Henry and I (and sometimes Mike too!) have been going for walks lately. The weather has been mostly cooperating in regards to precipitation, but it’s been a bit chilly out. As you can imagine, it’s a bit of a struggle to keep mittens on a toddler! I’ve been imagining different ways to keep him warm while we walk. This is just one of those ideas 🙂

Introducing my homemade Buggy Bag for our Burley running stroller!

I did a bit of late night (read: 10pm because yup that’s late for me) researching and found some commercial and homemade bags for strollers. Most of what I found would be super helpful if we lived somewhere that got really cold, opposed to here when I’m walking around in 40-50F. It’s cold enough that his hands turn to ice if when he rips his mittens off, but not so cold that I need polar tek and multiple layers of insulation. Just enough to put over his already layered clothing to keep in heat and that he can’t kick off.

I had a few requirements:
– easy to open/close
– easy to attach/detach (for washing)
– uses materials I already had on hand

The way the straps on this particular stroller actually worked really well for the attaching. The comfortable seat portion is attached to the stroller with velcro in multiple places so that it can be removed for washing. That meant I had easy access to under his bum so that the bag wouldn’t slide down as he wiggles.

I cut the white fleece to an oversized approximation of the stroller seat area. Then I laid it on top of it where it should sit, and traced out the velcro strips. I cut out the three sections and laid it back down. From what I could tell, the side straps are attached permanently to the upper straps, so I simply cut two slits just below the middle section so they could slip through.
This turned out to work really well, and I moved on to creating the top part.

I traced the shape of the white onto some scrap paper, and used that to create a larger version with the Seahawks fleece. I moved the center of the paper as far away as I could from the fold of the outer fabric – keeping in mind I was using fabric I already had. It turned out to pretty much be the perfect width (around 22″) so that there’s space for Henry to move around and not feel too confined. For the bottom curve, I added a bit of ease to the outer fabric since there’s a bit of stretch available with this fleece. Then it was serged together from slit to slit (since the slit needed to stay open to put on).

I folded in the upper portions of both pieces and fused them with stitch witchery. Then I used kam snaps to keep the sides together when in use.

I then found my longest available zipper (22″) and proceeded to cut a slit straight down the center of the outer fabric. I used Wonder Tape to keep the zipper in place while stitching (straight stitch first and then a zigzag for stability). I attached it straight to the back of the fabric since the fleece won’t fray along the edge. I wanted to keep the pattern continuous.

I think it turned out pretty well overall!

Went for a walk this afternoon and I think it’s a winner.

My usual ham for the camera was much more interested in the garage door (????) than pictures, but you get the idea. 🙂