Weekly Sew-a-long Challenge. Week 3.

This week our challenge was to make something "Picture Perfect". That is, make something camera or picture related. I've been wanting to purchase a really cute case for my camera, so I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to make one. All of the tutorials I found required bias tape for the finished piece. Sadly, I'm not prepared to make my own bias tape, and I was unwilling to go purchase any (I'm pretty much over buying anything I can make myself). So, this left me with 2 options: find another tutorial or make something up myself.

After debating this issue all week long I decided to just do it. I used the ugliest fabric I had to practice with, and figured if it turned out, I could always re-make it with a cuter fabric. I'm not sure I love it, so I haven't re-made it. I think I'll mess around with some more fabric before I settle on my final camera case, but for the sake of this last week's challenge, it's completed.

To make it, all I did was take 2 pieces of fabric (one about 1 inch longer top-to-bottom than the other piece) and a piece of leftover felt (to measure, I just wrapped it around my camera & made sure I had ample seam allowances) and sandwiched them together.

To start, I took the piece that was a bit longer and placed it wrong side up. I folded down the top about 1/2 an inch & then ironed it, then I folded it down another 1/2 inch & ironed it again. This basically created a double hem at the top of the fabric. I then slid the felt and the other piece of fabric (wrong side down) between the bottom fabric & the hem, so that when sewn, the hem would encase the felt & fabric. I then sewed a basic straight stitch across the top. The top fabric (the one with the hem showing) became my "inside" fabric, and the longer piece which created my hem would be the "outer" fabric.

Here is where I made my mistake. A buttonhole should be made at this time. I didn't and had to rip my almost-finished case apart to do this. Pick a spot where you'd like a strap hole. Set your machine up to make a buttonhole, & then place your fabric inside piece up & make a buttonhole. I practiced this a few times on a scrap of fabric to make sure the hole I was making was exactly the size I wanted it to be. I wasn't using a button, so I had to adjust my buttonhole foot a couple times before I had the perfect size. I also had to play around with my stitch length and width before I had a good stitch. I 100% recommend you do the same before attempting this on your case. Carefully use a seam ripper or snips to cut your buttonhole (make sure you don't cut your stitches).

I then folded the fabric sandwich in half lengthwise, so that the hem was visible on the outside. I lined up my sides & bottom and pinned them. I slid my camera in between the fabric a few times just to make sure the fit was correct (I wanted to make sure the fit was snug, so that my camera would not slip out of the case willy-nilly). Then I sewed around the edge and bottom, making sure to backstitch at the beginning and end. I trimmed my excess threads and seam allowances, then I turned it right-side out (the hem should not be visible from the outside), slid my camera in, and basked in it's "glory".

It's not exactly what I'm looking for in a camera case, but it works as a simple soft cover to keep your camera from getting scratched up if you throw it in your purse or bag.

Also, in case you noticed my fail of a camera strap, that is what happens when you are attempting to take pictures of a project "in action" and get your camera strap a little too close to the hot iron. It completely melted the outside strap, thus leaving me with the task of having to clean melted goo off my iron. My camera strap is now really ugly too! Maybe I'll make a new cover for it :)