Tackling the Car Seat!!

So this has been one of my more challenging projects so far--blankies and burp cloths I can pretty much do in my sleep but I have never taken apart and then reassembled the padding and fabric of a car seat. I was a little scared because, well, what if it didn’t work, or I didn’t like it or if I didn’t get it done in time for Owen’s arrival? So many questions have been hanging over my head with this project--and it’s not like you can just go without a car seat--it’s a pretty important thing to have ready for baby!! So I needed a new car seat but didn’t want to run the risk of ruining and then needing to buy ANOTHER new one so I asked my friends who have said they are “done” if they had a car seat in good condition with time left before it “expires” and my sweet friend Karin said she could part with hers once her almost-one-year-old was done with it. This gave me plenty of time for the deconstruction and reconstruction before July. Let me tell you I felt SO BAD taking this car seat apart--even though it had been used for 1 and a half kids (she got it after a car accident for her 6 month old boy and then used it for his little sister when she arrived) this seat was in PERFECT condition. I am convinced no child ever ate or spit-up in it it really does (did) look that good! Jason and Emily actually tried to convince me to just leave it how it was and I must admit I was tempted--it was in near perfect condition and then I would not have to DO anything. But my creativity got the better part of me and I had to give in....So Jason came home from his church meetings to find me unpicking the entire car seat! I think he really had hoped I would resist the urge.

So here is the unpicked seat which I labeled VERY carefully so I would know how to put it all back together again!!! Let me tell you it takes a very long time to unpick all those seams! I do think that all in all it was worth the work. I absolutely LOVE how it turned out--even though Ethan keeps telling me that it looks a little “girlish” even if it’s blue.

I explained to Ethan that Owen won’t mind--in fact he won’t even realize it’s “girlish” until LONG after he out grows it :)