Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Minky Camera Strap Cover




This one is very similar to the cord cover with one extra step at the end.

1. Measure your camera strap. Cut two strips of contrasting minky fabric to that length +2 inches, and about 4-5 inches wide. I allowed for more width because minky is a wiggly fabric and you can always cut off the extra. If you are going to use cotton fabric, you could get away with 3.5-4 inches of width per piece.

For this example, my strap is 24 inches long, so I cut two pieces of minky fabric 26 inches long x 5 inches wide.

2. With RIGHT sides together, pin the pieces together about every 2-3 inches (Trust me on this, when using minky, pins are your friend!) down one of the long sides. Sew using 3/4 inch seam allowance.



3. Open out the cover and lay it flat, RIGHT side down. Fold over one of the short ends one inch and sew. We're not even going to bother with sealing the ends since it will be inside the cover. Repeat this on the other short end.



Here's the sewn end:


4. Fold cover in half, RIGHT sides together, and pin every 2-3 inches again (or don't unpin it from before).



Sew a seam parallel to the first one, using the width necessary for your camera strap plus 3/4 inch. My strap is 1.5 inches wide, so my seam is 2 1/4" inches away from the first seam. This is one of those "eyeball" things for me, but you can mark it with a washable sewing marker if you are a perfectionist. :)



Trim the excess off.



4a. If you want, you can taper the ends a bit to fit to your strap a little better by sewing a diagonal seam from the open edge of the cover to the seam. I didn't take a picture of that, but you can see it on the finished cover.

5. Time to turn it out! Grab your loop turner or a large safety pin, hook one edge, and work it through itself until the end comes through. There are some good instructions and pictures on the cord cover tutorial.





6. Once it's turned out, topstitch down both long edges about 1/4" from the edge. This will give it a tailored look and keep the minky from twisting around, because minky is wiggly like that.



7. Slip it on your camera and you are DONE! I went c-raaaazy and made a matching strap cover for my camera case too. Same directions!