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!

Chandelier or Cord Cover

I occasionally make things and think, "I should photo this and make a nifty tutorial to share my knowledge." Today I decided to do it! My daughter's room is in the process of being redecorated to her "big girl room" (although she still sleeps in her baby bed, I am thinking ahead!) and recently hung a cute shabby chic-y chandelier lamp in the corner of her room. I immediately noticed a need for the cord to be covered up.



Ewww, that just looks shabby, and definitely not chic. I *knew* this was something I could make, but wasn't sure if I'd *ever* have the time to do, so I looked around online and in town for a cheap cord cover. No luck. So I resigned to add it to my mile-long to-do list and picked up one yard of white polyester satin fabric at Hobby Lobby. Total cost about $2.50. Then I set off, camera at my side, to put this baby together. It is SO EASY! It took me 30 minutes start to finish. Here are the steps I followed:

Decide how long you want your cover, and how "poofy" you want it to be. It needs to be two to three times as long as the cord itself. Mine is 20 feet long. I wanted mine pretty full so I cut 5 inch strips, all the way through the width of the fabric. What I ended up with was four sections 60 inches long by 5 inches wide. Sorry the photo is blurry :(



Next, take two of your strips, RIGHT sides together, and sew them together, like so:


(Note: I am using my serger for this project, but a regular sewing machine can also be used just as easily. A serger is a machine that uses four spools of thread and two needles to make a professional finished seam as well as cut off the seam allowance all at once.)



Repeat for the remaining strips, so you end up with one very long skinny strip of fabric. Here is the seam from the RIGHT side.


Next you will want to finish both ends of the cover. I got lazy and just serged the edges so they won't fray, but you can (and probably should) turn the edge under and sew it down with your machine. I took a photo of both options.

Serged:


Turned under:



Next, fold your cover in half, RIGHT sides together longways, and sew edges together, making a long skinny tube of fabric.


Now is the hard part; turning the tube out. You can use a turner tool if you have one, or a large safety pin will work. Depending on how long your cover is, this may take a while. Don't get frustrated! You're almost finished!


The end coming out after lots and lots of pulling:




Now you have a cord cover!! Slip over the cord, scrunch, and viola!