Under Construction: Jogging stroller redux | Cleaning, pattern making

Under Construction provides a peek at works in progress. 

This weekend MVH and I got serious about fixing the jogging stroller. At Paul's latest well-baby visit, our pediatrician said we could put him in the jogging stroller if it had the appropriate safety gear. It has a five-point harness, just like his car seat, so the only thing holding us back is the refurb.

We took a good look at the soft parts of the stroller and concluded that patching worn areas would be the best way to go. At first I wanted to take the seat apart, trace all the fabric pieces for a pattern, and remake the seat in new material. That project would be extremely time consuming and, to be truthful, it is beyond my sewing skills.

MVH used a scrub brush, Palmolive, and Shout to clean the stroller's fabric parts. Then he let it dry in the sun.

The first steps have been scrubbing down the fabric unit (it was filthy!) and making a pattern for a fabric piece that definitely needed to be remade.

The fabric support band.
  
The piece to be remade is a support for a U-shaped bar that goes under the seat. It needs to be tight, so I was extra careful with measurements. The fabric support was hard to measure because it had been pulled out of shape and was frayed.

The paper pattern.
  
I made a paper pattern for the support, assuming that all corners should be square. To achieve this, I asked MVH for the "L ruler." He asked, "You mean the framing square?" That is apparently what I wanted. And it is shaped like an L. I didn't include seam allowances in the pattern; I'll have to remember to add an inch to all sides.

I chose green ripstop nylon for the new support.
  
To finish the edges of the rectangular cutouts, I plan to use a liquid seam sealant. I've never sewn nylon before, and I don't know how the cut edges will behave. I need to do some experimenting, but I  think ripstop nylon won't fray too much. How have you finished nylon edges? I'm all ears.

Labels: , , , ,