Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Little Stitches

If I hadn't heard the story first hand, I would have thought it was an urban legend. One afternoon a friend of mine confided in me that while she didn't consider herself very crafty, her husband was. Not only knew did he know how to sew, but he had actually made her wedding dress. And not just any wedding dress, but one of those beautiful traditional Chinese red silk wedding dresses! When I saw her husband some time later, I asked him how he learned to sew and he shrugged his shoulders and simply replied "my mother taught me".

So, while I am not exactly preparing my sons to make their future brides wedding attire, I hope to make them feel comfortable with the idea of sewing. This afternoon I gave Matteo and Nico a bit of burlap in embroidery hoops, large tapestry needles and some yarn while I set up some things for my own sewing project.

Last Summer I bought myself a nice stack of Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks fat quarters. A quilt, a princess and the pea set later... I still had little scraps of fabric that I was hesitant to throw away, because it was just.so.pretty.... I was sure I could find some use for it later! Well, the inspiration came to me over the weekend, when I came across these wonderful camera straps from House on Hill Road (and what a gorgeous blog!). Learning that Erin was out of stock, I decided to try making one myself.
I have to admit that I was very wary of making my own camera strap. With a few of our lenses, the camera can be a bit heavy and I didn't want to risk having any kind of malfunction where I would see my beloved camera in pieces on the ground due a faulty strap of my own making, so I decided to make a simple patchwork cover for the strap.
Mama's New Camera Strap!

I patched together some of the fabric pieces, quilted it with bamboo and used some corduroy fabric for backing and slipped the camera strap through it... voila! Instant personal style!

One of my favorite features I was able to put on it was a small pocket to hold lens caps. I think this is Ivan's favorite feature as well, since I'm notoriously bad at finding the caps when it's time to put them on.
With the camera around my neck so often these days, I love that I can also merge my passion for crafting with a strap of my own making, rather than something that blasts the make and model of my gear.

It was a fun afternoon, sewing with my boys. They seemed to enjoy being part of the process, picking out scraps and pretending to sew with their little wooden sewing machine. I'm hoping that years from now, when asked how they learned to stitch, a simple shrug and smile will follow with the words:

"My mother taught me :) "

14 comments:

Jane said...

Wow!!! That's very cool. The sewing boys, the gorgeous fabric, and the genius camera strap. Well done you!

Anonymous said...

I've been worried about making my own strap too. It never occurred to me to cover the one I have. Great idea!

Anonymous said...

Wow! I love your camera strap! I have been looking for burlap fabric in our town but can't find any...

Anonymous said...

gorgeous camera strap and how wonderful to teach your bosy about sewing.

Carin said...

Wow, all so lovely! Am about to start teaching my little girl (3)to embroider and can't wait to see what she does with it.

FrontierDreams said...

Yay you made the camera strap! I love how it came out. Nice and pink <3 Wasn't that tutorial perfect? I was thinking of adding a lens cap pocket to mine,too. I have lost 3 lens caps already EEEEEEEK! I lovethe pic of Matteo at his sewing machine *swoon*
The girls and I have been having a lot of sewing days lately, too, I was actually just getting ready to get things together to post about our sewing adventures for tomorrow, my twin! <3

Nicola said...

perfect perfect perfect.
marina, you have no idea how much this post made me smile. the boys, the sewing, the finished strap. beautiful.
let's play soon, please!
nicola
http://whichname.blogspot.com

Jen said...

Beautiful strap! And I love the boy's sewing machine. I'll have to find one for Isaac one day.

Anonymous said...

WOW. I LOVE the result. Te colors are fantastic, and I love the border that you have added. Congrats on a super well done job.

And where did you get that basket? I see to see it in many of your posts, it is just a beautiful piece of home decor (and pretty useful too!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! And what a wonderful memory, crafting together as a family.

~Mellie

Joy said...

Love the shots of your boys. Soulemama wrote a post on boys sewing this week too. Crafting isn't just for girls anymore. :) I love the camera strap cover! I'm also constantly looking for the lens cap (mostly because my 2 oldest swipe the camera and set it somewhere). This might be a good solution for me!

Heather said...

What a great idea with the camera strap! So beautiful
Both of my boys sew, knit, and embroider, and they love it. It has never been forced on them, just something that they seem to feel is natural, since that is what their mama does.

Beautiful wooden sewing machine, what a treasure for your little one.

Hullabaloo Homestead said...

First, that wooden sewing machine is so great. Second, your camera strap is beautiful! How great to add a lense cap pocket! My first camera, I was out in a field catching some photos while on a hike. Once I got back to my car I realized I had lost my cap. I went back...but never found it. Great feature too add!

:)Lisa

Anonymous said...

ooh. i want a camera strap....must find that tutorial. love your colors AND that you are teaching the boys to sew!