I've recently decided it would be rather handy to be able to carry multiple lenses and/or camera supplies while on a shoot without hauling a huge camera bag everywhere. I've searched the options out there and like many people would love to own a ShootSac, but price is a huge issue here at this point! So I toyed with the idea of making my own. I bought a neoprene laptop sleeve from Wal-Mart for around $17...I think it was. :/ And I believe it was 15". I really wanted something closer to 17", but Wal-Mart didn't have many options and my town doesn't have many options! It was a reversible sleeve with a flap at one end that looked like this.
Beautiful quality picture, I know. I'd started tearing it apart before I remembered to take a picture and well, our lighting after dark is pretty pathetic!
Anyway, since the opening was at the wrong end I tore it apart into three separate pieces. (I'm sure I didn't pick the easiest laptop bag to convert into a shooting bag, but hey, this is a tutorial of what NOT to do right?!)
Next I re-sewed the trim across what would be the top of my bag. Then I put in a heavy duty coat zipper that I'd also picked up at Wal-Mart. With those two steps done it looked like this. (FYI-this zipper came completely apart and that was really helpful sometimes during the reconstruction of this bag. Not sure how it'll work for functionality in the future, but I'll soon find out!)
I purposefully sewed the two opposite sides together because I'd wanted to be able to wear either side out, but that idea didn't work out so brilliantly....among some others I'd had! :/
After that I thought I'd be smart and add some inside pockets. *blush* How embarrassing to even admit! I'd never held a ShootSac in my hand or any other type of shooting bag and I'm painfully visual! Needless to say, the pockets were a waste of time and I actually ended up having to take the one out. I'd have taken out the other one too if it weren't too late and I was really starting to be hard on the neoprene. (It's inside my next to useless itty bitty section anyway. More on that coming up!) So I guess, lesson learned....don't think you'll be smart and put pockets on the inside! :(
After the failed pocket venture I realized now was the time to put on my strap. Wow! What a thought! I had a durable, adjustable, cross body, webbed strap (say that 6 times fast!) from another purse that I never use so I stole it from that. I reinforced the stitching several times and then sewed and X over the ends to make sure it's good and snug. Don't need them to come loose and risk camera equipment falling!
This is what the stitching for the strap looked like from the inside of the bag.
Next came the side seams. Putting right sides together, I used regular thread and sewed once around at 1/4" and then another time around close beside it just to help reinforce the seam. I tried using heavy duty thread, but it gave me all kinds of problems so I'm hoping this will hold otherwise it could be a costly flop! ....and I'm not talking in bag materials! It seems to be sturdy enough though that I'm not really concerned about it, obviously or I wouldn't be sharing this with you all! :)
I turned the bag right side out and measured for my individual compartments.
Because of my smaller sized bag I really struggled on what the appropriate sizes should be. At the time I was renting a 24-70 and so I knew approximately what size I'd need to fit that and my kit zoom an 18-105. That left me with just an itty bitty section that I thought would be perfect for my cell phone, extra battery/s, memory cards, etc. ......well, sadly another lesson learned.....the space has to be wide enough to get your hand to fit in or it's a pain to try and get the items out of it!!!! Duh!!!!! So I ended up with three sections approximately, 5", middle one 4 3/8", and the itty bitty side one 3 1/4" wide. I didn't sew the dividers completely to the bottom or the top of the bag, but made about a 7" dividing line. I sewed just a straight stitch, but went over it a couple times to reinforce each divider.
In hindsight, I think the little section wouldn't have been a complete flop had I not sewed the divider as long. Thus it would've made it just a short section on the one side, but more easily assessable. Guess that's where they get the term, Live and Learn!
Here is the completed project!
Complete with an 18-105 lens, an SB-800 speedlight, and cell phone, batteries, & lens cap cover from my 50mm, never to be retrieved again from my itty bitty section! Ha! :)
Itty bitty divider aside, I think I'm going to like it! I love the dots and strips and if I ever dream of making another one, well I'll be all the wiser! :D
Well this was my very first tutorial and I hopefully covered all the basics, but if you'd like to follow in my footsteps and have any questions I'd be happy to further explain! :)
