DIY Ruched Camera Strap Slip Cover

As you know, mom and I have recently gotten the photography bug and like any crafter that wants to “cozy” everything with soft fibers and bright colors, I just had to come up with a camera strap cover to cushion my uncomfortable strap that sends a chill down my spine when I hang it around my neck on cold winter days. This led me to the idea for my Ruched Camera Strap Cover.

I have a Canon whose strap is about 26.5 inches long by 1.5 inches wide. . Your strap may differ in size so be sure to measure your camera strap before cutting the fabric for this quick little project.

I purchased 1/4 yard each of 2 coordinating fabrics plus a few inches of fusible fleece to give it some padding on the bottom layer that lays towards my neck. It was worth the extra work and the few extra dollars! My strap is now so cute and comfortable!

Here’s how I cut the fabric for my strap:

Piece A: print fabric for bottom- this is the part that will lay against your neck:  Measure your camera strap and add 1 inch to width and 2 inches to length to determine the size to cut this piece. (Mine was 30 inches long X 2.5 inches wide)

Piece B: print fabric for top – this is the top piece that will give your strap the ruched look: Cut this piece the entire width of your fabric (this turned out to be 41 inches for my fabric after prewashing) X the same width as piece A. (Again, add 1 inch to the width of your strap to determine the appropriate size to cut this piece. For me, this piece was 41 inches long X 2.5 inches wide)

Piece C: fusible fleece: cut this piece 1/2 inche smaller in width and 1 inch smaller in length than your piece A. (Mine was 29 inches long X 2 inches wide).

Center and pin your fusible fleece to the piece of print fabric that you will use for the bottom of your strap. Piece A

Turn your fabric over so that you can fuse the fleece to the fabric by ironing the print.

Hem both ends of the short end of your camera strap by folding under (towards fleece) 1/4 inch then again 1/4 inch so that your raw edge is hidden. Do the same for  the top piece of the strap.

Press to help keep fabric in place while you sew a straight stitch close to the edge.

After hemming the short ends of your top strap fabric, gather it by either using a gathering foot or basting it close to the edge. I probably have a gathering foot around here somewhere but I never use it. I like to set my tension high so it gathers as I am basting. I always tend to gather too much but I prefer removing basted gathers rather than putting them in so setting my tension so it gathers on it’s own works great for me!

Well, you can see here that when I pinned my short edges together, I had to ungather quite a bit so that the top and bottom pieces were the same length. Adjust so ruffling is even along Piece B

Once the pieces are the same length either by gathering or ungathering, pin right sides together.

Sew or serge the long edges of your camera strap using a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Turn right side out and press.

Slip over your camera strap. It should be pretty snug fitting so it’s sometimes a little difficult to get it on but you can use a large safety pin to feed it through or there are tools that will help guide the cover over the strap.

And there you have it! A much more comfortable and cute cozied camera strap cover. Now even your camera has a crafty attitude!

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