Evangeline Grace: 3 Months Update

Evangeline is such a happy baby.

Our sweet Evangeline Grace has been growing like crazy this past month.  15.5 pounds!  Before I know it she will be outgrowing her 6 month clothing.  Evangeline has started to really squirm and kick her legs.  (By the way I am in love with her adorable, fat, chubby legs!)  We now have to buckle her into her swing and bouncy seat for fear that she will fall out.  🙂  Eva has yet to roll over yet but I think that day is dawning near.  Every time I put her on a blanket I find myself watching her like a hawk just so I don’t miss her first time rolling over!  This past month she took her first road trip to Arkansas to visit her grandparents.  We left right after church on a Sunday and made it in 12 hours!  (It usually takes 10 hours so this was really fast.)  I”m hoping Evangeline will continue to be a great little traveler.

 

I can’t get enough of her crooked smile.

The past few weeks have been really difficult with Evangeline.  She ended up with RSV which was just plain bad.  I am so thankful that we didn’t have to be admitted to the hospital.  We were monitored closely by Evangeline’s pediatrician and were able to rent a nebulizer to use at home which helped so much.  I cleared my calendar for about 2 weeks and just held my sweet girl all day long.  Now that she is feeling better she is sleeping well again.  Hooray!  Evangeline usually sleeps from about 11pm to 9am or so with one early morning feed.  She sleeps great at night but is horrible at taking a nap!  She is the cat nap queen and such a little social butterfly.  It doesn’t seem to matter if we keep the house super quiet Evangeline just will not sleep longer than 15-20 minutes.  Any tips or ideas?

It is an absolute delight to watch Elijah and Evangeline play together.

Eli continues to thoroughly enjoy being a big brother.  Most of the time he is so sweet to her and honestly such a help to me keeping her entertained.  Last week I did find him dragging her around the living room floor on a blanket at break neck speeds last week!

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Evangeline Grace: 2 Months Update

My favorite milestone this past month is definitely her smiling.

Our sweet girl has learned to smile and happily shares a grin often.  She absolutely loves to cuddle, nurse, take baths, and smile at Daddy.  It is especially sweet when big brother Eli comes over to play with her and makes her grin from ear to ear.  I have been surprised at how much Eva and Elijah are enjoying one another.  I thought they would be older before they really “played” together.  At this point I feel like I have adjusted to having two children although I do still worry that I am going to leave one of them somewhere!

We ended up canceling her checkup two weeks ago because I had a nasty cold.  Last week we were traveling so Evangeline finally made it to her checkup today and weighed in at 14lbs 4 oz and 22 inches long.  She is actually 2 months and 2 weeks at this point.  No wonder all of her 3 month clothes were so tight!  😉  I am so thankful that Eva is healthy.  I was a little surprised at her weight gain but I guess she is just going to be a chubby little baby until she starts to crawl.  She has the most adorable chunky little legs I have ever seen!  Evangeline continues to be a curious little girl always wanting to look around.  She has also started to squirm and kick with her legs.  Sometimes we catch her putting her little hands in her mouth.  Already she seems to be quite dramatic and acts as though she is going to die if we don’t pick her up fast enough when she is hungry.  🙂

6 Weeks Old

Thankfully Eva continues to be a great sleeper and usually sleeps a good 8 hours (except when we are traveling).  She still sleeps in our room at this point.  Evangeline recently decided that she hates bottles.  😦  We had to supplement the first few weeks with expressed breast milk and she had no problem taking a bottle.  Selfishly I would love to go out on a date with my husband longer than 3 hours so I am hoping that we can convince her to take one again.  Breastfeeding is great at this point and I believe I have made it over the two month hurdle.   I think that as a mother one of the sweetest milestones is when you are nursing your baby and they look up at you and smile and a pool of milk dribbles out of their mouth.  So precious!  If you haven’t had this happen then it probably just sounds weird but it melts my heart like butter every time!

 

How Mommy is Recovering: My incision is healed at this point and I took my doctor’s advice about walking for 2 weeks before resuming any other type of exercise.  I have worked up to about 45 minute walks and would like to reach the hour mark before I join any of the aerobics classes at our gym.  Two weeks ago I was feeling a little tender on my right side after too much activity so I am trying to be careful not to push myself too hard.  I am noticeably less tired than I was a month ago and feel like I have a good handle on things.  Now I am just trying to enjoy each and every moment.  They grow so fast!  🙂

Evangeline Grace: 1 Month Update

Eva Grace at 1 month

I still can’t believe it!  My sweet girl is one month old.  In some ways this month has flown by and in other ways it has been a long month.  🙂  Evangeline is starting to look less like a newborn and more like a baby.  I am really enjoying how much more alert she is throughout the day.  We have seen a couple smiles but have been unable to capture one on camera yet.  We all find ourselves acting ridiculous trying to coax one out of her!  At her checkup on Friday she weighed 10lbs 6oz (minus the 4 oz cloth diaper she was wearing) and measured 21 inches long.  I am really excited about her weight gain since she had a little trouble gaining weight in the beginning.  The day we left the hospital she weighed only 7 lbs 6 oz so she has gained 3 pounds this month!

I am so thankful she has gained enough weight that we can discontinue supplementation.  The pediatrician also said that I don’t have to wake her up every three hours to nurse if she is sleeping at night.  (I had to wake Eli up as a baby.)  Last night she slept 6.5 hours straight so I feel great today!  It’s nice that I don’t have to stress out about her weight gain now.  I don’t mind pumping but I did not like giving her a bottle since it made her gassy.  Breastfeeding is going much better than it was a few weeks ago.  Hooray!  Eva Grace & I have had our fair share of breastfeeding struggles the past couple of weeks and have really benefited from sheer determination and the help of a wonderful lactation consultant Bethany Hanser at Motherhood Express in Florence.  We’ve been to see her twice and she has been so helpful!  She is very reasonably priced but I would happily drop a large chunk of money on a good lactation consultant.  It makes a huge difference!

 

3 weeks old

Eva Grace is such a sweet baby and is bringing much joy to our family.  It’s still weird to think that I have 2 children.  I’m planning on taking them both to the grocery store so I guess reality will really set in then!  😉  My recovery is going well.  I am not fully recovered yet and still experience a little tenderness on my right side.  I’m still trying to limit myself on stairs for right now but other than that I feel pretty good.  Despite having a 3-year-old I have been able to rest a lot more this time.  I have realized that the best thing I can do for the first two months is to take it easy and allow my body to heal.

It has been fun to watch Brandon fall in love with his baby girl. I think she already has him wrapped around her little finger.  Eva Grace loves to fall asleep on Daddy’s chest in the evenings.

The proud big brother.

Elijah has turned into an excellent big brother!  He is always telling me Eva is hungry whenever she makes the tiniest bit of noise.  My favorite thing is when Eli comes to me and mimics the faces that Eva is making.  It is hilarious!  I will have to try to capture one on camera soon.  Eli loves to fetch things for me which has been a big help while I am recovering.  He also enjoys helping me change her diaper.  I always let him pick out which diaper she is going to wear next.  (Since we cloth diaper this is a little exciting.)  Eli and I continue to have alone time reading or working on an activity.  He had a wonderful time finding a caterpillar and making a habitat for it.

I must say that I have really enjoyed becoming a mommy of two this past month.  It has been such a sweet blessing from the Lord and we are so thankful.  Part of me is glad that Eva has reached the one month mark.  I was able to go to church on Sunday and it was WONDERFUL!  My soul was so refreshed listening to the word preached and worshiping with fellow believers.  I can also see how I have grown and changed as a mom from when Eli was first-born.  I actually find myself enjoying some of those late night wake up calls this time around (so long as I find time for a nap later in the day).  Overall I feel a lot more laid back about a lot of things.  🙂

Newborn Cloth Diaper Stash

Our Newborn Cloth Diaper Stash

 

Call me crazy or insane but one of the things I am looking forward to is cloth diapering our new little girl as a newborn.  I have always loved cloth diapers and I cannot wait to see our sweet little girl in a teeny tiny cloth diaper!  🙂  We didn’t start using cloth diapers with Eli until he was 4 weeks old since we moved when he was only 2 weeks old.  Looking back it probably would not have been that crazy to use cloth diapers.  We ended up spending tons of money on diapers the first month because we had to buy expensive diapers for sensitive skin.  If we were going to use disposable diapers for the newborn stage I would definitely want to use chlorine free diapers which cost even more (twice the cost of generic disposables).  I am guessing these would set us back about $148 for the first month.  One option that I looked into was the possibility of using a newborn cloth diaper rental service but that would cost around $220.  We would like to have more children in the future so we opted to purchase a newborn stash that can be used for future children.  Our budget for our entire stash was $100.  I can honestly say that I had a lot of fun watching for sales and purchasing used cloth diapers over the summer.  That said I thought it would be fun to share what our newborn cloth diaper stash looks like.  I plan on doing an update in a few months to share which newborn cloth diapers worked best for us.

Our Stash of Prefolds & Covers

Many people choose to use either pocket diapers or prefolds with covers.  We are planning on using both systems.  Prefolds and covers are by far the most economical option.  We purchased a dozen orange edged sized newborn (6-10 lbs) Cloth-Eez Prefolds from Green Mountain Diapers and a dozen yellow edged sized small (10-15 lbs) Cloth-Eez prefolds.  Our covers include: Imse Vimse Size Newborn, 1 cover I made using the New Conceptions Diaper Cover with leg gusset, 1 handmade cover I made trying to copy the Bummis Super Brite Cover-I doubt this will really work, 1 DIY Cover using the Babyville Boutique size newborn pattern, 2 Thirsties Duo Size 1 covers, and 2 Bummis Super Brite Newborns.  To me most of the covers (except the Bummis Super Brites) look really big.  I wouldn’t be surprised if only the Bummis fit well for the first couple of weeks.

Pocket Diapers & Fitted Diapers I Made

I made two pocket diapers using the Green Pepper Pattern F708 in Size Newborn.  On the second cover I made the elastic in the leg larger.  I also made 5 fitted diapers using the Kwik Sew Pattern 3690.  Thankfully I was able to try these on a friend’s baby and adjusted the elastic around the legs.  I did not sew a large stash of either of these since I am not 100% sure they will be a good fit.

 

The stash of All in One Diapers I made for Eli using Kwik Sew’s pattern.

Before Eli was born I sewed 15 All-in-One diapers using Kwik Sew 3690.  Unfortunately these ran really small and I was hardly able to use them at all after all of that work! 😦  I don’t really know if these will fit baby girl at all unless she has really skinny legs.  I’m not actually planning on these fitting but if they do that would be great!  These diapers also took FOREVER to dry so I’m sure they will be the ones I reach for last.

Pocket Diapers or All in One Diapers are much more expensive than going the prefolds and covers route.  I chose to purchase 1/2 of our stash in AIO diapers because my husband likes them much better.  (I also got a wonderful deal on them used.)  I am also counting on having help from family when the baby comes (Brandon’s mom is coming to stay after the baby is born and I am sure my mom and sisters will help from time to time).  I wanted to make it easier for them to help me change diapers.  🙂

Our Stash of Pocket Diapers

I spent lots of time researching which aio/pocket diapers worked best and I think it just depends on your child.  We have 12 Bumgenius AIO XS diapers (yellow, blue, & teal in the picture on the left and right).  The reason I bought so many of these was simply because I got a great deal by purchasing a lot of them.  In the middle column starting at the top I have 2 Grovia Diapers, 1 XS Fuzzibunz Pocket Diaper, 1 Alva Baby (a China diaper), and 2 Lil’ Joey diapers.  As you can see I tried hard to keep things pretty gender neutral for the most part.  It is so hard though!  🙂

I am also planning on sewing some fleece doublers in case any of these diapers need more absorbency.  We will also be using cloth wipes.  I have some leftover from Eli and am in the process of sewing a dozen more from scrap fabric.

Have you ever cloth diapered a newborn?  Any tips, advice, etc?  

 

Pregnancy Update: 33 Weeks & Sewing Update

The blanket I made for Baby Girl. We have decided to go with Elephants, Giraffes, & Owls for the nursery.  Notice the cute little tag I found. 

Now that it is finally September I feel like I am finally getting close to having this little girl!  She will be here sometime next month.  🙂

I had a doctor appointment last week and the baby sounded great.  She is quite the wiggle worm when it comes to the Doppler.  My sister Katelyn actually went with me and got to hear the heart beat which was neat.  As of last week baby girl was head down and locked in the pelvis.  Let’s just hope she stays that way!  (Elijah had to be delivered by C-section because he turned breech at 39 weeks.)  I can definitely tell a change in her movements since she switched to the head down position.  I have now gained 8 pounds this pregnancy which I am pleased with.  I sure look like I have gained a lot more though!

I have been having a little trouble with some leg pain in my left leg due to a vein that sticks out a little bit.  It has been that way since college but it has gotten worse with pregnancy this time.  The doctor recommended compression stockings.  I didn’t realize how vain I am as a person until I had to start wearing them!  🙂  They are awful in many ways (& cost a fortune) but they do help my leg not to hurt.  I think I have been much more active exercising since I started wearing them which is really good.  I really want to stay in shape for the birth.

Brandon & I toured the hospital where I will be giving birth.  I was very pleased with the tour and look forward to delivering there soon.  It was actually much nicer and had more amenities than I expected.  There are plenty of restaurants right next to the hospital so Brandon can get his fast food fix while we are there.  We also went on a fancy date afterwards to Red Lobster which was wonderful.  🙂  I have such a sweet husband.

My doctor did allow me to attend a girl’s get away in Gatlinburg, TN this past weekend.  Hooray!  I missed my boys like crazy but it was SO much fun to hang out with a bunch of girls I went to college with and rarely see because we all live so far away from one another.  I even rode the Sky Lift!  We went to celebrate the fact that one of my sweet friends is getting married in October (less than 2 weeks before baby girl is due).  I really hope I get to attend her wedding.  It was kind of funny because I was pregnant the last time I went on a girl’s trip with this bunch of girls.  🙂

I have started making head way on a couple of sewing projects for baby girl.

The flannel swaddler I made.

I used Simplicity 2165 to sew the swaddler out of flannel.  I made this pattern last year twice for two friends who were expecting.  It was pretty easy to sew the third time around.

I sewed two burp cloths this week. These are contoured and will not slip off your shoulder.

I’m hoping to start cooking some freezer meals this month to eat after the baby comes.  Do you have any great freezer recipes to share? 

 

18 Weeks

Our little “pumpkin” & I standing in front of the Old Mill along the Cades Cove Loop Road in the Great Smoky Mountains.

I thought it might be fun to share a little bit about my pregnancy this time around.  I’m totally copying this idea from my sister-in-law Renee who is also expecting.  Isn’t that fun?  🙂  

I’m just now starting to feel a little better.  We are so thankful for this pregnancy but it has been more challenging than we thought it would be.  (Not near as difficult in my opinion as when I was pregnant with Elijah though.)  I’ve had my fair share of morning sickness but I am so thankful that the throwing up is subsiding for the most part.  🙂  I lost a little bit of weight and have regained some of it.  I’m currently -4 pounds from my starting weight.  I have been concentrating on eating more fruits & vegetables.  I’m still not feeling most vegetables but I have been making Green Smoothies in order to get my veggies!  Brandon was horrified when he picked up a recipe for a Spinach Green Monster Smoothie today.  Ha, ha!  

Right now our baby is the size of a sweet potato.  I had a doctor’s appointment last week and again we were able to hear the heartbeat (155).   That NEVER gets old!  Brandon wasn’t able to go with me and I really wish I had recorded it for him.  One of the coolest things lately is the fact that our little pumpkin is really starting to move a lot!  I first felt the baby move while on vacation at about 16 weeks.  This week I have really noticed a lot of movement which is so fun.  It’s one of my favorite aspects of actually being pregnant!  

We have our 20 week ultrasound at the end of the month and have to make the difficult decision of whether or not we are going to peek.  I really want to be surprised at the birth but then I also want to spend the next 20 weeks sewing like crazy.  What to do?  Do you have any guesses?  

 

 

Sew a Baby Bath Robe: Simplicity 3711 Review

Front View

I decided to sew a sweet little baby robe for my niece Zuzu for Christmas this year.  I used Simplicity 3711 which is a baby bath robe pattern which includes a hood.  I made a size Large for my 1-year-old niece.  I think she wears a size 18-24 months in ready to wear.  The robe was plenty big on her so I think this pattern must run a little big. 

Back View

I used a soft flannel fabric purchased at either Hancocks or JoAnns (I can’t remember.)  This robe is lined with a soft flannel solid fabric and includes a hood which I thought was adorable.  It is a little bit harder to find a robe pattern that includes a hood.  Flannel will fade overtime but I almost always choose it when making baby gifts-just remember not to iron it.  I did find that this pattern was much more time-consuming than Simplicity 3584 that I made for Elijah last year. 

Prior to this project I had never sewn a flat felt seam.  It was nice to learn a new sewing technique!  The seam was very easy to sew and looked wonderful along the hood. 

The rick rack along the front and hood really adds a sweet touch. I also included a label with the size.

I absolutely loved the rick rack which I attached along this robe.  If I were making this for a little boy I would probably skip the rick rack and try piping instead.  I skipped the applique on the front as I thought the flannel print was plenty busy enough.  One thing that I didn’t do on this robe that I should have been to attach the belt.  On Eli’s robe I sewed the belt onto the back of the robe so that it doesn’t get lost.  You could also add belt loops. 

Overall I loved how this project turned out.  I will probably add it to my baby shower possibilities list.  😉

Simplicity 2629 Review: Sew a Baby Slip

Such a sweet gift for a sweet little niece of mine.

For my niece Zuzu’s first birthday I knew I wanted to make something special.  I debated for a long time over what exactly to make for her.  There are SO many adorable patterns and tutorials for making things for little girls it was almost overwhelming!  When I came across Simplicity 2629 I knew right away this pattern was perfect.  It is a vintage pattern from 1948 that was re-released recently.  Pretty cool I think.  Zuzu’s mom Renee enjoys vintage things also so I thought this might be a good fit.  I’ve always wanted to sew a true vintage pattern but have always been too scared that a pattern I might pick up at the thrift store that has been cut wouldn’t include all of the pieces.

The pattern is actually a layette pattern and includes lots of sweet baby items.  I finally settled on sewing little Zuzu a slip.  I wasn’t sure if she had one or not but it seemed like such a fun little thing to make to keep her just a little bit warmer throughout the winter.  (I think she could almost sleep in the slip during the summer if the house were really warm also.)  I made a size Large for Zuzu and sewed View F but ended up not attaching the ruffle since it already seemed plenty long enough to me.

Any pattern for embroidery could easily be substituted here.

This was my first time ever combining sewing with any sort of needlework or embroidery.  I absolutely LOVE the result!  I was able to take a bunch of inexpensive materials (plain white broadcloth, 2 white buttons (I had), thread, and a bit of lace and make something so sweet.  I found that the embroidery did take quite a while but I just love how it turned out.  This pattern is included in the envelope but you could really substitute any outline.

Do note if you make this pattern that the seam allowance is 3/8″ instead of the usual 5/8″.  I was kind of surprised that the slip buttoned at the top of the shoulders.  I guess it has to button somehow since the pattern is not intended for knit fabric.  I had thought originally about not adding the lace but am so glad that I did.  🙂  It was difficult to find the 3/8″ lace so I ended up using 1/2″ lace that my mom had in her stash.

The finished product.

Overall this pattern was adorable and so much fun to work with.  I can’t see myself sewing another slip anytime soon but one day I might make the dress that is included in the pattern as a baby gift in the future.

Sew a Pair of Baby Shoes: Simplicity 2278 Review

My first pair of baby shoes!

This past week I made something that I never dreamed normal people (like me) could sew.  Baby shoes!  Sure sometimes you see those crazy talented sewing ladies on their blog whipping up a cute pair of ballet slippers from an old purse.  I’m just not one of those people who looks at an old leather purse and magically makes a pair of baby shoes.  I can however read a pattern pretty well if it is well written.  Simplicity 2278 was a dream to sew.  I made ViewA in a size medium.  It’s a good thing Elijah was a little boy and not a little girl or I think I would have stayed up late sewing him shoes instead of studying.  😉

I had some leftover fabric (small scraps really) from sewing a Simplicity 2295 tote bag and just used the leftover fabric.  I cut the pieces out without worrying too much about grain lines.  This seemed to work well.  I cut a size medium but really don’t know what size these would correspond to in regular shoe sizes.

So sweet. I added a simple plain 3/8″ button I had on hand. The button is just for decoration as the shoes velcro closed.

I did not use any Jiffy Grip like the pattern calls for.  I didn’t have any and I live far away from a fabric store.  The baby won’t be walking in these shoes so I don’t think it matters.  (They are not made for walking.)  Instead I just used regular fabric.  You could easily make the soles out of the same material as the rest of the shoe.  For a neat contrasting look I used a coordinating fabric instead for the bottom of the shoes.  I would recommend sewing step 10 (sewing the sole) with a seam allowance of  3/8 instead of 1/4.  It seems like the sole would fit in the shoe better this way.

I was amazed at how simple these shoes were to sew.  Really if you sew you must try to make a pair of these shoes for the next baby shower you attend.  I would recommend sewing either a size medium or large the first time around.  I haven’t sewn the small size but it just sounds difficult to make a teeny tiny shoe.  🙂

The most adorable scrap fabric busting ever!

The pattern also includes a pattern for an adult size shoe/house slipper which is kind of neat I guess.  I never thought about making myself a pair of slippers but I guess it could happen.  It would be really cute to sew a mom and baby matching slippers.  I would recommend using Jiffy Grip if you make the adult size slippers.  There are a total of 5 different baby shoes in this pattern.  I’m hoping to try to make the little boots View B for a friend’s baby sometime this fall.  They would look absolutely adorable in John Deere fabric.  This pattern contains shoes that a little boy could also wear.  I am sure that I will be making it often for baby gifts.

How to repair a car seat cover

This is what the car seat cover looked like before the re-do.

While at a baby shower in April a friend asked me if I could help her fix the cover on her car seat.  I was thinking little rip or tear.  She was thinking either sew an entire new car seat cover or replace part of an existing cover.  😉  Always one for a challenge and also having a strong desire to help my friend out and save her some money I said yes.  It was a litte bit of a challenge and I would not recommend attempting something of this nature if you are a beginning sewer.  If you have been sewing for a little while then the following is a make-shift tutorial of what I did to fix the seat.  It took a little time but saved the family lots of money.  I was so thankful that my family was able to bless her family in this way!  🙂

The car seat needed to be fixed due to a small amount of mildew/mold in the bottom right corner. My friend had already killed the mold before giving me the car seat cover so I did not mess with any of that.  If you do have mold or mildew on your cover you need to kill the mold/mildew first.  It probably would have been okay if it had just been patched over since it was dead but since a newborn baby would be in close contact with the car seat I decided to rip out any portion of the old cover that contained mold and make another part to replace that area. 

 

(This is a finished image.) Using a seam ripper I patiently ripped out the seams along the bottom and along the sides of about 1/3 of the car seat along the bottom. Then I took a BIG breath and cut across the middle. (I did not cut any of the brown outer edge.)  I also removed the tab that covers the buckle (I think) and kept it for later.  (I re-attached it at the end.) 

 

After removing the bottom portion of the car seat I also ripped out the stitching in the middle so that I had two pieces: the top and the bottom.  Keep both pieces.  The top portion will be used to make a pattern for the new piece. 

 

 a

Make a pattern by tracing the top piece.  Then add your seam allowance.  (I used 1/2″.)   Be sure to unfold the center pieces and add 1/2″ for seam allowances there also.  I also added a 1/2″ to the top of the pattern in order to compensate for having to sew the bottom portion to the top of the cover.  You don’t want your cover to be too tight when it is finished.  Make sure to include markings for where there needs to a hole for the buckle or a buttonhole for the car seat straps.  In the picture I have my pattern piece laying on top of the blue fabric that was used as the repair piece. Make sure that you use the same material that the rest of your cover is made out of. I used a suede fabric and made sure to find one that was WASHABLE. Do not use a dry clean only fabric.

Cut out the square in the center (where the buckle will go). Then cut a small 1/2 inch slit in each of the corners. This will make it easier to sew this part.

 

I had originally planned on replacing the batting but changed my mind and used the original batting and the back piece. Place the batting and the top piece right sides together. Pin around the hole in the center. Stitch around the hole in the center.

Sew completely around the inside square. Turn inside out.

After turning inside out press lightly with an iron. (Be careful to use your irons recommended settings for your fabric.) Top stitch around the edge of the opening.

Make a large button-hole using the markings you made on your patterns.  Add fray check or fray block to keep seams from fraying.  (I don’t remember what exact settings I used on the buttonhole-something heavy-duty though.) 

 

I also removed the buckle flap from the original piece and sewed it onto the new bottom. I followed the sewing lines on the flap that were sewn on originally and used a 3/8″ seam allowance. I think the flap here added a nice touch to help incorporate the bottom portion with the rest of the cover. 🙂

 

 

Sew the bottom portion back onto the cover sewing right sides together and attaching bias tape when necessary.

The final step is by far the hardest one.  Don’t give up you are almost finished!  This was a big fight to shove all of the fabric in between the bias tape.  For parts of it I sewed the top piece to the bottom piece and THEN attached the bias tape.  (Sorry I don’t have a picture of this tricky step.)

Here is an upclose view of the car seat fix. The blue fabric is the fix fabric while everything else is the original fabric.

 

Ta-da! One fixed car seat cover.

 

Overall this was a great project and one that I can definitely say was a blessing to others.  (I hope at least.)  🙂  What a great reminder that God can use any of our skills or gifts to be a blessing to someone else.  If you have any questions about how to fix/repair your car seat cover please leave a message in the comments and I will get back with you!