother did not want it to be too girly but she wanted it to have style!! I think it turned out pretty darn cute.