how to make a camera strap cover without measuring a cottonpickin thing

Hello friends!

I'm starting off 2011 with a brand new tutorial, AND

my Christmas card, since I just realized I never shared it on the ole' blog. Better late than never, right?

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year from the Mathews Family!

(see how I made that relevant with the New Year's add-on? I'm a smarty)Since we never got around to taking 'card specific pictures in coordinating outfits', I chose some of my fave pics of the kids from this year. Would really like to have 'card specific pics in coordinating outfits' for next years card though. Just thinkin ahead.

now...onto my first project/tutorial for 2011.

This was actually something I made as a gift for my sis, which is why I'm just getting around to posting about it. Had to wait until she'd opened it, ya know?

I first saw camera strap covers (for SLR cameras) on etsy a few years ago and ordered one from this seller when we bought our SLR a year and a half ago. My sis just got a new camera w/strap, so I thought it'd be a great gift for her.

I'm loving the gray/yellow color combo that's hot right now, so I went with these fabrics that I picked up at the hob lob (yellow remnant, about 75 cents) and wally-world (gray dot, fat quarter 1.25)

Now...as my title states, I didn't measure a thing while doing this project. I don't enjoy math, or measuring, or numbers in general unless we're talking about how many cupcakes/cookies I can eat in a row, so... I simply used my camera strap cover as a measuring tool. No numbers on it, just pretty flowers.

I quickly realized that my gray fabric (which I was using as the base. Yellow will be the ruffle)wasn't going to be long enough, so I had to attach a little extra to the bottom. The pic above is after I've attached the add-on piece, and people... the first time I added the extra bit I didn't line up the dots. They were a mess on the seam, so...rip, rip, rip...

line the dots up, and pin, pin, pin...

and now, when I opened it up and pulled the seam apart-

MUCH better.

moving on...

I knew I wanted nice, clean edges, and that I also wanted it lined, meaning that my pretty gray dots would also be on the inside of the strap. Before sewing my seams on the top and bottom edges, I ironed them down, ya know...to be nice and neat.

And then I sewed them down...

(sorry for the horrible non-sewing jargon. I am not a real seamstress. Only pretending.)

 Pretty top and bottom seams!

Next, I needed to know how wide to make it, so...

I used my strap as a template. Since I also wanted it to be lined on the inside, I folded over the width of my strap times 2.

I left enough space for an itty-bitty seam (plus the width of my strap x's 2), cut my fabric, and sewed straight down the 2 cut sides. I actually could have saved this step for later, but I didn't realize that until I was done. Again...not a seamstress, just pretending/learning as I go.

Now, for the pretty ruffle I wanted running down the length of the strap-

I cut about 2 inch strips out of my yellow fabric, folded over so I had about an inch, and sewed straight down the sides. I ended up needing 3 of these the length of the strap since I pleated and made a ruffle with it.

Once I had sewn all 3, I put the seam in the back, and ironed so it wouldn't be seen.

Then I starting pinning my ruffles. I've really liked my haphazerdous rufflies that I used on my stockings, so that was the technique I went with again.

And...remember I said I wanted it lined? That's why I'm pinning on the right side of the strap. Once I sew on the ruffle, I'll fold the left part in the pic above over the ruffle, then turn it inside out. Well, ...you'll see...

See? Folded over that part that was on the left, sewed down the side, being careful NOT to sew my ruffle into the side seam...

Then all I needed to do was flip it right-side-out-

BOOM.

There it is.

Pretty, huh?

LOVE the gray + yellow together.

(Thinking I might have to make myself one now too since it seems to be saying, "na-nee-na-nee boo-boo, I'm way cooler than you", to my old camera strap)

 here it is modeling my strap, which happens to be connected to the camera I used to shoot this pic, which is why you don't see a camera at the end of the strap.

It's in my hand.

And here it is, ready to hop into a box to be wrapped for my sis.

I used a philosophy box, ya know...

to be sneaky and throw her off and stuff. So she'd be like,

"hey cool, you got me face scrub", and then when she opened it, she'd be like,

"hey, awesome! You got me a superfabulous camera strap cover that's cooler than anything else I've ever had in my life!"

(well...maybe)

Anybody have any cool projects they're currently working on?

Anyone else out there have a camera strap cover that they love?

Anyone else out there use Philosophy skin care products?

Anyone else out there awake at 1:02 am like me?

(no idea how I'm going to get back in the swing of going to work when school starts back. ugh, I say)

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