Homemade Camera Bag

I recently unloaded some of my old camera gear on Facebook and one of my friends made a comment on a bag I was selling that she would love to own a Kelly Moore bag. 

I love this friend (she's been one of my best friends since 2007 and my maid of honor and the photographer at my wedding) so I would LOVE to be able to buy her a Kelly Moore bag.  Sadly, I don't have that money right now since C is still in school full time and not working.  But it gave me a great idea for her baby shower gift (yup, she's pregnant with a little boy due in December!).

I went online and looked up a few tutorials on How To Make Your Own Camera Bag and found this great tutorial from Blue Lace House.

 I used it roughly, sort of making things up as I went, but I think it turned out really cute! (Click on the first image to open the theater.)

The hardest part of my was finding the perfect bag.  I went to about five different stores before I found this one in TJ Maxx for about $20.  It fits my friend's personality to a T (IMO). 

I also wanted to find a bag large enough to hold not just her camera gear, but also some essential baby items like bottles, diapers, wipes, clothes changes, foot, etc.

Then it was just a matter of finding the materials for the inserts.  Which, it turns out, was hard than I realized.

I found the fabric alright but the foam was nowhere to be found! 

Chico isn't a small town by any means, but it's also not a huge city and we have limited resources here.  I could not find the right sized foam anywhere.  So, I ended up buying thicker foam with this brilliant idea that I would cut the foam in half. 

Yeah... don't try that.  It works but was a PITA!

It took me about four hours and a lot of trying out of ideas, failing at ideas, trying new ones, etc.  I have made my friend promise to never, ever remove the insert and examine the stitching and how I put it together because she would probably laugh in my face when she saw the quality.

But it should hold up because I ended up stitching each section about a dozen times. 

So that's good!

Because I won't make it to the baby shower I have posted pictures on Facebook to "reveal" her gift to her.  She loves it.

So, if you have a friend who is a photographer and you are the hunt for a $25-30 gift that they will absolutely love, take a look at the Blue Lace House tutorial.  It does help (a lot) to have some sewing skills and to actually follow the tutorial. 

Trust me.