DIY Camera Strap

Okay, so this camera strap was super easy and fairly cheap. It is so cute too which is the best part!

Supplies needed:

 one 20.5" x 4" piece of decorative thick fabric (I used canvas)

one 20.5" x 1.5" piece of iron-on interfacing

one  20.5" x 1.5" piece of heavy weight sew-in stabilizer

 one 20.5" x 1.5" of thick canvas or duck cloth

four 1.25" x 1.25" pieces of vinyl

two 3/8" dog collars (I found mine at Target for a couple bucks)

Here we go! One: use a seam ripper to take apart the seams of the dog collars. Take off the buckles and save them for a later project but leave the adjustable sliders on. Seal any seams you opened with fray check or gently burn them so they don't fray. They should end up looking like the picture below :)

Two: Fold your decorative piece of fabric in half and iron to get the center crease. Place the long edge of the iron-on interfacing along the center line and iron.

  Three: Fold your fabric lengthwise right sides together ans sew along the edge of the interfacing. Start at one end and stop at about 4" and backstitch. Repeat on other end so most of the middle is unstitched.

 Four: Place the sew-in interfacing and canvas pieces together and sew down both of the long edges to make a single stiff piece. Trim about 1/8" off of the long edges so it is able to fit inside the strap.

Five: Turn the strap right side out, pulling from the middle. Insert the stiff piece, respectively pushing ends in both directions so it does not bunch up. Trim a little more if you need to and smooth out so it lays flat.

 Six: Tuck the seam allowance inward from the middle opening and topstitch shut from end to end.

 Seven: Topstitch along the other long side to match and one or two more stitches evenly in the middle. You can get creative here and maybe do some fancy quilting techniques or be simple like me and just stick with the lines :)

 Eight: Place two (cut the top corners of one of the pieces so they are 1" wide) of the vinyl pieces wrong sides together and line up the top and bottom edges. Insert about an inch of the dog collar strap between both layers and topstitch around edges. Only sew the top half (from corner to corner). Keep the needle down and pick up the foot.

 Nine:  Insert about 1/2" of the strap in between the vinyl pieces. Rotate so you are able to sew across the sides and make a box shape. You can also sew an "X" inside the box to reinforce it more if needed.

Trim around the edges of the vinyl so you have a nice, clean edge and you will end up with something like this.

 Repeat steps eight and nine for the remaining side of the strap. I was stuck using one-sided vinyl so I used a black Sharpie and colored along the edges of the vinyl to make it look like one solid piece. And that's it! You're done! Simply slip the straps into the rings (if you have them) through your camera and loop it through, slipping in through the buckle to make it stay. Looks cute, right? I couldn't wait to try it out! :)

  Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to comment or browse my Pinterest for projects that inspire me! God bless! -Jess