I wanted to personalize my camera and take care of a problem I often had when taking pictures – no pocket to put the lens cap. I had some scrap fabric leftover with the ever so popular Apples and Pears fabric. I was figuring this out myself, so it took me a couple tries. Luckily it was with scrap fabrics. Anyway, here I go with another tutorial.

1. Grab some scrap fabric. It’s fun to mix and match for the pockets or the inside of the strap.

2. Measure your camera strap. Different brands have different sizes. And I think the newer straps are longer. My strap was 1 1/2″ wide and 27″ long. If you have a different size strap, you’ll have to adjust the measurements below accordingly.

3. Draw your pattern. The dotted line is the fold at the halfway point for the strap. Please note that the pattern below is not actual size. You will need to draw your own with those measurements if you have the same size strap (1 1/2″ x 27″) and same size lens cover (2 1/4″ diameter). Also, this strap cover is wider than the actual width of the strap to fit the pockets.

4. Trace the pattern on to the back of your fabric and cut out. Make sure you have two strap pieces.

5. Put the two strap pieces together with the right sides facing each other. At the middle crease of the pieces, draw a line 2 1/2″ long and 3/8″ in from the bottom edge. Make two 3/8″ cuts, one on each end of the 2 1/2″ line. That’s for the opening to put the strap through.

6. Iron the small flap that you just cut, the tips on both strap pieces, and the top and bottom seams of the pocket, all 3/8″. I wanted two pockets for my strap to carry the lens cap and memory cards. Plus, I’m right handed and my husband is left handed. With a pocket on each side, it provides easy access for right handed and left handed persons.

7. Sew the tips and the flaps down on both strap pieces. I sewed at about 1/4″ from the edge.

8. Sew just the top seam of the pocket for now. Then place the pockets where you want them on the strap. I like it closer to the end of the strap. You may want to try the strap around your neck to get a feel for where would be a comfortable place for the pocket. Pin the bottom of the pocket to the strap. If you are only doing one pocket, decide whether you want it on the left or right end of the strap. Then sew the bottom of pocket to strap piece. Make sure it’s the piece you want as the outer side of the strap. And the pocket piece should flap open at the top because only the bottom is sewn down.

9. Once the pocket is on, put the two strap pieces together again with the right sides facing each other. Make sure your openings at the bottom of the strap pieces match up and the pockets are flat. Sew a 3/8″ seam all the way around the strap, but not the end tips (where the camera strap comes out) and the opening (where you put the strap in).

10. Flip the strap right side out through the bottom opening. And iron flat. I ironed the seams open before flipping it right side out then iron again on the outside to make it a cleaner iron.

11. Pin the beginning and end of the opening where you put the strap into the cover so you don’t sew it close by accident.

12. Sew a straight line all the way around the strap except the tips and opening.

13. Put your strap in the cover through the opening at the bottom. You can also hand stitch or sew the opening close if desired. Or leave it open to make it easy to change covers or take off to wash.

Our friends, Taylor and Julia, are expecting their second baby girl. We have been friends with them since college and now they live only 6 hours away from us. To celebrate baby #2, I designed and made a applique onesie just for them.

In college, Taylor fashioned retro shirts with fun sayings such as “Passion Patrol” or “Let’s Get Physical” or “Gettin’ Lucky in Kentucky”. Then the thought came to me, How fun would it be to put “Passion Patrol” on an onsie?!

So here I go with my first tutorial: applique Passion Patrol onesie.

Materials:

• onesie
• scrap fabric
• trans web
• iron
• letterings

1. I designed my own letters on paper then cut it out.

2. I used Lite Steam-A-Seam2 trans-web sheets, they are amazing and so simple to use. I used the lite weight trans web for the onesie so the letters won’t be too stiff. The Steam-A-Seam2 is easy to use because you only iron once and you can readjust the applique until you iron it on. It is also machine washable or dry cleanable.

Follow the direction on the packaging for your trans web you are using. When using Steam-A-Seam2, the webbing is protected by paper on both sides. So trace the letters on backwards on one side of the trans web. Peel off the paper on the other side and stick it to the fabric.

For most trans webs, you iron the webbing side to the scrap fabric then trace the letters backwards on the paper side of the trans web.

3. Cut out the letters. To get the little holes in the middle of the letters (P, O, A), I folded the letters in the middle of the little hole and used a pair of sharp fabric scissors. You could also use an extremely sharp Exacto knife and a cutting board.

4. Measure and pin the onesie to mark center and straight, or just eye it if you’re that good.

5. Iron the letters onto the onesie. Check the trans web packaging for iron setting and duration of ironing. Some trans webs require a cloth or damp cloth over the fabric when ironing. But also check the type of fabric you are using for the correct iron setting. If you are using Steam-A-Seam2, make sure you peel off the second layer of paper before ironing.

6. Stitch the letters onto the onesie using the zig zag stitch on the sewing machine. Or in this case, I hand stitched because the letters are so small. I used running stitch because I wanted the edge to fray a bit.