Make Your Own Steering Wheel Cover

Everyone needs some bling on their vehicle. I personally am a fan of the bumper sticker, but another favorite accessory of mine is the steering wheel cover! Luckily for you, these cute accessories are super easy to make at home. All you need is a couple of sewing materials, about 30 minutes, and boom! You’ve got yourself a sweet new look for your car. They also make great gifts, and since they’re so easy to make you can have one for every season!

Below is a quick DIY I threw together to make a steering wheel cover featuring my favorite little bird – The Orange Bird!

Getting Started

A lot of the materials you need for this project may be items you already have if you’re an avid sewer! Here is everything I used to make this project:

Fabric of your choosing – you’ll be cutting a piece 45 in x 5 in, so be sure you have enough to at least cover that. Amazon has a lot of amazing Disney patterns!
45 inches of elastic band – 1/2 thickness or smaller
Sewing machine with matching thread and bobbin
Scissors
Tape measure
Pins
Sharpie or fabric marker
Safety Pin

Step 1 – Cut Your Fabric

First things first – measure out your fabric! It’s best to pick a pattern that has a smaller design – larger designs may not translate very well on to the narrow strip you’ll end up having around the wheel. Measure out a piece of fabric that is 45 inches long and 5 inches wide. Mark with sharpie or fabric marker.

If your fabric is wrinkled (like mine was) you should iron it out after cutting. It’ll be a lot harder to get rid of those wrinkles once we’re finished, so do it now!

Step 2 – Pin and Sew

Flip the fabric over so the design of the fabric is facing the table or surface you’re working on. Measure out a 3/4 in strip of fabric and fold. Pin the fabric in to place.

Repeat on the other side.

The width of your fabric should now be about 3 1/2 inches across. This should fit a standard steering wheel just fine!

Set up your sewing machine with the appropriate colored thread and matching bobbin. Sew along the edge of the fold you made – this is going to create a pocket in which we will thread the elastic through, so you want to make sure you leave enough room to feed it through!

Be sure you go slow so you do not miss the edge of the fabric (creating a whole) or go crooked with your line!

Repeat on the other side and remove the pins.

Step 3 – Thread Elastic Through

Since I already had 1/2 inch width elastic lying around, I simply cut it in half so I had enough for both sides.

Measure out 45 inches of elastic. You WILL end up cutting some of it off at the end, but I’ve found if you don’t cut as much as the length of the cover, you’ll end up struggling to thread it through.

Attach a safety pin to the end of the elastic and insert the safety pin in to the pocket you sewed earlier. Start threading it through! You’ll notice it start to bunch up as you do so, this is normal!

Repeat on each side.

Step 4 – Finishing Up!

To finish up, head to the sewing machine and sew your elastic in to the fabric so it keeps the tension on each side. To do this, simply pull on the elastic to create the tension you desire. You want it to be nice and snug so it stays on your wheel!