but, being 30 miles away from the nearest fabric store, i looked at what i had on hand. i had exactly enough fleece left over from sam's halloween owl costume to make one 42 by 45 side (her measurements from the video) and the elastic, along with some thread.
the cover in the link is gorgeous, and mine is just plain brown fleece. if you don't care about "gorgeous" or if doing this cart cover seems daunting (i saw others that had binding and fancy all kinds of things, and i didn't even want to go there), then you can try my adaptation. (of course, you can use whatever kind of fleece you like - pink, patterned, etc.)
follow the directions in the video to around 2:57. i didn't use a second piece of fabric (i didn't have enough, and i wanted to try a short cut), so i stopped after this and cut out the circles for the legs and the slits for the straps.
then i pinned around the outside edges of the fleece, giving it just about a one-inch hem (give or take a bit) all the way around. it's curved on the "corners," so you will have to do some "folding in" - basically pleats along the curves (i think i have around 6 to 8 pleats on my cover) to keep the hem going around the edge without just running off. please excuse all of the "quotation marks."
here's one of the little folds - note the imperfection (you will never notice it when you are grocery shopping - i promise)
here are two very near one another, already stitched
one fold will do, because fleece doesn't fray, so you don't actually need a hem - the "hem" you are making is the casing for the elastic that will hold your cover on the cart.
this will need to be sewed (i used a machine) all the way around, EXCEPT for an opening maybe 3/4 to 1 inch wide to thread the elastic into the hem.
start back on the video at 7:40. here she shows how to run the elastic through the casing. BE SURE to pin the end you are not threading to the fabric or it will go inside the hem and be nearly impossible to get out. use a large safety pin as your threader if you have one, but a smaller one will do as well (it's more tedious with a smaller safety pin, and you may wish to stop for a coffee break at some point in the threading process; that is ok).
you can stop following the video at about 9:13. i didn't stitch the rest of my hem shut because i did it so differently than she did in the video. i just left it with that tiny gap in the stitching. if you aren't sure how to make your machine zigzag stitch, look at the manual to your sewing machine or google it, and be sure to adjust your tension accordingly. i am still learning how to use mine, and i wouldn't come close to being able to explain it.
i did do a zigzag stitch around the leg openings and the slits for the straps, but this is completely unnecessary.
(please note, it is not stitched SHUT. i basically added a little border.)
is this the prettiest cart cover ever? no, but it IS easy, it may have taken around 2 hours (probably less if i worked straight through) to finish, and it does the job of covering the germ-covered front cart basket so that you can get groceries and your child can ride along without chewing on the handle of the cart.
got it? awesome! now go make one, because it's way cheaper than buying one! if i can do it, so can you.
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