We have been so blessed to receive tons of hand-me-downs for this lucky baby. We already have a crib, high chair, car seat and stroller! The excitement and generosity of our friends is amazing and I am so grateful.
This is a stock photo of our car seat. Our friends Will and Kristen gave it to us along with a really cool stroller. We know it has never been in an accident, we have been in touch with Maxi Cosi checking for recalls etc... Everything checks out and we are set to go. Early on, when I thought I might have a boy, I was totally content. But, after learning we were having a girl, I began itching for something a little more feminine. I started noticing little stains and scuff marks.
Then I saw this car seat makeover and tutorial on Make It And Love It and I was suddenly obsessed with the idea of pimping my ride.
At first, I was intimidated and felt limited by very intermediate sewing skills.
Then I learned that a replacement cover from Maxi Cosi was just $36. Not such a big risk after all.
I decided to just recover the seat part. The hood seemed way out of my range. I created a "pinboard" to save fabric ideas that might work with the hood colors. To my surprise, there were a lot of girly orange fabrics out there. I even had some plain orange denim in my stash that would work well enough.
I read the tutorial about a thousand times and studied every inch of the car seat's construction. That's when I realized I would never be happy with just recovering the seat. It was a "If you give a mouse a cookie" situation. If I was going to go through all that work to recover the seat, I wanted the hood to look fresh and new too.
So I did it! I used my seam ripper and spent hours carefully deconstructing, photographing, and labeling each and every piece of that car seat cover and hood!
It was intense! I learned so much from the whole process. The first thing I learned:
The women on Etsy who make and sell custom car seat covers (such as this one above) earn every single penny they charge!
Tune in tomorrow for the results of my latest obsession.
3 comments:
Carseat safety techs will tell you that a cover that does not come from the company that makes your seat is a bad idea. Seats are safety tested as a unit and need all the original parts to work as intended. Even small changes (the way the straps line up or the amount of cushioning in the seat cover) can change the effectiveness of your carseat in a crash.
It looks great! Just beautiful
I've been out for most of the summer and have missed the biggest news!!! I'm so excited. You have been in my thoughts and prayers so often. I see kitchens and dolls and so much love in your future. Congratulations!!
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