Make it: Carseat Carrier Blanket

These blankets have many different names, among the most popular; the boring " car seat carrier cover" or, my favorite, "greeter deterrent" . You know, to keep all the Grabby McGrabberson's from reaching in uninvited and grabbing those little cheeks with their god-knows-where-they've-been-germy-hands. Don't get me wrong, I know that germs are something kids need to be exposed to, but if my baby is sleeping, and we must be out and about, I'd really like to keep him cozy and hidden. Call me crazy, but I doubt I'll be a fan of random people touching my kid.

There are a ton of tutorials out there to make these blankets. I came up with my own, loosely based off the measurements of the Chicco Keyfit Car seat we intend to use.

You'll need:

• 2 yards of coordinating fabric. (1 yard= main print, and 1 yard = underside)
• Scrap fabric to make 2 ties. ( 4"wide x 8" long per tie)
• velcro
• thread, pins, scissors, and a sewing machine

This project is easy, even for non-sewers. Really, it's worth a try.

Making the Blanket:

• Place both fabric right sides facing one another ( not pictured), and iron wrinkles out.
• Even out edges with a straight edge
• Fold in half lengthwise, and again widthwise
• Using a CD or DVD as a template, trace to make uniform rounded corners.
• Cut rounded corners
• Unfold fabric, pin, and sew with a straight stitch or serger, leaving a 4" gap on one side of the blanket to turn the fabric through to make it f
  ace right side out again.
• Turn the fabric right side out
• Press with iron
• Topstitch 1/4" margin around the blanket ( this will secure the 4" gap we left open in a previous step)

Pictured below, the blanket is turned right side out, and pressed.

Once the top stitching on the blanket it done, it's time to address the ties.

Making the ties:

• Fold your tie fabric in half lengthwise, right sides facing each other.
• Sew lengthwise along the edge, creating a "tube"
• Turn rightside out
• press with iron
• Fold ends of tube inwards
• Topstitch around all 4 sides of the "tube", creating a long rectangular tie.
• Repeat for second tie.

Attaching Ties:

• Fold blanket in half lengthwise, and again width wise to find the center of the blanket.
• From the center, measure 4" from the center in both directions to achieve correct tie spacing.
• Ties will be 8 inches apart from one another, and 4" from the center of the blanket
• Pin ties to blanket
• Top stitch into place with a straight stitch.
• Attach velcro ( I used velcro glue to adhere my velcro to fabric) strips to ties.
• **Remember** Place loop side of velcro on one side of the tie, and the grabber side on the other side of the tie, so that when it wraps around the handle, it attaches to itself.

If you used velcro glue, give it time to set up ( usually 12 hours) before using the blanket. My sewing machine really HATES sewing on velcro, so I found the glue at Joann's and it has made my life so much easier!

Here's a picture of it hanging and waiting for it's new car seat.