Success with my walking foot

Indeed! After I got the first walking foot about twenty years ago (for my now-45-year-old Singer), I hardly ever sew *anything* without it. There is just not that many things which don't feed just >that< much smoother using the walking foot. And it's the end-all for sewing matched plaids.

Beverly

I just wish it had a clear plate on it. I just did some edge stitching, and it wasn't that bad, but it would have been better if I could follow the fabric edge all the way with my eye.

I also just whipped out a camera pouch with velcro on the back that I could attach to the shoulder straps or waist belt. But I did everything by eye, and on the fly. Just cut the fabric out without a pattern. Didn't turn out that bad, but its a bit loose. And, since I didn't really plan ahead, I now know how hard it is to try to sew something like velcro to the face of a small pouch after its closed up and become a pouch. But now I know how to conceptualize it for the finished one.

I'm thinking maybe a velcro closer is not the best way to do. If I fall, the camera might fall out easier than if I had maybe a sew on snap. I just wanted the variability of a velcro closer in case I wanted to put other things in the pouch.

What's a good liner fabric that won't abrade my camera?

Mine has a fairly wide space where the needle goes, so I'm able to see very well for top-stitching.

100% cotton outing flannel? Or Ultra Suede? Or velour? Hard to say, but any of those might work. I'm trying to think what is inside my DH's expensive camera cases. I think it's some kind of "flocked" stuff, not easily replicated at home. :-}

Beverly

I'd use lightweight nylon (coated or otherwise). The light stuff is very smooth. For that matter, a bit of silnylon would be good - it has almost no friction and the camera will slip in and out easily. Alternatively, you could use a polyester lining fabric.

My preference would be to use a fabric that's compatible with the rest of the pouch - and that means if the rest is able to handle water and abuse and is relatively quick to dry, the liner should also.

My commercially-made camera pouch (on sale at $10 - that makes it too expensive to make one) has the liner sewn into a drawstring closure inside - this acts as a dust, snow and sand shield. Practical for outdoor usage.

Mike

PS - if you use padding, make sure it's closed cell so it won't absorb water.

Dwight, somebody once tried to tell me that the walking foot was only for quilting... While it IS good for that (in some circumstances!), it is also good for keeping velvet aligned, anything with multiple layers, checks, and as you have discovered, slick stuff! Enjoy! :)

fleece

If he's using this case in the outdoors, fleece will tend to pick up dust and sand - not good for a camera. That'll take a while, of course, but a camera case isn't the sort of thing you launder. Maybe a flannel type fleece would work, but I think a smooth fabric would be better.

Mike

I've got a bunch of coated satin stuff, which isn't as water-resistant as I thought it might be. I can use some of that.

hmm, ok. I was just guessing anyway. ;-)

Camera Care Systems and others use nylon taffeta. CCS are waterproofed Cordura on the outside. We have quite a few of their bags and find them excellent (Alan drags them up and down mountains in the wet), and if I ever need to make a bag for a particular camera project, they are what I shall use as a model. Some of out CCS bags are now over 20 years old and still good as new. They don't use closed cell foam for padding as far as I can tell (too squishy). One of the other bags he has uses closed cell foam for moveable inserts so you can divide the bag into different sized areas depending on what you want to carry.

I don't think I'd bother making camera bags when there are such good ones out there: NOT cost effective when I factor the time in. I might spend 40 hours on getting a good bag, and I could buy a hell of a lot of camera bags for the £800 that time represents!

Since I haven't sewn in a couple of years, I'm just into creating something, exactly the way I want it, just for the pure joy of the creative process, even if its a lesser grade than something off the shelf. It just leads to the knowledge of creating the next thing, just a little better maybe, or solving some problem on something insignificant that can be applied to something bigger next time.

Velcro is going to get rich off of me though.

I understand that. I honed my creative sewing skills as a kid, on dolls clothes and stuff for me. Now I use those same skills to create things I can get paid for! :) Spending hours&HOURS perfecting tiny hand stitches that didn't show in clothes for 12" fashion dolls comes in very useful now I'm making wedding stuff, historic costumes, and similar items, and the creative side goes into designing things. Sometimes I get the urge to just make something, and then I make quilts and bags, and Christmas stockings and other daft but fun things.

Hehehehe... I'd look for sale stuff in odd colours. I have some nasty looking 1" fawn that was 50p a 1m bundle, and I never thought I'd use it. Now it's almost gone! Got used up on several different projects over the last couple of years...

Perfectly legitimate reason for making stuff.

I just finished this last week. It's a pocket for my marine VHF radio so that I can carry it on my PFD (personal flotation device, aka life jacket). I wanted a hard-shell to protect the radio from knocks and bumps.

There are some similarities to a camera case - a few changes in dimension and it would have been fine for a waterproof camera.

Mike

Outstanding!

Doreen in Alabama

Good man. Looks good too.

Just thought of another thing I might be able to make today. I've got problems with my right wrist collapsing when I ride my mountain bike, which then causes something like carpal tunnel.

Today I found some handlebar grips that have an platform/extension on them that will support the wrist somewhat. However, most grips are just too hard for me. On my current bike, I got some of that dark grey tubular insulation for pipes and slipped it over each grip. That works "ok", but wouldn't help me with these new grips. I'm thinking of taking some foam like they use for sleeping pads, either the open or closed cell stuff, cutting some to fit the new grips, then sewing a zippable cover to go over the foam and grips. Then I won't have to worry about trying to tape stuff, etc.

This is a photo of the grips:

That stuff is not great as it tends to compress too much under constant pressure.

Definitely go with a closed cell foam. Open cell will hold water and collapse easily. It will also absorb perspiration and get pretty smelly.

Don't bother with the blue sleeping pad stuff - it's like pipe insulation and compresses to much. The yellow kind is better (EVA foam like Evazote). I've purchased a couple of EVA sleeping pads (5mm and 10mm thick) and use them whenever I need relatively firm padding. The 5mm is inside the radio case I made.

Another alternative - a very good one - is neoprene. Now there's cheap neoprene (like the $0.50 mouse pads) and there's good stuff. I have some white neoprene that's a wonderful padding material, but only a scrap. White is hard to find. Wetsuit quality black neoprene is available in a lot of places (scuba shops often carry repair size pieces, web-based foam vendors sell 50" x 80" sheets and fabric vendors sell strips priced by the inch, usually). You can use bare neoprene or nylon covered. You could use thick neoprene for the pad and thin neoprene to make the rest of the wrap-around piece. However, you can't sew it easily; glue with neoprene cement or Aquaseal and sewing is redundant.

Yet another possibility is Minicel. That's available in paddling shops. It's gray and fairly firm - used for padding canoes and kayaks.

You'd have to check out a few and decide what thickness and stiffness you'd want.

Mike

Yup, eventually did just that.

Not sure if REI has Evazote. Not sure where else to get it "live". I'd like to feel it before buying.

I just cut about a 1.5 inch strip off the end of my thermarest pad. I'll see how that works for now. I've got some coated packcloth I think I'll use to cover it and hold it in place.

Thanks for all your pointers.

Dwight

I guess another possibly easier option would be to make my own riding gloves with beaucoup padding in the palm. How do you treat the sames though so you don't have the seam allowance tangling up your fingers? Felling the seam doesn't seem like it would work in such close quarters.

I wouldn't bother making my own. What about gel pads? - ISTR that you can get cycling gloves with those.

If it's a real problem, it might be worth checking with a doctor.

Mike