Ruffled Camera Strap Tutorial

Alright so I saw this really cute camera strap on Etsy the only down side was it was like $40 to buy it! Total Bummer, but I thought well I could go shopping and make one. So I went to the thrift store and found a bag to make into a camera bag as well to match my strap.  I also went to JoAnn fabric and in total only spent $15!

{Supplies}

Fabric, adherable padding, camera strap

Im not great at sewing, but I can sure use the crap out of this stuff!

So first start out by measuring how long your strap is.  You will need to have two strips of your fabric this length and two strips of your adherable padding. I just folded my fabric over pinned my strap to it and cut leaving about a quarter of an inch on each side.

You will need the extra on the side for after you sew.

So once your fabric is cut out if you've done it like me you will need to cut the folded end apart so you have two separate strips of fabric.

 

Two sets of padding and fabric same length

 You need to now hem the ends of each of your fabric strips. About a quarter of an inch on the ends so their is no fraying.  I just used the iron on hem to do the ends.  You want to hem them facing the inside of the fabric you wont see!

  Now its time to make the ruffle.  I cut mine the same width as my fabric strips and about twice as long as one of the strips so you have enough fabric to make the ruffles.

Once you have your strip cut out you need to hem the ends of this as well just do the same steps from before!

 Now you need to fold the strip in half length wise and the good side of your fabric facing each other and sew them them together. I again used iron on hem for this because I suck at sewing!  Once that is done you need to sew one end of your folded strip, but before you do attach a safety pin inside so you can push the right side through once your done.

Important step don't forget!

So you know when the strings of your sweat pants fall out in the laundry and you attach a pin to get it back through you pants.  Well this is the same concept you pretty much want to weave the right side back out.  Push up on the safety pin and your fabric will start to gather and keep doing it until its right side out.  Your strip should be half the width of what it was and now iron it flat.

Now sew a running stitch down the center of your strip and as you pull down on it you can bunch it until you get the ruffled effect you desire.

So Iron on your padding to one of the back sides of your fabric strips.  On the other one you want to sew your ruffle down the middle.  I placed a strip of iron on hem to keep the ruffle in place because I don't have a sewing machine so I have to hand sew everything. Then iron on your padding last.

So this is what you should have so far

Now sew your two pieces of fabric right side together so that way when you flip it back out you will have a nice hem. You only want to sew the long sides together the two ends will need to be open so you can slip your strap through.

After I was done painstakingly sewing mine I flipped it back out and Ta-Da! This is my new camera sleeve!  I'm sure if you had a sewing machine and you can sew a little I'm pretty sure you'll have one that looks slightly better! This is great because you can slip it on and it doesn't ruin your strap if you ever want the original back!