The makings of a new product

I recieved a request from a former customer wondering if I make grocery cart covers.  After having gone through the toddler stage with 3 kids, one would think that I would have made one already!  Nope, I never gave it much thought.  I never did much 'accessories' sewing with my first baby 10yrs ago.  Then with the twins 5yrs ago, I did more sewing to include creating car seat covers, sundresses and all sorts of fun little things for twin girls.  But no grocery cart covers.  Then I got to thinking that I never really had the twins together in the seats of grocery carts!  I have yet to see a double seated cart for very young toddlers at my grocery store, Shopko, or Target; all places I frequented.  I actually kept my little twins out of mischief by sitting them in the cart's basket.  So I never needed a grocery cart cover.  Now with my 4th baby ready to venture into the stores without his infant car seat, I figured this would be a great time to create a cart cover for him! 

Grocery carts are a breeding ground for germs.  Who knows where hands have been before touching the cart you are now pushing your baby around in!  And then your teething baby decided to use the handle to chew and suck on!  Yuck!!!  Time for a cart cover to protect baby from those germs!

 

This is the cart cover I created for my baby.  The fully washable cover consists of a double layer of flannel all the way around it (you don't see the 'back' side of the material anywhere).  The seat of the cover and the surrounding outside materials are of 2 coordinating materials; the seat a solid color and the outer edging a matching printed flannel.  There are no exposed edges or seams.  I have sewed on 2 toy straps for you to attach any toys for baby.  The end of each strap has a piece of velcro so the strap can securely hold onto the toy (pacifier, rattle, teether...) 

I created this cart cover with one, large hole in the front for the legs.  Many times, it is hard getting a wiggly toddler out of a cart when they have tennis shoes or even boots on; feet are always getting caught up in the cart.  If I were to make 2 separate leg holes for the cover, that is just going to make it more difficult for me in trying to push a chunky foot in or out of the cover leg holes.  The edge around the single leg hole is finished off with a bias tape that coordinates with the seat material.

Along the back side of the seat part of the cover, I had made two sets of large button holes.  The button holes are large enough to easily thread the cart buckles thru it.  Since I had not used a cover before, I wasn't sure where the best spot for the holes were to accomodate the cart's buckles.  After trying it out today, I found that the button holes I made were not in a good spot.  So I went home and added a 3rd set to my cover and I'm happy to say that the 3rd time was a charm! lol!  The 3rd set isn't shown in these pictures but it is just as high as the top set in the picture but a few inches in towards the center for each hole.  This new set worked out much better.  

With any new cart covers, there will be one thing different than what you see in the pictures;  I will be adding an extra 2" of material along the entire outside edge of the cover.  My current cover was snug when it was put on a Target cart.  The extra material will make the cover not so tight in those carts.  (The blue seat section was a perfect fit in the carts.)

I am now ready to take custom orders for my grocery cart covers.  I have two options available to you and I certainly am open to any suggestions you may have!  If the materials you request are not readily available, extra charges may apply if I need to order them. 

Option #1: Flannel solid material for the seat and a coordinating flannel print: $30 (can also make it all one color or print if wanted for this same price)

Option #2: Fleece solid material for the seat and a coordinating fleece print: $36 (can also make it all one color or print if wanted for this same price)

Please email me at KidsCraftyCreations@hotmail.com or message me thru my Kid's Crafty Creations Artfire store!