DIY Woven Camera Strap

You may remember that when I first got my DSLR, I had these huge aspirations of making a ton of DIY camera accessories. Yeahhhh, about that. In the last 6 months all I made was my camera bag. It's a pretty sweet camera bag if I do say so myself but still, that was the only thing I managed to put together. After checking out Yellowcloth's tutorial for a braided baby headband, inspiration struck and I went off to plan my newest DIY: a woven camera strap! 

It took less than an hour to put together and I happened to have everything on hand already so it was pretty much free (from scratch, this would probably cost less than $10). Maybe it's boastful to talk about how much I love something that I made with my own two hands, but I can't help it! The Mr. has been teasing me because he keeps catching me admiring my handiwork, but again, I JUST CAN'T HELP IT! It's pretty and cushy and durable and just plain awesome. Read on to learn how to make one yourself!

Materials:

Knit/Jersey fabric - cut into FIVE strips of 2x24" strips

Rubber band

Masking tape

Scrap piece of pleather

Two swivel clasps (these are the ones that I had on hand)

General purpose sewing needle

Denim sewing needle

Sewing machine/thread/etc.

Hot glue and glue gun

Instructions:

1. Gently stretch each of the strips until they just barely curl up on themselves (they'll be about 2 1/2 feet at this point). About an inch from the top, tie the strips together with a rubber band and tape it to a hard surface. 

2. Do a five-strand braid. This really isn't that hard -- it's just life a three-strand braid with just a tad more weaving. If you still aren't sure how to do it, a quick Google or YouTube search is sure to turn up tutorials. I originally started with a striped knit and hated how it turned out -- you might not feel the same way, but I'd definitely suggest using either one color only or 5 different colors only. That way you get to truly appreciate the woven pattern. 

3. At the end of your braid, pin the edges together
4. With your general purpose sewing needle, stitch the ends together with a couple of overlapping straight lines. Feel free to trim off any excess.

5. Depending on the finished width of your straps and the opening of your clasps, create a symmetrical hour glass shape out of the faux leather. Mine measures around 2 inches by 5. I finished the two edges with pinking shears (purely aesthetic) and left the other sides completely straight. 

6. The picture is pretty self-explanatory but: thread the clasp onto the faux leather piece until it rests comfortably in the center. Sandwich the end of the strap between the two wrong-sides of the white piece. You can't really use pins at this point because if you pierce the faux leather, the holes will remain visible. I ended up using a small dab of hot glue in the center just to hold it together for the next step.
7. Switch out your needle in your sewing machine with a denim needle and sew around the the white piece to permanently connect everything together. ((I  bought that white pleather forever and a day ago and immediately stopped by my favorite local sewing shop and was recommended to use a denim needle rather than a traditional leather needle since it's a man-made fabric))

Yep, after only eight steps you've completed one heck of a camera strap! I'm a bit obsessed with the neutral color scheme of this. I doubt that gray is usually on anyone's favorite color list but it's definitely on mine. 

Be sure to pick clasps that FIT on your camera because you'll be pretty upset if you make a whole strap only to realize that the clasp is too chunky. Those little clasps just make my day! The gray and white combo is very modern but then the antique golden color adds such a nice contrast.

Clip it on and feel assured that you have the most fashionably secure camera in town!

((Pardon the cruddy end picture but it was dark and since I was wearing my camera, I had to use my phone... blehhh))

I hope you enjoy it! If you make one yourself, feel free to email me a picture or share it on our Facebook because I'd love to see!

And just in case you missed it way back when, here's a little snapshot of my purse to camera bag. Click here for the tutorial!

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