How to make a Camera Strap Cover

A few weeks ago, when I was exhausted from packing up a house as we prepared to move, my husband had to unexpectedly fly out of town for the weekend to attend a family funeral. There were 101 things that needed to get done, I was overwhelmed and I just needed a break. I realized I needed a creative outlet, a new little project. It was a good time to make myself a camera strap cover!

I was bored of my standard strap, and let's face it, black and yellow do not exactly coordinate nicely with the majority of outfits, not a high cuteness factor going on there! (I guess now would also be a good time to apologize for my lack of makeup or cute outfit...I was home alone with three kids, no husband, and no plan for leaving the house - thank you for your understanding!)

This was an easy to make item. It did not take long at all and could be kept as simple, or jazzed up as much as you would like. I have not attempted a tutorial before and in hindsight realize it would be better to take more photographs along the way, but you get the idea. Let me know if it all makes sense or if you have any questions.

I started out knowing that I wanted something kind of neutral for my background and went exploring my fabric stash. But I also wanted a pop of color to prevent it feeling too drab, so I bought a couple of spools of ribbon (at only $1 each) from Michaels.

Start by cutting two rectangles. Each should be 1" longer than the length of strap you want covered and 1" wider.

I'm not sure this next step is entirely necessary, but I had fusible interfacing on hand so I cut it to size and ironed it to my black and white fabric, which was just a simple cotton. I thought it would give it some reinforcement and help the finished cover keep it's shape.

Iron and hem the ends of both rectangles.

Place both rectangles, right side facing right side and stitch along the entire length, on just one side. Open and iron flat, as above.

These next few steps are completely optional, but I wanted to add color and texture, so I decided to add ruffles.

Cut ribbon to twice the length of your rectangles.

Use a gathering foot and stitch along the length of the entire ribbon. DO NOT back-stitch at the start or end, or you will not be able to gather. Remove the ribbon and holding one thread at the bottom, gently start pulling the ribbon away from you, pushing it back onto itself. It should start to gather up and you can push the gathering up and play with it to roughly even it out along the length of the ribbon.

Sew in place, down the center of your top fabric strip.

Repeat with second ribbon, if using. Also, in case you are curious, this is what a gathering foot looks like.

If you do not own one and have no interest in buying one (mine came with my machine) you could also use your longest stitch length and lower the tension of your thread (check your owner's manual) to do a gathering stitch.

Once again, fold your (now attached) two rectangles so that right side faces right side again, sew along the entire length, thus creating a long tube. The ruffles are on the inside.

Turn right side out. I used the eraser end of a pencil to help gently ease it through the entire length.

Slip onto your camera strap, re-attach strap to camera and look way cuter than you did before!