TUTORIAL : CAMERA STRAP SLIPCOVER

Ever since I bought my DSLR earlier this year I've been meaning to make a new strap for it to replace the rather uninspiring one that came with the camera. Then it dawned on me... if I make a slipcover, I can make loads of different ones and change the look of my strap to fit my mood! In case you'd like to jazz up your camera strap too, here's how I did it:


[Please take no note of the unstyled hair, lack of make-up and the grainy "in the mirror" action shot - it was the only way I was gonna get a shot of this in action since it's attached to my camera and, umm... I kinda need my camera to take the pic!]

Here's what you'll need: Fabric of your choice ♥ Some paper ♥ A pen ♥ Scissors.



1. First you need to take your strap off the camera. Then fold it in half and place it on top of the paper, with the fold towards the edge of the fabric.

2. Draw all the way around the strap.



3. Draw another line 10-12mm outside the first line - this is your seam allowance. Cut along the outer line.

4. Fold your fabric in half and place your pattern on top, with the straight short edge agains the fold of the fabric. Cut two pieces. (Two different contrasting or coordinating fabrics would look great too!)



5. Next you want to fold both ends on both fabric strips over towards the wrong side by about 10mm, and iron.

6. You also need to find the middle of your fabric strips and mark off an opening about 50mm, it needs to be big enough for your camera strap to pass through with some wiggle room. Cut two notches of about 5mm each, as indicated by the black lines here. Do this on both fabric strips.



7. Fold the bit between the notches down towards the wrong side and iron down.

8. Sew these folded bits down, about 3mm from the edge.



9. Place the two strips right sides facing, and sew both long sides together using a seam allowance of approx 5mm. Make sure you don't sew the middle or end openings shut!

10. Turn right side out, and iron well. Topstitch using a 2-3mm seam allowance. (Again, make sure not to absent-mindedly sew the openings shut... I am only writing this because it's the sort of thing I would totally do myself on a bad day any day!)



11. Wohoooo, it's done and you're ready to dress up your strap! Take one end of the strap and thread it through the middle opening towards one of the end openings. Pull through. Repeat for the other end.

12. Admire your handiwork for a while, then go out and take lots of wonderful photos - knowing you'll have the funkiest camera strap in town!