DIY Chic Custom Camera Strap
Cameras are awesome, but most camera straps are boring. While we love browsing online stores like Photojojo, Etsy, and Amazon for unique camera accoutrements (see: 20 Must-Haves for the Modern Photog), its hard to find that perfect strap for every outfit and it's really hard to justify spending big bucks on more than one strap. So, naturally, it's time to hack!
Each strap took us about 5 minutes and cost less than 5 dollars. The best thing about this how-to is that once you know a few simple tricks, you can create a whole bunch of camera straps that are easy to swap out depending on what you're wearing and where you're headed.
Materials:
– scarves, belts, purse straps, fabric trim
– sewing machine or needle and thread
– large key rings
– super small key rings
– carabiners with key ring attachments
– scissors
– camera with strap hooks!
We recommend grabbing underused scarves from your closet, or heading to a local thrift shop to find some cheap gems. We hit up Goodwill and picked up a wooly winter scarf, a spring scarf, and a silk scarf. We also found a sweet canvas belt. Then we went to the local fabric store and found two pieces of gorgeous fabric trim, typically used for the hem of a garment.
This DIY will only work for cameras that have strap attachments. The first thing to do, of course, is to remove that boring old black strap and attach a small key ring.
Next, prepare your strap. For this fringed scarf, we cut off the fringe and cut the scarf to the same length as our old strap. If you don't have a strap, the length should be about 30 inches after everything is sewn, so cut to 36 inches.
Bundle up the scarf at the end. Fold once (to keep the cut end contained), and fold again over the key ring. Now, sew!
Wrap it around your neck to test the strength of your stitches. If you're using a machine, sew over the seam 3 or 4 times to keep everything secure. Same goes for hand sewing.
For a belt or purse strap, you'll probably want to cut off any hardware at the end unless you can figure out a way to incorporate it into your strap. For this canvas one, we cut off the D-ring.
Then fold each end over a carabiner, and sew!
This wooly number will keep you warm on those cool spring days.
We love the springy pastels in this piece of woven trim found at the fabric store.
Class it up with a silk scarf and black trench.
Or go industrial with this canvas number.
Get girly with this length of frilly lace trim.
And finally, a brightly colored spring scarf! This one is definitely our favorite.
Or get a little nutty and wear all six camera straps at once! ;)