At our house, the roles have always been clearly defined between my husband and me. Sewing is not just a hobby for me, it is also part of my daily work in my job as a member of the BERNINA Education Team. My husband, on the other hand, is a freelance photographer and sound engineer. The only thing our professions have in common is that my chaos in the thread box looks something like the tangle of cables under his table.
Role reversal – swapping the camera for the sewing machine and vice versa
So far so good, but this clear division is gradually breaking down and I’m having to get used to the fact that I now have to share my sewing machines with him more often. At first he was just impressed with the technology, creating his first embroidered T-shirts.
He then gradually discovered the possibilities of using it to make other things, and his own projects followed, such as a personalized guitar strap, a rain cover for a backpack and a carrying aid for cameras. Most of the time, these projects arise from a need, in other words, he needs something and cannot find anything that meets his expectations, or he recycles some of the many materials that we have in the basement.
While I have the benefit of traditional sewing training and will unpick a seam if it is not sewn super-accurately, my husband has a more relaxed attitude. He thinks pins are a pain, but at least I was able to convince him that fabric clips are a better alternative than a staple gun. But despite all this, I admit that I admire his talent and I am amazed at what he creates on the sewing machine.
Sewing a guitar strap – here’s how!
During the time working from home, the idea came up of making short videos of his projects. Many people find that when they are starting out, they need a little help with sewing or they are just looking for new, simple ideas. And as you can imagine, this meant that I also had to swap roles and was now behind the camera instead of behind the sewing machine, always looking for the ideal shooting angle. And I had to learn how best to place the lights to create optimal lighting for the set. Not as easy as the sewing machine, where you just turn on the machine and the work area is immediately brightly lit.
We started with the guitar strap project, which is really easy to sew and can be made on the bernette 35, for example. Simply choose a cotton fabric that you like, iron it into shape and sew it onto the webbing. Finally, attach the leather parts and you can switch off the sewing machine and turn on your guitar amplifier. You can find detailed instructions in the video below.
Materials for a guitar strap
- 1.85 m webbing, 5 cm wide
- Cotton fabric
- 1 rectangle loop and 1 slip lock buckle
- Sewing thread, normal and extra-strong
- Leather
- Jeans needle
- Presser foot with non-stick sole
- Wonder Tape
- Scissors
- Punch pliers
- Cutter or rotary cutter with ruler and mat
- Cardboard strip, 4.5 cm wide
- Iron
- White pencil
- Pins or fabric clips
Pattern for the leather section
You can download the template for the leather pieces from the link below:
When printing, make sure that the template is printed out at 100% size.
Sewing instruction video: How to sew a guitar strap
We did it, the strap has been fitted to the guitar and the first video is ready. Are you excited about the result? Then take a look now.
Maybe you would like to sew your own personal guitar strap?
Best wishes,
Franziska
Thanks for this. I made a strap for my musician son. It turned out great. I found it easy to follow till I got to the last section with sliders etc. I has to slow the video right down and watched it a few times before I got it.I guess it will be the first of many I make for him.Lesley
Hermoso me encanto gracias
I loved watching that, thank you! Very cool looking guitar strap with the perfect fabric! He did an excellent job, it’s fantastic that he knows how to sew, and the video was short and to the point, not a lot of “fluff” that makes it twice as long.
Dear Nancy, thank you very much for this positive feedback. It was not only fun to produce this Video but we hope that we can encourage people to start sewing.