Paul Borrego

Camera Strap

Materials

  • $1/2$ yard fabric (duck canvas)
  • ~ 2 yards of 1.5" nylon webbing - Nylon
  • Heavy duty thread

Steps

  1. Wash and press the canvasDuck canvas shrinks noticeably on its first wash. Wash and dry it before cutting anything, then iron it flat — wrinkled canvas feeds unevenly under the machine.

  2. Cut your piecesCut two canvas strips 2in wide by your desired strap length (45-50in total is typical), one 1.5in webbing strip the same length for the internal core, and two short 4in webbing tabs for the D-ring and buckle ends. Seal the cut edges of all webbing pieces with a lighter — hold the flame near the edge for a second until it just melts, don't torch it.

Sandwich and stitch the bodyLay the webbing core between your two canvas strips like a sandwich, edges aligned. Load your machine with the denim needle and bonded nylon thread, set stitch length to about 3mm (longer stitches handle thick material better than short ones), and sew a straight line down each long edge, about 1/8in from the edge. Go slow — let the machine's feed dogs pull the fabric, don't force it.

  1. Attach the D-ring endFold one short webbing tab through the D-ring, doubling it back on itself about 1.5in. Place this folded tab between the layers at one end of your strap body (or stitch it directly to the canvas body end) and stitch a rectangle about 1in x 1.25in through all layers, then sew an X inside the rectangle corner to corner. This box-stitch is what keeps it from ripping out under load — go over it twice.

  2. Attach the ladder-lock endSame process as the D-ring end, but fold the second webbing tab through the ladder-lock buckle instead. Box-stitch it the same way. This tab anchors the buckle to the strap body (or directly to your camera lug, depending on your design).

  3. Thread the adjustable tailFeed the free end of your strap body through the ladder-lock buckle: under the first bar, over the second, then pull it back through so it lays flat against itself. This creates the friction that holds your adjustment in place. Fold the very end under 1/2in and stitch it so it can't slip back out of the buckle entirely.

  4. Test before trusting itLoop the strap through something sturdy and hang increasing weight off it (a full water jug is close to your Pentax 67's weight) before you ever clip it to the camera. Check both box-stitched ends for any thread pulling or popping.