vinyl seat covers: how to and how not to

Inspirational Problem
I have a car with cloth seats and nanny for a darling little boy who likes to do things "ah by sef" a.k.a. all himself. This includes climbing into his own car seat. Now normally I would be all for this, as it involves much less bent and twisted lifting on my part. However it is the end of winter in Seattle, and that means mud.. lots and lots of mud stepping onto the door well, and then onto my cloth covered seat!


Solution
I decided to cover the seats, and went to Jo-Anne Fabrics looking for something fun and waterproof. Instead I found some very much on sale vinyl that matched my car exactly. Also I found fun boy fabric for accents.



Making the Pattern
supplies: brown paper, siscors, writing utensil


Method: I tucked the paper into the back crack of the seat and traced the shape of the top.
Then I tucked more paper into the edge of the seat where it joins the car wall and traced the shape of that piece.

1st how not to: Don't use a permanent marker to trace the shape..I don't even know what I was thinking!

Then I cut another piece roughly the same width of the top of the front seat, took the head rest out and put the paper over the holes, and then put the head rest back in. This held the paper in place while I traced the precise shape I wanted. I also cut little side pieces to match the seat shape.


Cutting the Pattern

I pinned the paper patterns to the vinyl and cut them out.

2nd how not to: don't just cut along the line if it is an edge that you want to sew to something else later. Instead remember to leave a seam allowance the first time you cut the pieces out. (Luckily for me, there was enough extra vinyl!)

I also decided to put some pockets on the back of the front seat for storing "kiddy" stuff.


Sewing the Covers
I joined the pieces together, then sewed hem tape around the outside perimeter to keep it all together.
3rd how not to: Don't try to sew through two layers of vinyl and hem tape at the same time if you have a Virgorelli sewing machine of indeterminately ancient age with all metal parts.

(It took me three hours to sew four inches before I figured out this gem of wisdom! After I gave up on the hem tape, things went much better.)

Here's the first removable pocket. It was kind of a bother, so I've put off making the others for a different time.



Finished Project!

Or, as my little muddy tyke said when he did finally make it all the way to his seat, "duh DA!" a.k.a. Ta DA!