Carseat and Stroller Bunting
Our Daughter was born in December. I wanted a bunting to keep her safe, but I didn’t I didn’t want to spend oodles of money on a bunting from the store, so I designed my own pattern.
This Design is for a Graco stroller & infant carseat. Modification for other car seats are at the end of this document.
This pattern is for personal use only. You may not use this pattern to make items to sell.
Supplies:
Fabrics: 42”- 52” Wide (Wider fabrics will need to be trimmed to 45” wide.)
- Summer: Cotton and Cotton Blends, Gingham, Laundered Cottons, Chambray, Seersucker, Soft Lightweight Linen and Linen Blends. Lightweight Denim, Poplin
- Winter: Fleece, Flannel, Corduroy, Twill, Denim.
- Extra fabric is not needed to match plaids, stripes or one-way design fabrics.
Notions:
- One 30” sports zipper ( NOT Dual Separating)
- 20” long hook & loop tape that is ¼” to 5/8″ wide (I prefer Velcro soft-N-Flexible, but any type will work.)
- Marking tool such as a disappearing marker, washable marker, or chalk.
Material Measurements:
Two pieces of complementing material cut to 1 1/8 Yards. Try to have them cut on the Perfect Grain If you do not do this you may need to add an extra 1/8 yard to each of the materials.
Preparations and Sewing
- Step 1-5
Read UofNL’s information on preparing fabric for sewing. This is very important in this project, as you will be sewing two pieces of material together around all 4 sides to make a rectangle.
If you do not prepare the material properly your bunting will pucker, shrink or look distorted. - Step 6
Baste or pin the two materials with right sides together. - Step 7
Sew the material on the two sides and the top to form an upside U. (DO NOT SEW THE BOTTOMS TOGETHER.) - Step 8
Turn fabric so that the right sides are facing out and press the fabric seams, along with the rest of the fabric. - Step 9
Press a fold along the center of the fabric. This will be used later for centering the hole for the car seat safety harness. - Step 10
Sew zipper into the material along the grain / salvage sides (although the salvages are now in the seam.)Machine-baste the zipper opening’s together with a zig-zag stitch (2mm w X ≈ 3 mm l), and press the seam. Remember to loosen the thread tension to 1 or 2. Align the top of the zipper with the top of the bunting. Use a two-step process for attaching the zipper. Hand-baste the zipper tape to the seam first, then topstitch the zipper in place from the right side of the garment. For best results, and to avoid rippled edges, topstitch directionally from bottom to top of the zipper on each side through all thicknesses. Use your machine’s zipper foot, which allows you to stitch close to the zipper teeth. Remove the basting stitches once the zipper is inserted. Sew the seam below the zipper with a 2.5mm wide zig-zag stitch.* If the zipper is not a “Closed end” zipper, bar tack the end of the zipper so that it will not come apart. This is done by setting the zig-zag to the width of the zipper teeth and then setting the stitch width to “0”. Do 5 to 8 stitches to secure the thread in place.
- Step 11
Trim the bottom if necessary to align the material. Then sew the bottom of the bunting together using a French Seam. - Step 12
Measure the openings for the shoulder straps using the Ironed fold in the center and a marking tool:Do not cut any openings for the belt harness until after you have satin stitched around the entire opening.
- Measure 10 ½” lengthwise down from the top and place a mark.
- Measure 3 ½” horizontally on EACH side of this mark to denote the top most part of the shoulder straps.
Connect the markings with a horizontal line that measures a total of 7”. - Measure 21” lengthwise down from the top (10 1/2” from the first mark) and place mark.
- Measure 3” horizontally on EACH side of this mark (the lower mark) to denote the waist strap opening.
DO NOT connect the markings with a horizontal line; However the markings should measures a total of 6”. - Connect the right upper shoulder marking to the lower right waist marking with a line.
- Connect the left upper shoulder marking to the lower left waist marking with a line.
- The markings should look like an upside down U.
- Step 13
Mark the buckle openings.
- Measure 26” from the top center fold of the bunting and place a mark.
- Measure 2” horizontally on EACH side of this mark to denote the top buckle placement.
- Connect the markings to make a 4″ line.
- Measure 28 ½ ” from the top center fold of the bunting (or 2 ½” from the previous mark) and place a mark.
- Measure 2” horizontally on EACH side of this mark to denote the bottom buckle placement. This buckle line is for the Graco stroller belt buckle and can also be used for other strollers and car seat buckles.
- Connect the markings to make a 4″ line.
- Sew around each of the seat buckle markings using a satin stitch to form a long button hole. The center only needs to be wide enough to cut. Be sure to bar tack each end with 5-8 stitches to stabilize the fabric.
**You may use tear-away stabilizer along the satin stitching to further reinforce the stitching. Using Stabilizer will give the stitching a more professional look; however I do not do this because the stitching will be behind the child’s back in the car seat.
- Step 14
Satin stitch the outside of the belt harness markings, and then the inside of the harness markings to make a “∏”. Leave enough space in the center along the marking line to cut an opening after you finish. Bar tack the ends of the markings at the bottom waist belt location to stabilize the fabric from further ripping. After satin stitching the fabric, cut the opening along the 3 sides.**You may use tear-away stabilizer along the satin stitching to further reinforce the stitching. Using Stabilizer will give the stitching a more professional look; however I do not do this because the stitching will be behind the child’s back in the car seat.
- Step 15
Sewing on the Velcro
Cut 2 pieces of hook tape 8 1/2” long and 2 pieces of loop tape 8 1/2” long. These are to be used for the side openings. Three inches of both hook and loop tape should remain to be used for the top opening
- Set the machine to a straight stitch.
- The 8.5” loop tapes should meet at the top of the each side opening. The 3” loop tape should be centered with about 2” on each side of the loop tape.
- Baste the loop tape onto the outside edge of the belt harness opening.
- Sew the loop tape onto the outside edge of the for the belt harness,.
sewing each loop piece on all 4 sides. The loop tape should not hang over the edge of the material and the loop should be facing out. - Be sure to secure each end of the loop tape to the fabric by going back & forward several times.
- Sew on the hook tape
- Set the machine to a narrow zig-zag (2.5mm) that is about 3mm long.
- As you sew the zig should come to the edge of the hook tape.
- Place hook tape along the outside edge of the inside flap of the belt harness area so that the hook tape only overlaps the material by about 2.5 mm (the width of your stitch).
- The 8.5” hook tapes should meet at the top of the flap openings. The top 3” hook tape should be centered with about 2” on each side of the hook tape.
- Baste the hook tape in place
Sew the loop tape with a zig-zag stitch along 1 edge of the hook tape * Be sure to anchor where the hook tape ends by going back & forward over the material several times.
- Step 16
Place the bunting in the car seat! - Step 17
The bunting can be zipped up for colder weather or opened up during the summer to keep the seat cool . - Measurements for modifications for other Infant car seats and strollers
- The length from the top shoulder strap opening to the waist straps.
- Length from the waist straps to the center buckle.
- Width across from Shoulder strap to shoulder strap.
- Width across from waist strap to waist strap.
- Width of the center buckle + 1 inch
Estimate for a toddler stroller bunting; use approximately 1 3/8 yards material and a 36” Zipper. All other measurements should be the same for the belt harness.
Whenever you wash the bunting, be sure to attach the hook tape to the loop tape. You may also want to place the bunting into a pillowcase so that then Velcro does not attach to other clothing.
This pattern is for personal use only.
You may not use this pattern to make items to sell.