DIY Baby Car Seat Cover

By: Stephanie
On: September 7, 2022

I’ve been working on making all of my projects for the new baby, so naturally I had to make a new baby car seat cover like I did previously with my other kids. I didn’t keep good notes from the last time I made one so I had to figure out how to do it all over again. This time I made sure to note this step by step guide for the future and so I thought I would share it with you so that you can make your own too!

What You’ll Need

1 yard of cotton fabric
1 yard of minky fabric
Thread
Velcro
Sewing machine
Cutting tools
Pins

1 YARD OF COTTON FABRIC
You’ll need one yard of your choice of cotton fabric.

1 YARD OF MINKY FABRIC
You’ll need one yard of your choice of minky fabric for the backing.

THREAD
Grab some colored thread that matches your fabric. This is for sewing around the edges.

VELCRO
Get some velcro for the straps to attach around the car seat handle. Make sure to get velcro without the sticky adhesive on the back (this will make it much easier for sewing).

SEWING MACHINE
For sewing everything together.

CUTTING TOOLS
You’ll need all your preferred items for cutting fabric.
1) A cutting board or table
2) Scissors or a rolling cutter
3) Measuring tools such as a measuring mat, ruler, etc.
4) A fabric pen or pencil to mark the fabric if you use one

PINS
For holding the fabric together for sewing.

Let’s Get Started

STEP #1
Cut a 42 inch x 35 inch piece of cotton fabric.

STEP #2
Cut two 6 inch x 11 inch cotton fabric pieces.

STEP #3
Cut a 42 inch x 35 inch piece of minky fabric.

STEP #4
Use a bowl to mark curved edges on the large cotton fabric. I do mine at about the 3 inch mark on both sides.

Use a bowl to mark round edges on fabric

STEP #5
Cut the large cotton fabric along the curved markings, making rounded corners.

STEP #6
Use a bowl to mark curved edges on the minky fabric. I do mine at about the 3 inch mark on both sides.

STEP #7
Cut the minky fabric along the curved markings, making rounded corners.

STEP #8
With right sides together, pin the cotton and minky fabric pieces together. Sew into place. Make sure to leave a couple inch gap on one side to turn the fabric.

STEP #9
Turn the fabric inside out using the gap you left.

STEP #10
Sew around the tip edge of the fabric. Make sure you close the gap you left previously.

STEP #11
On the two smaller cotton fabric pieces – fold the top and bottom sides under about 1/2 an inch each (making the length 10 inches). Pin in place.

STEP #12
Sew the pined fabric into place.

STEP #13
On the two smaller cotton fabric pieces – with right sides together fold the fabric and pin in place.

Strap fabric folded and pinned along edge

STEP #14
Sew pinned fabric along the long side at about 1/2″ seam allowance (this will make the total length across about 2 1/2 inches). Make sure to keep the top and bottom ends open.

STEP #15
Press the seam down the middle. Turn the two smaller cotton fabric pieces right side out by using one of the open ends and press. Keep the seam in the middle of the fabric (this will be the back side).

Strap seam pressed - fabric wrong side out

STEP #16
Cut Velcro pieces. I use pieces that are about a 1/2 inch in width. I cut 4 Velcro pieces (front and back of velcro) at 2 inches in length. Make sure to use velcro that is not sticky on the back.

STEP #17
Pin a soft velcro piece to the top back side of both small cotton fabric pieces close to the top seam. Sew into place.

First soft velcro piece pinned to fabric

STEP #18
Pin a rough velcro piece to the bottom front side of both small cotton fabric pieces close to the bottom seam. Sew into place.

First rough velcro piece pinned to fabric

STEP #19
Pin another soft velcro piece right below the first on the top back side of both small cotton fabric pieces. Sew into place.

STEP #20
Pin another rough velcro piece right below the first on the bottom front side of both small cotton fabric pieces. Sew into place.

STEP #21
Sew fabric together in place over the top and bottom seams on both small fabric pieces.

STEP #22
Fold the large fabric in half from top to bottom. Make sure to have the top of a printed fabric facing up correctly.

STEP #23
Mark the center of the fabric. You can use a pin (like I did) or a washable fabric marker.

STEP #24
After marking the center lay fabric flat/unfolded. Pin each strap to the top of the fabric about 13 inches from the top and about 3 inches from the center of the fabric on each side. Make sure to pin the straps with the middle seam/under side facing up (this will make it so when it is on the car seat wrapped around the handle you don’t see the seam).

Measurements showing straps pinned about 6 inches apart

Measurements showing straps pinned 13 inches from top

STEP #25
With the straps pinned, try it out on your car seat. If you don’t like the position feel free to adjust accordingly.

I originally started with mine pinned at 3 1/2 inches from the center (as you’ll see in one of the top photos) but decided I wanted it closer so moved them to 3 inches from center instead.

STEP #26
Once you have the straps where you want them, sew into place in the middle of the velcro pieces and through all thickness of the fabric.