Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Make Your Own Camera Bag/Purse

I've been drooling over Epiphanie and Kelly Moore camera purses for over a year now.  I think I've entered pretty much every giveaway I could find for these bags hoping to win one because, let's face it, they're expensive!  I had pretty much given up on owning my own camera purse, until, somewhere I read that I could make my own!  Thus began my Google search for tutorials...

I came across many tutorials for making your own camera purse.  Some were complicated, others super simple.  I ultimately decided that, for me, this post, and this post were most helpful.  I took those two posts and went to work making my own camera purse!

The longest part of this whole process was finding the perfect purse to convert into a camera bag.  I wanted something cheap and large enough to hold my camera plus all the stuff I usually put in my purse.  I found a ton of purses that fit those criteria, but they didn't fit my last criteria--it had to have a zipper.  I FINALLY found this purse on sale for $10!!
It's got two pockets on either side of the middle which has a large zipper pocket.  I knew right away that this purse would be large enough.  If in doubt though, take your camera with you when purse shopping.

I already had fabric and thread on hand so the only other thing I needed to buy was 1 inch foam.  I found it at my local craft store.  (I opted not to use Velcro like in the above tutorials for reasons I'll explain later.)  I got home from the craft store, measured the inside of my purse pocket and cut the foam to fit.
The foam was a little harder to cut than I thought it was going to be (just an FYI).  It was too thick for the scissors I was using.

After measuring and cutting the foam, it was time to cover it.  To make sure I got a tight fit, I sewed three sides inside out with the foam in the middle, took the foam out, turned it right side out, then stuffed the foam back in and sewed the last side. 
Again, stuffing the foam back in was a little harder than I thought it would be, but it did give a tight fit.
I made 4 sides, the bottom, and a divider foam piece.  That's 6 total.  You don't have to make 4 sides if you don't want to, the two biggest sides are technically good enough, but I'm protecting valuable equipment so I opted to do all 4.
When all the foam pieces were covered, I stuffed them in my purse and I was done!!  Like I said above, I opted not to use Velcro because the pieces fit snugly enough in my purse that I don't feel they will move.  As for Velcro for the divider foam, I didn't think that would move much either since I'm using both sides of the divider. 
Above is my completed purse with all my purse stuff but minus my camera.  Below is my purse with everything in it.  Excuse the poor quality of the photo below, I had to use my cell phone to take it!
Here's me carrying my purse with everything in it!  (Again, taken with my cell phone--if you couldn't tell).

So what do you think?  Super simple huh?  And the best part, it was all done for less than $20!!  It took about 2 hours to make but that was, for the most part, because I kept getting interrupted by my girls and husband.

Have you, or will you make your own camera bag/purse?

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13 comments:

Becca said...

super nifty! Also, one of the reasons I should probably not get a bigger camera until I don't have children in diapers... already my purse/diaper bag (I just use a big laptop purse) is too big. I can't imagine putting something as big as a camera in it!

Neat idea, though! I think I will bookmark this for later use when I am ready to make one :)

Lori said...

Looks like a nice job. I use a turkey knife to cut foam. Works like a charm.

Moments and Impressions said...

Love this... I am big girl camera shopping now so this comes at the most appropriate time. Love Love

Pitterle Postings said...

Oh, I love this!! I bought a back pack on sale at Walmart for about 30.00, but it is not nearly as cute as your purse!! It is hard to find something that will hold all the stuff without being huge!!!

*Jess* said...

great job, Jamie!

Kimberly Gauthier, Dog Nutrition Blogger for Keep the Tail Wagging said...

Fantastic, Jamie
I'm sharing this on my Facebook page right now!

Mel Fraase said...

Very cute!! I am feeling inspired!!

Lynda said...

This is fantastic! Super great idea. I only wish I knew how to sew!

Caitlin {Pacifier In My Pocket} said...

Love it! What a great tutorial!

Anonymous said...

Very clever! I have been searching for a stylish camera bag for my new DSLR...but all I have found are out of my budget. This is a great idea.

Katie Bulmer said...

So crafty! I love it

Lori said...

I am wanting to make me a camera bag that will hold everything and not look like a camera bag...I think I am going to make a messenger bag and turn it into one... I will post it on this blog when I get it done... http://armystrongfamilystrong.blogspot.com/
http://avrgjoesurvivalguide.blogspot.com/

bloggin'n'style said...

Love, love, LOVE this idea! Thank you! I just upgraded cameras. This is my first really nice camera and with the money I spent on the camera I didn't have the money to spend a ton of money on a nice bag. Totally awesome!!!

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