Michael and I leave for a trip to London and Paris this Friday. The last time Michael and I did Europe, which was 5 and a half years ago now, we went for a month with nothing but backpacks, which means my wardrobe was limited to ribbed tank tops, Bermuda shorts, and flip flops. Not this time, my friends! I intend to be cute, and I’ve been doing my fair share of Fall shopping to this end.
Then I realized that one accessory that will be on me at all times wasn’t quite fabulous enough --- my camera. A camera strap makeover was in order. Now that I’ve revealed my unhealthy love of all things gold to the world, you won’t be surprised to hear that I started this project off with a little gold fabric. My vision here was something a little hippy chic with a bit of a (gold) edge.
So, I cut my fabric into three strips about 3” wide.
![](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6023/6203326405_11ea296455.jpg)
I folded the raw edges in and then folded the strips in half, pinning along the way, to form three strips about 3/4” wide.
![](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6164/6203325849_7b59ed8dea.jpg)
![](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6172/6203325913_34630ca7d7.jpg)
![](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6160/6203841906_91e4d21249.jpg)
![](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6006/6203326139_4c23fdf98e.jpg)
Then, I sewed the ends of the three strips together, slightly overlapping.
![](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6164/6203841518_6877f8fdd5.jpg)
Braided them to a length about equal to my existing strap, removing the pins as I went along.
![](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6167/6203841356_9e923e6a07.jpg)
Finished the braid off with a stitch and a trim.
![](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6003/6203841196_a0b6b4625a.jpg)
Once I’d made another braid of black fabric with a little stretch, I connected them by binding and tying the ends with a length of black ribbon. Since I really didn’t want to have to grapple with recreating the hardware on the existing strap, I left a loop of the black ribbon free at each end to loop over the existing strap.
![](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6009/6203325111_2e4ac1e011.jpg)
Then, I covered the bound ends with two little tubes I made from the black stretchy fabric.
![](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6167/6203840832_e1e5139d79.jpg)
I fed the existing strap through both the fabric tubes and the ribbon loops and reassembled onto the camera. Then, I made a few quick stitches in various spots to tack things into place – including adjoining the two braids and the existing strap at the midpoint.
![](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6131/6203842402_d483aae73f.jpg)
![](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6149/6203326681_068211ed15.jpg)
I like what I ended up with. I don’t think Kate Spade will be selling these anytime soon, but it’s definitely more fabulous than the stock Sony strap.
![](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6172/6203326835_be4079bb57.jpg)
![](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6153/6203324759_6b878168cd.jpg)
![](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6156/6203324893_56722f43e9.jpg)
you leave today! Have fun on your trip - and with that new camera strap!
ReplyDeleteThat is super cute! SO MUCH better than the straps they come with .... I'm definitely giving this a try :)
ReplyDelete