No-Sew Shopping Cart Cover: Tutorial

When Emma started sitting up (okay, so way before she started sitting up), I started shopping around for affordable shopping cart covers. Well, newsflash for Kim--they don't exist. There are a few that are more reasonably priced than others, but they either received terrible customer reviews or they are ugly as sin. Furthermore, Scott was not all that fond of spending money on something that is essentially a glorified blanket. Then, it struck me one day. Why not take the concept from a no-sew fleece blanket and apply it here? I did some research online to see if anyone else had come up with a similar idea, and to my surprise there weren't many. The only site I could find with a tutorial for such an item was here. Her step-by-step instructions were extremely helpful in getting me started because, let's face it. I am terrible when it comes to projects that involve buying material. I am that person in line at the checkout counter who is holding up about ten people behind me because I can't force my brain to do the math fast enough. No matter how much I prepare and rehearse ahead of time, it always goes down the same way. The lovely checkout clerk asks the dreaded question, "How much fabric do you need?" I spew out whatever automated number I have set in my head, and then something goes wrong. Either I did the math wrong and gave her an absurd number, or the material's set width is not the size I thought it would be, or I misconstrue what is no doubt a tired, when-do-I-get-to-go-home look from the clerk to be a this-lady-is-an-idiot look. I second guess myself, try to recalculate some things in my head, and scurry out of the store like a sad little puppy. I was determined not to let this be the scene in Joann's Fabrics this time, and whaddya know! My shopping trip actually went quite smoothly.

I did a few things differently and took my own pictures along the way, so I thought this would be a fun first-time tutorial for me to share with all of you!

No-Sew Shopping Cart Cover

First, buy yourself a piece of fleece fabric 45" long x 56" wide. The fleece I bought happened to be 56" wide and I used every bit of it because, in my opinion, the more fabric the better! You will use the longer sides to cover the sides of the shopping cart from the front to back of the seat, and the shorter sides will cover the front handlebar and the back of the seat. I chose this cutie-patootie fabric:

(I apologize in advance for not taking pictures for this part of the directions!)

The first things to measure and cut are the leg holes. I found it easiest to lay my fabric right side down on my dining room table and stand as if I were facing the front of the shopping cart. Using a measuring tape, find the center of your fabric, measure 18 inches up from the edge, and mark it (I used a pen). Next, measure 1 inch both to the left and right of the center and mark both spots. The spot to the left of center will be the bottom right corner of one leg hole, and the spot to the right of center will be the bottom left corner of the other leg hole.

Confused yet?

Use the marked corners of each leg hole as references to measure, mark and cut two 8x8 inch square leg holes. They should look something like this:

You will also need a slit on either side to pull the buckle straps through on the shopping cart, but I just took a pair of scissors the first time we used this at a store and snipped my slits then. What's the point in guessing? Look like a crazy lady for a few minutes and cut them at the store. Easy peasy!

Now for the fun part! Trim your fabric of any rough or uneven edges, lay it flat, and cut a 4x4 inch square out of each corner:

Next, go around each edge of your fabric and cut tassels 4 inches long and 1 inch wide:

Once all of your tassels are cut, go back around and use scissors to cut a small slit in the top center of each one. (You can also do this process as you are cutting the tassels, which is what I found easiest for myself):

Take the end of each tassel, wrap it around itself, and pull it through its own slit to create a knot. Do this around the entire piece of fabric:

Your final product should look something like this:

That's it! I bought two pieces of fleece on sale. What does this mean? For the mere price of $18, I now have two adorably soft shopping cart covers to protect my baby from yucky germs. I even snapped a few shots of Emma using her cool new baby item so that you can see this cover in action:

I used a few of the tassels to tie to the shopping cart and keep the cover in place. You could even tie little toys onto the tassels and keep baby entertained while you shop! As if it could get any better, this new lovely cover you have made also doubles as a high chair cover! wOOt WOOT!

I hope I was able to explain this process clearly enough for everyone! If you have any questions then please don't hesitate to ask! Happy baby crafting and enjoy your new shopping cart cover! :)


Psssst..... I was featured! :)


























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To see a list of link parties I will be sharing this with,  please check out my page of Linky Parties!