Car Seat Shoulder Straps Tutorial

There are plenty of things that I’m finding that I “need” for Emily (and plenty of things that I have that never get used). I suppose “need” might be a strong word, but the shoulder straps on her car seat were leaving red marks on her neck, and it was breaking my heart. I was all set to buy a set but standing in front of them at Target, I just couldn’t do it. The cheaper set wasn’t very cute, and I couldn’t pay $10 for the cuter pair.

So I made some. Which are way cuter than any I could have bought anyway. Cheap necessity. That’s what I’m calling these types of projects. I need them but am too cheap to pay for them.

What you’ll need:
*2 5×5″ pieces soft fabric (I used minty, but fleece or flannel would work too)
*2 5×5″ pieces coordinating fabric
*bias tape (cut 4 of each size):  5×2″ and 6×2″
*2 4 1/2″ pieces velcro

1.  With WRONG SIDES together, pin your soft and coordinating fabrics. Zig zag around the edges.

2.  Attach the velcro. Put the sticky side on one end of the soft fabric. Make sure you leave about 1/4″ (ish) from all the edges. This makes it easier to sew your bias tape on! Put the soft side of the velcro on the opposite side of the coordinating fabric, leaving the 1/4″ again.
  You can see that the velcro is pushed in from the edge so the bias tape goes on more easily.

3.  Make your bias tape using this tutorial from Sew 4 Home. For a small project like this, you don’t really need to cut the fabric on the bias (or diagonal). For the set of 6″ pieces, fold over 1/2″ on each of the short ends. These will be the top and bottom pieces that you attach last. This way, your ends are nice and finished.

4.  Attach the bias tape to the sides (5″ pieces), top and bottom (6″ pieces with the ends folded over).

When you wrap the two sides around, they’ll connect to go around the straps on a car seat.

So much easier on their little necks!

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