Felted Camera Bag Knitting Pattern

Yes, felting has been subject to excesses—big bags, with a zillion colors and novelty yarns.   But, excesses aside, knitting and felting is a great way to make handsome, sturdy bags for every purpose. 

The camera bags you can buy tend to be stiff and chunky, and a little harsh to wear or to carry—enough that lots of camera owners don’t have their cameras with them when they want them.  Commercial cases are made that way because a dropped digital camera can quickly become a broken digital camera.  A firm felted wool case, however, will pad in wool will protect your camera reasonably well, and it’s is comfortable; you don’t need the stiff Kevlar models unless you’re a combat photographer.  If you’re giving a camera as a gift, this is the perfect way to wrap it, and is the work of just a couple of evenings.

My first try with a camera bag was the one on the left, which I made from of leftover Noro and Nashua yarns in a heavy Aran weight, so a friend could wear his camera comfortably around his neck or over a shoulder, on his morning walks with his dogs, or on our hikes in the foothills of the Rockies. 

The one on the right is my own, made from largely from Cascade’s Ecological Wool, with bits of silk from a bag of not-much-more-than-strands.  I allowed more room for edging, and made the straps in a four stitch cable, four rows apart, with a purl edge.  It is this bag from which the instructions are derived. 

This should be obvious, but your yarns for this should be wool or other feltable fiber.  While it will felt properly with a little strand of silk here or there, it won’t felt properly along with more than that.

Smaller, and it would hold a cellphone.  In a luxury or novelty yarn, perhaps with some beading or felted embellishment, it would make an evening bag.  Patterned to match a ski sweater, it’s perfect for attaching a lift pass, and holding lip balm and sunblock, a credit card and a little cash, a handkerchief, and a cellphone.

You will need for this project:

About 75 gms (3 ounces) 100% wool knitting worsted.

Size 10 double-point needles, set of 5; two #7 double points for the straps.

Crochet hook

Two D-rings, purchased after felting, and sized to the felted width of the straps.  You can purchase these at any hardware store.

Needle and strong thread, and a thimble; stitching on felting is tough.

Gauge is not important for this project.  What is important is felting it far enough, but only far enough, to fit your camera, which means making it to your camera’s proportions, allowing for slightly greater shrinkage on the length of the knitting than on the width.  It has to be felted hard, and stiff.