4Jun | 2012
Camera carrier insert tutorial
Posted under Sewing . Tutorials | 44 Comments
A few months a go I showed you a preview of the camera carrier insert I sewed. I didn’t hold on the tutorial by accident, I actually wanted to give my honest review (and changes I would make to improve) along with a tutorial. I’ve been using the carrier for months now and it works great with the exception of some details I will describe so you can improve your own version (if you decide to make one for yourself)
I have to say that I completely love my camera carrier, and changing purses is super easy! My carrier fits in all my purses, in some more tight than others, so when I need to carry more than just my camera I simply choose a bigger handbag, works beautifully!
The problems I’ve had so far with my carrier are the following:
- The outside felt is getting a little worn, from getting contact with a lot of different liners from my bags (If I were to make it again, I would use a cotton or outdoor canvas on top of the outside felt piece)
- The handles, even tho they are very pretty, they are not very resistant, so if were to make it again I would reinforce the traps and stay with an old fashion strap instead of trying the “prettier” version I did for mine. but if you like them I will explain how to reinforce them too =]
So now to the materials and instructions, because you should make one for you too!
MATERIALS:
For the main body you will need:
- 2 pieces of 24″ by 18″ piece of your choice of color felt or fleece
- Add 1 piece of 24″ by 18″ canvas/outside fabric if you decide to reinforce yours (recommended)
- 1/2″ foam
- About 20″ long piece of Velcro, cut in pieces of 4″ long.
- Needle, Embroidery floss and and scissors
PROCESS:
[ Click on Images to enlarge]
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A- First you need to cut your 1/2″ foam pieces for the container (I will describe the dividers later on)
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B- After that you will need to cut 2 layers of felt (the outside and the inside of your carrier) plus the outside fabric if you decide to reinforce the outside. To do so I placed all my foam pieces 1/2 an inch apart and traced, then added 1 inch on the outside like shown in the picture. |
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C- For the handles I would recommend you to just make plain reinforced ones with fabric and using rope for the inside because the handles are what carrie all the weight when you exchange purses. But if you like this shape of handle I will describe how to make them, just add rope to the inside before you close it (that will reinforce it enough)
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D- after the handles are ready is time to add the loop side velcro to the inside part of the body piece. I used 4 pieces of 4″ long. I sewed them in the center of the right side, on the front (the one that has 2) I sewed them at 7″ and 3 1/2″ from the right side, and for the back I sewed it at 7″ from the right side (notice that the first front and the back match) |
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E- Now it’s time to sew the foam to the inside felt piece (because we like a clean outside) so pin it in the center, remember that you will be placing the foam on the wrong side of your inside piece, and in order to sew on top of the foam I used tissues that I pin on top of the foam, that way your feet will not get caught by the foam. |
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F- After you are done sewing you will have to carefully rip the tissues off, I had some little pieces stay, but I didn’t care because that will be covered by the outside fabric anyways. |
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G- As a last step before closing up, I added 2 pokets that are optional, I do use them for extra cards and my camera’s remote control, so I would recommend them. For the left pocket I just added a 6″ wide piece to the side, and for the back pocket I use a leftover piece that fit perfect right after the velcro (about 7″ wide) |
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H- Now we need to make a sandwich with our pieces to start closing up. First we need to place our inside body piece and on top of it the handles, make sure you pin them right in the center and leave about 1/4″ to the outside. |
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I- Next up is our outside body piece, in the case you are planning on adding a outside canvas piece for the outside you need to place it before the felt with the wrong side facing up. after that place the felt piece and shown in the picture. |
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J- Sew along the 4 top parts, where the handles stick up and the other 2 opposite sides (you will end up with holes on the sides, and that’s good) |
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K- Turn inside out your body main piece and it should look like mine =] topstitch all the top edges and reinforce the handles by passing more than once over them. |
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L- Now we can insert the 4 pieces of foam where they are supposed to be and pin really close to the foam so that you can put the sides together more comfortably. |
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M- Pin the sides together and sew as close as you can to the foam. This part can get a little tricky because it’s super thick and the foam on the side does not help, but go slow and with a lot of patience =] |
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N- Once you have the 4 sides you can trim it, but leave at least 1/4″ after the seam to avoid any stability issues. After that I hand-stitched the edges with matching embroidery floss, you can get as fancy as you want with the edge =] |
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O- Silly me forgot to take pictures of the insert, but below you will see a graphic of the pieces you will need and I will describe the process below. |
INSERT:
The pieces for your insert are:
- 3 pieces of 3×6″ foam (center divider)
- 1 piece of 6×6″ foam (full divider)
- 1 pieces of 7 1/2″ by 10 1/2″ felt (center divider A) fold it to make a 7 1/2″ by 5 1/4″ piece
- 1 pieces of 4″ by 10 1/2″ felt (center divider B) fold it to make a 4″ by 5 1/4″ piece
- 1 piece of 7″ by 10 1/2″ felt (full divider) fold it to make a 7″ by 5 1/4″ piece
For the insert you are going to start by making 3 tubes, simply fold your pieces as instructed in the material list and sew along the bottom parts of the 5 1/4″ tall, like in this illustration:
I would recommend you to check on your inside pieces before closing and adding the velcro just in case, if your felt or fleece is thicker or thinner than mine there can be a little adjustments that you should make (but they should be minimal)
And there you go! your camera can be protected and carried more comfortably everywhere!
I hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial, I know a lot of people were anxiously waiting for it! Sorry it took me so long, but that’s what I get for having such bad morning sickness hehe =] Now I have to work on finishing the Mr. and Mrs Joyful ducks, hopefully that one will be ready in the next couple of weeks.
I hope you all had a great weekend!
* This tutorial is provided for personal use only. If you wish to sell items made with this tutorial please purchase a limited production license.
Check the Site policy at the bottom for further information, Thank you!
Joy Kelley is a Chilean Designer. Wife. Crafter. IMac dependent. Pattern lover. Color obsessed. The girl behind the HowJoyful Design Studio. Mrs Poodle at Weddingbee.
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OMG! So awesome!
YAY! I’ve been waiting for you to post this since I have a regular purse I would love to make into a camera safe bag…now I just need to find time to actually sew.
I love that this fits in all my purses, except the clutches of course LOL =]
how wonderfull I’m gonna save this page and make it one day
This is great. Thank you
Wow!! The carrier looks fabulous! What a great idea, too. It’s sooo much work to put together a detailed tutorial – thank you. I’m pinning this now so I can try it when I get a little extra time.
Hope you feel better soon.
You are very welcome Diane, it does take time to make things detailes but I think its worth it =] Thank you!
This is perfect. Thank you SO much!!
What a great idea! And it looks really cute too. I will have to try this if I can find the time. My camera bag is so clumpy and awkward. Thanks
Love this! I don’t carry a camera with me, but it has given me a great idea on a purse organizer. I tried to make one last year using plastic canvas as the support. This is much better!
this is EXACTLY what I’ve been looking for!! thank you so much, you brilliant woman!!!
what a great tutorial! thanks for sharing!
many greetings fom Austria
elenor
I love this Joy! Great tutorial
I was so excited to find this tutorial! (thanks to pinterest) I’ve been searching for a long time for something like this that and I gave up thinking maybe I could try to make my own, I like the option to switch bags too. Now thanks to you that will be much easier. Great tutorial and details, you’re the best!
I was waiting for this tutorial and you really explained everything so awesomely!! Thank you so much for sharing it with all of us, you rock!
Amazing tutorial! Thank you very much for sharing.
Nice work!
Thanks. I bought a tote and wanted to buy an insert. After seeing this, I’ll make my own. Thanks for putting the tutorial together.
I’ve seen a few people do this, but this was the BEST tutorial for it.
And it helped that we have the same camera! =]
Beautiful tutorial! The steps are so nicely outlined. Thank you!
This might be a dumb question, but what are the dimensions when the carrier is finished? Thank you again!
Hi Melanie, the finished carrier’s dimensions are about 10 1/2″ by 4 1/2″ (just like the main pieces of foam) =]
Ah that makes so much sense! (See it was a dumb question! ) Thank you so much!
So very cool…thanks for the instructions! Now to find that “perfect” purse on sale/ebay (refuse to pay full-price at Sears). But I have a question…why did you choose felt rather than the typical nylon-type fabric used in traditional camera bags? Thanks!
I actually wanted something very soft and I had a tons of this felt laying around, so not much of reason other than that. Have a lovely day!
you make this tutorial look easy and do-able! you did an excellent job and i can’t wait to try it out myself!!
Love this!!
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Great idea! But I’m confused about the handles. How does step 3 become step 4? And 4 to 5?
really great Idea, but camera gear would be little more secured if there were a zipper on top.
good work.
You’ve inspired me! What a cool idea. I have two camera bags but this gives me lots of ideas. So often you just want to take a regular bag with all your other gear but mixing the camera up with it is not a good idea. On a ski trip recently I broke a UV filter because the camera was in a plain unpadded bag.
I’ll have to hijack the wife’s machine… again! Last time it was for a file bag, the time before that it was a bag for my fishing gear.
A question. The last time I tried to sew Velcro it was too tough or thick and the tread kept breaking. Is there a special type I should buy? Or some special thread?
Looks great! I am definitely going to have a go at this.
When I am traveling light I use a beer coozy to store a spare lens in with my carry-on.
Hi! I just received my first DSLR and I was searching for a cute and handy bag when I found this.. Your project is simply wonderful!
I just wanted to ask one thing: have you ever put inside it your camera with a lens on? Does it fit good?
Thanks again for sharing!!
Awesome tutorial! I made my own carrier, see pictures on my blog
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Mine didn’t turn out as neat as yours though, sewing the foam to the fleece was hard! Even with a walking foot and a Bernina! :-/ But I absolutely love the carriere, although it seems a bit small with the lens on the camera. Your tutorial was really good to follow, the only part I didn’t get were the (beautiful!) handles. Left me a bit clueless, haha
Very cool!
Except you shouldn’t use polyurethane foam: it degrades with time, and while doing so it emits gases that can damage your glass.
Use poliethylene foam instead (or any other stable foam).
Very Nice tutorial, You worked hard to make this Camera Bag DIY Turtorial…
hahaha.. so easy.. so beautiful.. i’d rather love to put it’s cover and will use some solid more durable outer shell for my camera.. i just bought a camera a few days back.. and didn’t get it’s bag yet.. but this tutorial compels me to make my own. Thank you sister.
btw.. can you please put some tutorial for the straps (neck strap for camera) and (hand strap as well)..
Thank you
I love this! I’m so impressed you just came up with this, and I like it so much more than my camera bag as is. But I’m wondering about felt or fleece being a little linty for my lenses. Might try it with a more camera friendly fabric? Or is this not a problem you’ve come across? Just hate the thought on lint trapped deep in a lens.
Hi, I just made my own version of your cute bag! Thanks for the inspiration. I’ve uploaded pictures of my own bag to Pinterest – http://pinterest.com/pin/105271710011734458/, and linked them here.
Super excited to see this on pintrest, I have been wanting one of these! Thanks for tutorial, can’t wait to check out the rest of your blog!!
You are a genius!!!! If I could sew I would make this! Of course, it would be better if I had a great camera.
Thank you for your tutorial. I’m sure it has been a great benefit for many.
Amazing! But could you clarify how the handles were made? I’m trying to make this now but that step has me stumped!
I really appreciate you posting this. I just got my first nice camera, and this will ensure that it stays safe.
This is AWESOME! I’m making art totes for my grandchildren and wondering how to make an adjustable insert for THE artist among them I googled and here you are!
Thank you so SO much! I have linked to this tut’ on a sewing website I belong to as well. Again thank you so much for being so generous!!
Best regards from Eva Mari in Norway