Taking Flight -- Car Seat Canopy, Diaper Clutch, & Accessories

With the baby's due date looming, I decided it was finally time to unpack our car seat. I purchased it several months ago because I found a fabulous deal, but left it in the box in case a better deal popped up between then and now. Apparently I can't beat that price, so I finally gratified my nesting instincts and pulled it out! I was excited to find that adding a set of straps with a buckle makes it work with the Graco adapter that came with our Bugaboo Bee. 

After that came the matter of making a car seat canopy with some of my Flight Knit in Mineral from Birch Organic Fabrics. I've never had a "real" canopy, having always used a blanket or my nursing poncho. But I really liked the idea of a canopy that would stay put, would be the right size (no corners dipping into puddles!), and wouldn't interfere with the car seat handle.

I looked up a few tutorials, but ended up pretty much winging it. I wanted a canopy with a placket that opens in the front (easier to check on baby without lifting up the whole canopy), and I was also working with a knit fabric instead of the traditional quilting cotton. 

Due to the shape of the car seat handle, I placed the canopy straps at a slight angle. It was quite helpful having the actual car seat present during the construction process! 

I didn't end up lining the canopy, because I wanted to keep it breathable -- the knit I was using is quite sturdy, so I'm not worried about it stretching out or being too thin. I think I'm going to really like having it open in the front. For the hem, I started with simply rounding the edges. But a test run proved that the corners were still too long, so I ended up marking the hem with pins. After smoothing out the shape I cut the excess from the corners and stitched a double-fold hem. 

Some silver gray KAM snaps secure the straps to the handle...

And I still had some knit left over for a few other accessories! I didn't have scratch mittens with my first two, and always regretted it. Hopefully my self-drafted design will work. An extra strip of knit turned into a toy tether, just because. The hat is made with  Zaaberry's knotted baby hat pattern, and the bib is made from Purl Soho's bib pattern (scroll down to find the link to the PDF). For the bib, I rounded the back edges and elongated the pattern slightly.

The reverse of the bib is the same grey linen I used to line my stroller canopy -- this is meant as a "drool bib," so I'm not super concerned about absorbency. Another KAM snap serves as the closure!

With a little Flight canvas to spare, I also made up a little diaper clutch. My diaper supplies usually end up spilling into my purse, making changes a pain! I looked at a few ideas and came up with a simple design. 

I was sure to include a wrist strap with a snap, to make changes on the go simpler. That, and I love using those little KAM snaps whenever and wherever I can! *wink*

My homemade Baby K'tan (or "X-back baby carrier") is complete and ready for a tiny occupant -- no pictures yet, as it's remarkably unimpressive when not actually being used. As our house begins moving towards a state of moving chaos, it's been quite soothing to prepare things for our little one (who is feeling not-so-little any more!). 

And for those of you who might be wondering, we found out that we'll be stationed in Virginia for most of the year, and then we'll be heading to the tiny island of Guam! It should be quite an adventure! Soon I hope to share a few pictures and tidbits from our recent doings; it's been an eventful few weeks, to say the least.

Here's hoping you're having a simply lovely day!