There aren't enough hours in the day to care for the boys & eat & bathe & work at my consulting job & run my etsy shop & craft & blog & (very) occasionally cook a meal for my family or do some laundry. But I can do some of those things every day.
I try to make time for something crafty at least a few nights a week while the boys are in bed. It's my outlet. I don't get to interact with other people (except you, twitter), on the days that I'm home, so having a project becomes something to look forward to... Not as much as a cup of coffee with girlfriends, mind you, but a challenge that in the end, makes me feel good that I've completed.
I'd really like to start posting more pics here of the things I complete. I'm proud of them. In the past few years I've taught myself to sew, embroider, design in PhotoShop, use a vinyl cutter, etc! Since all of my posts are generally pictures or stories about the boys, I might try to make Wednesdays a time to show off my projects instead of the kiddos! (I'm not saying I'm going to post every Wed-- HA! You're kidding, right?)
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I'm not really a girly-girl, but since my house is full of boys it's
nice to have some things that are mine, all mine! I've been drooling
over pretty camera straps for a while now-- I was going to put one on my
birthday wish list. (I reason that just because I *can* make these
things, doesn't mean I should *have* to.)
I came across an awesome ruffled camera strap cover tutorial a few days ago & had to try it last night... couldn't help myself. The author of the tutorial encouraged her readers to really make this project their own. So, I did.
Aqua! Orange! Chevron! Ruffles! Monogram!
I didn't take a lot of pictures as I was making it, but here are a few:
Monogramming my strip of chevron fabric-- my fabric was 5" wide x 22.5" long. This will vary by camera strap.
This was the first time I've ever sewn a ruffle & it was much easier than I anticipated! I cut two strips of fabric off of an orange tshirt-- one was 1.5" wide & the other was 1" wide. Both were 44" long. I layered the two, then sewed a line down the middle using the longest stitch setting I had (5). Then I held one end, pulled on the bobbin thread & the fabric started gathering. I pulled until the ruffled strip was 22.5" long, then sewed it directly on top of my chevron fabric! Easy-peasy!
Once the fabric was monogrammed & the ruffle was sewn on, I hemmed the ends (not pretty on the inside, but no one sees it so who cares?) then folded the fabric in half (right sides together) to stitch the open side closed (1/2" seam allowance). I trimmed the fabric & zig-zag stitched the ends since I don't have a serger.
Then, I turned it right-side out & slipped it over my camera strap!
And Ta-Da! My camera strap went from this (yuck!):
To this!
My house may be dripping in blue & baseballs (already!) but this is mine!
Note: I found that I was constantly missing moments while taking the cap off & on my camera, so now I keep a polarizer on my camera all of the time to protect my lens. Because I don't use the cap, I omitted the cap pocket from the tutorial.
