Baby Rocker Makeover

Somebody at my mother-in-law’s workplace gave her an old baby rocker to give to me. I liked that you could put a baby in there and rock it to sleep, as well as set it up so that it stays stationary. However, this is what it looked like-

It looked rather old and stained.

The fabric was sewn into the frame of the rocker, so couldn’t be taken out and washed.

I wasn't crazy about the dirty teddy bears

But it was a good brand-Mother’s Choice, and a freebie is a freebie. So I decided to give it a facelift.

I had some really soft cotton that I picked up at the opshop that I decide would look really good as a cover.

Some blue cotton fabric from the op shop

I also went to Spotlight today and picked up a metre of prepacked polyester wadding.

Polyester Wadding

But before I did anything, I wanted to make sure that the fabric would look right on the rocker.

A mock up of what the final product will look like.

Looks just fine. So, I proceeded to make a pattern with newspaper.

Using newspaper to make a pattern.

Marking all the spots on the newspaper

Cutting out the fabric with the newspaper as a guide and adding seam allowances.

Laying the wadding on newspaper.

Cutting the wadding without seam allowances

Pressing the fabric flat to prevent puckers when sewing.

I planned to sew the wadding onto the wrong side of the fabric, and then turning it inside out. So-I pinned the fabric rights sides together, with the wadding on top of the wrong side.

Pinning the wadding on the wrong side of the fabric

I sewed directly onto the wadding all around the sides.

However, I left a hole in one of the short sides for turning the cover inside out.

The Hole

I anchored the four ends of the wadding unto the fabric before turning inside out

Then I proceed to pull the fabric and wadding through the hole.

This is what it looks like the right way up. See that little hole?

I’m going to close it up with iron-on hemming tape.

Inserting hemming tape into the hole

Iron-on hemming tape is a fusible adhesive which bonds 2 pieces of fabric together when heat is applied. It is usually used for making invisible hems. I only discovered it in Adelaide-I’m not sure if I’ve come across it in Malaysia.

Ironing the hole with the fusible hemming tape in it.

The original rocker seat has a strap sewn unto it to hold the baby in. I wanted to transfer it to the new cover. So I cut it off. Snip snip.

Cutting off the safety strap

I wanted the cover to have a quilted look, so…

Here I transfer all the markings from the newspaper to the cover.

I sewed along those markings to define the seat of the cover

I sewed a curvy line down the length of the cover

Here I used the quilting bar to guide the second line of stitching

The quilted look

Sewing the safety strap on with a bartack stith

I handsewed snaps on black tape on all four corners to anchor the cover into position.

Tadaa!

I also made a little padded holder for the straps.

This was a very quick and rewarding project-no precision needed, yet the finished product looked quite professional.

Here’s a before and after picture.

BIG improvement!