DIY Fabulous Camera Strap Covers

 

Over the Holiday weekend, I attempted this little project.

And it turned out so cute! I was extremely satisfied with the results. A lot of thanks goes to my wonderful aunt who, with much patience and determination, helped me with the measurements, cutting the fabric, and sewing the seams of these lovely strap covers. She is a master of the sewing machine. Personally, I think she could sew with her eyes closed. I was intimidated. But I got over that rather quickly once I sat back and looked at the final results!

I love this black and white "damask" print. I think it's my favorite out of the two.

 

It makes me smile.

The husband is a little worried about what he will look like when he is taking pictures.

Maybe I will make him a macho strap cover.

Like camo... or big trucks... or just a solid color...

or, because I know he likes none of the previous ideas mentioned, I could just slip the strap cover off since it's just a cover. And that's why I love it!

I have had my eye on this fabric for quite some time.

Green is my favorite color. Pair it with a blue like this and I'm a happy camper. The pattern is fantastic, as well.

Thanks to KevinandAmanda.com for this idea. I did mine a little differently. She made hers with ruffles...it was super cute! But I wasn't in the ruffle kind of mood. So I tweaked it a bit. You can either check out her link or follow these step by step instructions ...or as I like to call it... the recipe for Fabulous Camera Strap Covers:

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What you need:

• sewing machine & coordinating thread for your fabric
• iron and ironing board
• camera strap
• 1/2 yard fabric of your choice

 What you need to do:

- Cut 2 strips of fabric for your camera strap. You need to add 1" to the length and the width of the camera strap you will be covering. ( For the second strip, we didn't use 2 pieces. Instead, we folded one piece of fabric and adjusted the measurements as needed, resulting in only having to stitch one hem instead of two. This is optional, your choice!)

For the length, I gave myself extra room for the slipcover to hang. I measured from the middle of the triangle on the leather ends of the strap.

For the width, I measured from the leather ends as well. Again, this gives you extra room.

NOTE: the following measurements are for my NIKON strap. CANON strap measurements seem to be different.

My measurements for the length:  21 1/2" ... so I cut 22 1/2"

My measurements for the width: 1 3/8" ... so I cut 2 3/8"

{{These measurements worked perfectly and made my slipcover nice and snug, yet easy to slip off.}}

- Fold the short sides of your 2 pieces of fabric in 1/4". Instead of 1 fold, I folded twice to make a thicker end which holds up nice against wear and tear of the strap... still measuring about 1/4". Again, this is personal preference.

  

- Press the fold with your iron. 

- Make sure both pieces of fabric are the same length as you are pressing the second strip.

-Hem the short sides you just pressed, back-stitching at the beginning and end.

-Pin the right sides of the strips together. (This can be optional. We discovered we didn't need the pins.)

-I made my seam allowance on the long sides 3/8" ... which gives me almost a good 2 inches for the width to cover over my original strap. Yours may vary depending on the size you measured in the beginning. 

-Hem both sides of the strap, back-stitching at the beginning and end.   

-Turn the slipcover right-side out.

Now go put this on your strap and enjoy the cuteness!!

**TIP** We made a "stencil" out of a brown paper bag with the exact measurements needed for the 2 strap pieces so that in the future, I can just line it up with the stencil instead of measuring everything all over again.

**TIP** My lovely friend Bekah over at Bekah K Photography made hers with batting fabric underneath. It turned out GREAT and gives her extra comfy cushion. If you do this, remember to make the proper measurement adjustments. 

 

You can do so much with this basic idea. Next, I'm going to try 2 coordinating fabrics, like a solid color and then polka dots, and sew each side of the strap with the different fabrics. Maybe one day I will add ruffles or some other kind of embellishment. My aunt suggested rhinestones. I thought about cute little buttons. Or adding ribbon of some kind. The possibilities seem to be endless!

I linked up to: