Padded Camera Wristlet

I often want to take my Nikon D40 with me when I'm running around with the kids, but it's just not practical to bring my giant camera bag in addition to my giant bag filled with diapers, snacks, water bottles, wallet, etc.  So when I saw this Fancy Padded Camera Pouch tutorial from Me Sew Crazy I knew it was the perfect solution--just enough protection to feel like I could stuff my camera in my bag along with everything else.

However, I (boo hoo) rarely have any reason for anything fancy, so I made mine with some pretty swirly cotton quilting fabric I got at Joann's on clearance for $3 a yard, and lined it with some flannel from an old sheet that got a hole in it.  Plus the fusible interfacing for padding.  So, a pretty affordable project!

I took a picture with my camera in the bag with my old point-and-shoot, but for some reason my computer won't read my card--time to get a new card, I guess!  This is also bad news for a tutorial I was planning on resizing an adult hoodie for a kid--all the pictures are stuck on that card too, but that will probably end up being for the best.  So you'll just have to trust me that this bag is a good fit for my Nikon D40, and probably has enough room for an accessory or two, like my flash bounce from Photojojo (I love that thing) or my battery charger.

The only thing I did differently than the tutorial (other than choosing non-fancy fabric) was the very last step.  Rather than just sewing the opening closed, I topstitched all the way around the whole top of the bag.  That way I didn't have to do any invisible hand-stitching and it gave it all a uniform finished look.

The strap did end up being a little loose for my taste, so I tied a knot in it--I don't even mind the way it looks. When making it, I thought maybe I should just do a drawstring instead of the elastic top and fixed wrist strap, but now that I've used it, I'm glad I didn't--I like the elastic opening a lot.  Ooh, I just thought of something!  I think I'm going to sew a square of the flannel to the inside so that I can use it for a lens cloth!

I was so excited to take my camera to the park--here's a few of my shots from our perfect playdate this afternoon!

Under the bridge downtown

Whee!!

Our little buddy loves swinging as much as Little Sister does!

The Boy and his school pals

Bubbles!

I guarantee, my camera will be getting a lot more on-the-go time now.  There's only so much I can do with my iphone!