Recovering our jogging stroller

Our poor double jogging stroller had been slowly going the way of all the earth until I finally couldn't stand it any more. It had been given to us used but since we use it so much, it was starting to fall apart. The frame was  in perfect condition and since we aren't ready to pay for our dream B.O.B stroller quite yet, I thought it would be a cinch to upgrade it myself. Boy was I wrong. I loathed this project from start to finish. However, if I am going to be completely honest, it was mostly because it was standing in the way of other more fun projects that I was wanting to get started on.

Before:

First off, I took the fabric seats off of the frame. This just took a screwdriver to do and was off in no time. Then I sweet-talked my honeybun into taking off all of the straps (I'm cheap and didn't want to buy new ones since they were still great). What a man!

I then laid the seats out on the indoor/outdoor fabric that I bought (for over 50% off at Joann's) and started cutting my fabric in the same shapes but giving myself a little extra for seam allowance. 

Once that was all done, I used the old cover as a guide to show me where to sew and where to place all of the straps. Good times.... This is where I wanted to jump ship. It wasn't hard, really. Just time consuming.....

...especially with my helpers at my side. :)

Wow, I sure look fancy when I work!

But in the end, it worked and we are back in action again! Hot dog! 

My men, trying the recovered stroller on for size.

Now that I have done it, here are some suggestions that might help any other daring soul get through their stroller revamping a little more easily:

1. Using patterned fabric means that you will have to buy twice as much and takes twice as much work. Duh. How long have I been sewing for? I don't know why that didn't cross my mind when I bought the fabric. I was just thinking of how cute and unique our stroller would be with a print. Next time I would do a solid color because the pattern was only printed on one side.
2. Take apart the ENTIRE thing. Don't just eyeball the pattern of the seats, etc. in hopes of getting your end result to look the same. Even though I basically pulled it off, I wish I did't get lazy at this step because it would have been more exact. 
3. Make sure you take plenty of pictures of your stroller before you take it off of the frame and before you take it apart. This way you won't have to guess how to put things back in place later.....I still have several screws that I have no idea what to do with.
4. The heavy duty rope/bias tape/whatever it is called (I found it in the ribbon section of Joann's) that you use on the edges is your best friend. Use it on every seam possible the first time round. I thought that certain areas wouldn't need it so I either had to sew them twice or take them apart and start again. It is especially handy if you choose to go with a pattern like I did and have to use two pieces of fabric. With the binding, you don't have to sew it and then turn it right-side-out. Just face the fabric the way you want it to be in the end and sew the binding around the edges. Much faster.

Anyway, good luck if you ever decide to go this route! In the end I am glad I did it, but during the project I was reminded why some people don't like sewing.