Dressing Up My Camera

My friend Becca had a fancy camera complete with a fancy camera strap. I had camera envy.

I finally got my camera, but it felt incomplete without a fancy camera strap. I have seen a dozen or more on Etsy for sale, but I'm cheap and have this issue with things homemade. If someone else has done it I have this aversion to paying money for it. I have this need to try to do it for myself.

Case in point - my camera strap.

I found a tutorial on Edie's blog - Life in Grace. She has this amazing blog on her life with her family, crafting, God, and on and on. She was a doctor but now is a stay at home mom who home schools her kids and has a thing for turquoise kitchen cabinets. (just browse her blog)

Anyway, I broke out my sewing machine, knocked off the dust and got to work.

When starting on a project be sure you have the essentials - sewing machine and glass of wine. Wine is very important to the success of any of my projects. It keeps me sane. And serves as a good excuse if someone wants to criticize my ability to sew straight lines. 

And here were my directions. Edie has tutorials for 12 Days of Handmade Christmas Gifts. I'm going to work on some more of these for gifts for friends and family. I promised my girlfriend Alison that I'd make her a camera strap. 

First, I measured the strips of fabric and the fusible interfacing to fit my camera strap. I did interfacing instead of fleece or batting. That wasn't on purpose. I thought I picked up batting but grabbed interfacing at the fabric store. Just grab whatever feels good. 

After you iron on your batting or interfacing fold the edges of the fabric and iron flat. My grandmother once told me ironing was the key to good sewing. These things continue to remind me how smart grandparents are.

Then I sewed the edges to hem. I did it twice to give it a more finished look. 

Pin the strips of fabric right sides together.

And sew down both sides.

Remove the pins, turn right side out and iron flat. I did a top stitch down both sides for a more finished look.

Pull your camera strap through the fabric. Voila. Done.

It's fairly easy. I didn't even have time to finish my glass of wine. That's how I determine how easy a project is.