Our New {to us} BOB Dualie

I was pretty excited last month when I had a BOB Dualie Stroller practically dropped into my lap for $150! They're typically in the $400-600 range, and that's a conservative estimate. The girls and I drove up to SeaTac to pick it up, and once I got it home I was able to give it a true look-over and see what I was working with. The seller was up front about it being in decent, but not pretty shape - and she was right. 😉

Most all the canvas pieces were intact, (there was some rubbing/wearing on the hood on one side) but all of the off-white/white portions were stained.

First order of business was seeing how clean I could get it with some soap & good old fashioned elbow grease. 

Taking the cover off the BOB wasn't super fun, but it really wasn't as bad as it could have been. Lots of screws to keep track of, so I took a lot of pictures & kept everything I took off in a baggy. (In hind-sight, I should have partially screwed them back in where they came from - if applicable). 

I used oxi-clean and HOT water, then hung dry, then the following day I used dish soap and lemon juice and left it out in the sun to dry (on a rare sunny February PNW) day. :) It came quite a bit cleaner than it had been before, but the backside of the canvas material (the out sides) still looked dingy. So I decided to go with plan B - covering the gross old off-white with a pretty material. 

The girls and I went to Joanns (of course) and found this pretty paisley/floral that had both blue and purple (the BOB colors). I used some of my giant roll of kraft paper to make a "pattern", and added a little bit of wiggle room (to turn the edges for a finished look) before cutting out the material itself. Then I pinned it onto the cover. Maneuvering it through my machine was also not super fun, because the backs of the seats both have a stiff cardboard/plastic material that is pretty unforgiving and always seemed to be in the way - but again, it wasn't as bad as it could have been! Most of the pieces went on really nicely. 

Then came re-assembling the whole stroller! Phew. If I did it again, I'd take even better pictures, or video first, and also re-screw the screws in where I got them from. There were a few that were a tiny bit longer than others because they had more items thread through them, and I wasn't paying attention well enough when re-installing and used one of them where it didn't belong, leaving me a too-short screw where I needed one of the long ones! *sigh 

LUCKILY, M had some screws in his van that he gave me that worked just fine! Phew. 

Then I figured I might as well add some to the hood - both so it would cover the unsightly off-white, and also so it would match and add a bit more contrast to the solid colors. The hood was at least easier to maneuver through the sewing machine because the metal stays came out easily and while it was bulky, it was flexible! 

And TADA. Finished! (Except in this picture I still hadn't reattached the lower "basket"/pocket.) 

The girls and I just went out today for our inaugural walk around the neighborhood, and it walks like a dream! I'm really excited to try it out for it's intended purpose (Jogging) sometime soon!