DIY Baby Wearing Coat Insert Tutorial!!!

I've seen some really cool baby-wearing coats online, and found some very clever ideas for sewing inserts for your own coat (including this very simple and clever one made from 2 fleece jackets, and this variation where the fleece zipper matched her coat zipper!), but none of them were quite what I wanted. It occurred to me that, instead of cannibalizing a fleece jacket, I could just as easily buy a zipper and some fleece at the fabric store, and then I could use whatever material I wanted. Once I realized that, things started to snowball. I anticipated wearing the baby while playing out in the snow with my 3-year-old, so I wanted something that would keep out the wind, so it had to have a stronger outer material, and a method of cinching up at the top and bottom to keep out the drafts.
After a great deal of thinking and reverse-engineering, this is what I came up with. I am NOT a seamstress. My sewing skills are intermediate, at best, and my machine is old and decrepit, so it's not very pretty or polished, but it does exactly what I want it to do, so I am pleased. Here is how I made it.

The collar can be folded down

Or gathered at the top to create a hood!

Here's what it looks like by itself

Okay, this isn't going to be a very thorough step-by-step tutorial, and I'm sorry about that, but I completely forgot to take pictures while I was sewing, and I'm not a seamstress myself, so you get to see pictures of the completed product, and some mock-ups using paper, with some very rough descriptions along the way (it's almost midnight, I'm trying to get this typed and posted before the baby wakes up for his next feeding, and I'm tired and not thinking very clearly, sorry).

Materials:

lining: fleece

Outer: I used rip-stop nylon because I had it already, but outdoor canvas or any other outerwear material you want is fine.

¼ inch elastic tape

round cord elastic

“Spring Stop Cord Locks”

zipper (most coats use YKK size 5, but do check your coat! If the zipper is YKK, look on the back of the zipper pull. There should be a little serial number. If there is a “5” in the number, you've got a size 5)

Step 1: Measure

Wear your baby and put on your coat. Measure your zipper from the bottom, to however far up you want the insert to zip (I didn't want it to zip up as high as my coat does, since the baby's head sits lower than mine, so I got a shorter zipper. For my coat, I needed a 22-inch one). Then measure the distance across your baby, from zipper to zipper at various points along the way (my coat had velcro every 5 inches, so I measured across at the bottom, then at every velcro up to the top). I also measured how high up from the bottom my baby's neck was, because I wanted to add elastic around the neck to keep out the wind.

*Be generous with the measurements, don't make them too tight, you want to allow extra room for baby to grow, extra layers, etc.
*about the zipper length: Because the outer edges are curved, your zipper will need to be slightly longer than the height you measured (which is a straight line). I recommend drawing your pattern first, and measuring the edges before purchasing a zipper.

Step 2: Trace

Take your measurements and plot them out on a large sheet of paper (wrapping paper, tissue paper, packing/butcher paper, whatever). I first measured the center (blue line), then marked my landmarks (top, bottom, and velcro's in-between) along that center line. Then I marked the points for my measurements, making sure to center them symmetrically across the line (red dots). Then I just kind of traced a curve, making sure it went through all the dots. I wanted a hood, so made the top curved, but you could just as easily make it a straight collar and eliminate a step. The top of my curve is about 8 inches above the top of my zipper. I also marked out where the elastic would go (green, wavy line), but you don't really need to do that on the pattern, I just did it for the sake of clarity.

Because I wanted to add drawstrings to the top and bottom, I added an extra inch or so on both ends (dotted line). I actually could have gotten away with much less than an inch, probably half-an-inch would be fine.

Step 3: Cut

I pinned the two fabrics together, right sides facing in, and pinned the paper on top of them and cut them both out at the same time. I added a seam allowance by simply cutting about a half-inch outside the lines the whole way around. Super precise, I know. ;)

Step 4: Sew the zipper!

Pin the zipper between the two pieces (still right-sides together) with the teeth pointing IN. Make sure that the right portions of the zipper are on the right sides so they will sip into your coat properly (it will seem backwards. Turn the whole thing right-side out after pinning if you have to to check). If you haven't sewn a zipper before, this tutorial gives a nice visual :
http://www.purlbee.com/2014/04/18/mollys-sketchbook-simple-lined-zipper-pouches/

Also, a zipper foot on your sewing machine helps!

Sew the zippers in up both sides, but leave that inch or so at the top and bottom open for the drawstring (unless you don't want a drawstring, in which case, just sew all the way up and down each side). Don't sew the top and bottom yet, you should basically have a tube right now.

Turn it right-side-out and top stitch the zippers to make a clean finish.

Step 5: Elastic!

Keeping the panel right-side-out, slide the end of your elastic tape between the pieces and pin it inside, by the zipper at the height you measured. Sew a tight zig-zag through all the layers to tack down that end (just the end). Leave the elastic long, you want it to hang out so you can grab it to pull. I just held the whole roll and didn't cut it until I had finished sewing it in.

To make a channel for the elastic, move the tape out of the way as much as possible and sew a straight line across the whole panel under the elastic.

Then, push the elastic as close as possible to the sewn edge, and very carefully sew another straight line above the elastic, making sure NOT to sew the elastic! This is the fun part.

When you get close to the other side, you will have to stop short to avoid sewing over the long end of the elastic that is poking out. When you have sewn as far as you dare, pull the elastic until the panel gathers as tightly as you want it, then pin it in place and zig-zag over that end to secure it.

I wish I had pictures of this process (sorry!), but here's the finished product, hopefully it gives you an idea of how that should go:

Gathered elastic

Elastic pulled straight so you can see the channel and the zig-zags on the ends

Step 6: finishing the top and bottom:

Turn the panel inside-out and sew across the top.If you're adding a drawstring, fold in and pin the edges on the sides above the zipper as if you're going to hem them, but don't sew. When you sew the top seam, it will catch the top of that fold and tack it down so the opening for your drawstring doesn't have rough edges poking out. I would add fray-check or some kind of liquid seam on those edges. I'm sure there's a better way to do this, but I don't know it. Will someone enlighten me?

Turn it right-side out again and top stitch the seam. Then sew another line underneath the top stitch to create a channel for your elastic cord.

*I made a nice, wide channel, which creates kind of a ruffled effect when the hood is gathered. If you want tighter gathers, make the channel more narrow and closer to the edge.

Once you've sewn your channel, if there is a gap on the side seams between the bottom of the channel and the top of the zipper, top-stitch that closed.

See how ruffled the edges look with the wide channel?

The bottom will be finished almost the same way, but WATCH OUT: When I turned it inside out to finish the bottom seam, I forgot to leave a gap to turn it right-side out again and had to re-do the whole thing. Don't do that. Learn from my mistake.

Turn the panel inside-out, and sew across the bottom leaving a few inches to turn it right-side out! (don't forget to fold in the unfinished edges on the sides where the drawstring opening is)

Turn it right side out, fold in the edges of the opening and top stitch across the whole bottom edge. Then sew another line above it to create the channel for your elastic cord.

Here's a closer shot of the "channel."

You are almost done!

Step 7:

tie one end of the elastic cord onto a safety pin and use that to work it through the channel. 

If you have a single slot cord lock, just thread the elastic through the lock, tie a good knot and do the same on the other side.

I got dual slot cord locks, so I've got an extra step to finish mine:

Slide the cord through one of the holes, then back through the other to create a loop. 

Then slip the end inside the channel and sew it down (I tied a knot and doubled it up to have more to sew over.

If you think ahead, you can tack this down as you're sewing your channel. Just tack one end down at the start, sew most of the channel, thread the cord through, and tack down the other end as you're finishing the channel to create a cleaner look. Just remember to thread the cord locks on BEFORE you tack down the ends...

Step 8: Zip it onto your coat and get going! :)