If you live where it’s cold, and have a toddler or baby in a car seat, you need a car seat poncho. These are great because you can put the poncho on before you go outside and you don’t need to take it off to buckle your child in. This car seat poncho tutorial is easy, even for beginner sewers. I used a nice sherpa lined fleece fabric, but you can use any type of fabric you would like. I recommend some type of fleece since it is soft and warm, but anything you would use for a blanket works fine. Make sure you use a 60″ width fabric.
Refer to the chart below to figure out how much fabric you will need. This tutorial only has one pattern piece, for part of the hood. The rest of the tutorial does require measuring out your own shapes. I made the 0-12 month size and will be referring to the 0-12 sizing. If you’re making a bigger size, substitute from the chart below for the correct lengths
| Size | Fabric yardage | Length of poncho | Radius of neck hole | Back of hood rectangle |
| 0-12 months | 1 1/2 yd | 21″ | 2.75″ | 5″x15.5″ |
| 12-24 months | 1 1/2 yd | 25″ | 3″ | 5.5″x16″ |
| 24-36 months | 2 yd | 29″ | 3.25″ | 6″16.5 |
Cutting out your fabric
First, start with the body of the poncho. This is actually just a large circle, which you will cut out by folding the fabric over twice. Make sure that the fabric is only the length you need for your poncho (refer to the chart for the size you’re making) Starting from the folded over corner, measure 21″ along each side of your fabric, and multiple times in between. Mark each measurement with pins or a fabric pen, you will end up with a quarter circle on your fabric.
Now you will need to cut the neck hole. You will do the same thing you just did, but 2.75″. This might look really small, but it stretches out, so cut the smaller hole and test if out before you decide to make the neck hole larger.
Now cut out the hood. First cut out a 5″x15.5″ rectangle and cut out the hood. When cutting the hood, make sure you fold over the fabric so you have one of each side.
Sewing your poncho
Poncho hood
Once everything has been cut out, start pinning the hood together. Pin your rectangle to the curved hood piece, right side together. Sew. When I sewed the hood, I used an overlocker foot so there wasn’t a large seam allowance. If you have a Serger, use this, otherwise, use an overlocker or a zig zag stitch (If you don’t know how to do this, here’s a tutorial) Repeat on the other side.
Turn the edge of the hood over. Fold over 5/8″ and use a zig zag stitch, make sure to catch the edge of the fabric to stop any potential fraying.
Next, attach the hood to the poncho body. To do this, put the hood around the outside of the poncho and, with right sides together, pin and sew the hood to the poncho. Sew on a 5/8″ seam. Press the seam down onto the poncho fabric, then zig zag your seam down onto the poncho. (if you are using a plain fleece that doesn’t fray, you can skip the zig zag step)
Body of the Poncho
The last step is to hem your poncho. Hem 5/8″ with a zig zag stitch, catching the edge of the fabric to stop fraying. If your fabric doesn’t fray, you can just hem it on a straight stitch or not at all.
