Get Creative these School Holidays with Brother

Announcement posted by Gap Marketing and Management 30 Jun 2016

These fantastic car caddy instructions come to you courtesy of Hannah Appel.

With school holidays just around the corner, Brother Australia have the perfect project that’s sure to keep the little ones occupied on those long road trips. What’s even better is that this project isn’t only fun to create but also fun to use.

These fantastic car caddy instructions come to you courtesy of Hannah Appel, grand prize winner of the recent #BrotherMakesMemories Competition. Hannah created the caddy with her young niece in mind for the trip they’re planning to take to Uluru during the break. We loved it so much that we chose Hannah as the grand prize winner and hope that you love it too.

If you think this project would be of interest to your readers, we’d love for you to share it with them! For your convenience, we’ve copied the step by step instructions below as well as a link to high resolution images of the caddy.

Thanks so much for your time and if there is anything we can help with, please let us know.

For high resolution images, please click here.

Project	Car Caddy
Skill Level	Moderate
Project Type	Sewing
Tools	Sewing Machine Iron Ironing Board Scissors Pins
Material	Cotton Material Bias Binding

Steps

1	Measure the back of your front seat. But don’t measure all the way to the bottom, otherwise your little ones won’t be able to reach all of their fun stuff! Cut two pieces of your material to this size (these will be referred to as front and back pieces). Add a seam allowance of 2cm to all of your measurements
2	BACK piece - Cut another piece of fabric to the size of the back piece, but 3cm shorter. Add your bias binding to the edge. Sew this to your back piece. It will form the large back pocket for the tray and other large books.
3	FRONT piece - It is best to start with a pen and paper and draw up your pockets. What exactly do you need from your car caddy? For me, I wanted a big water bottle holder, individual pencil holders and a variety of big and small pockets. From there, cut up your pocket pieces (remember to allow for a 2cm seam allowance) and lay them out on the large front piece, making sure you allow for a small gap (0.5cm) between each group of pockets.
4	POCKET GROUPS - pocket groups refer to the collection of pockets on the front piece. I had 6 pocket groups in total. Sew each pocket group one-by-one. You will also need to sew on your bias binding to your pocket piece, before sewing it onto the main piece. You are able to customise your pockets however you like, for some of the pockets, I sewed down the middle, making two smaller pockets! Build up your pocket groups from back to front and remember to sew the bias binding first, otherwise you will sew your pocket shut!
5	Work your way all around the front piece until you have sewn all of your pocket groups onto the front piece. Next you will need to make the handle. Measure around the seat headrest and allow a few centimetres for your car caddy to hang down. Mine is 47 cm, with a 2 cm seam allowance. Cut 2 pieces for the handle, turn the right sides together and sew 3 sides, leaving one end open to turn inside out. No need to sew up the end as it will be hidden inside the front and back pieces of the main section.
6	Grab your front and back pieces and place right sides together. Sew bottom and two sides (leaving 5cm unsewn on each side to allow dowel to thread through later). Turn your car caddy inside out so right sides are now on the outside. Before attaching the handle, sew across the top of the car caddy 5 cm from the top. This will allow you to insert a piece of dowel in the top to keep the car caddy nice and straight whilst hanging. Pin your handle to the top, fold down your seam allowance and then sew. I used a 1 cm dowel piece that is 51cm long. Insert your dowel piece and VOILA! Your car caddy is complete. Having a removable dowel piece means you can wash the car caddy at the end of the trip. Enjoy peaceful road trips and happy, content children!