You can weave a beautiful and durable camera strap or gun sling using mohair cord. Here are the directions for making a 28-inch-long strap with 9 strands of 8-ply mohair. If you choose, you can decorate your strap with a design made from 2-ply mohair, three examples are included.
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My husband made me a beautiful weaving loom for Christmas, and I have been so excited to start using it! My goal is to eventually make custom horse tack (breast collars and cinches) with mohair from my own Angora goats, but I am still perfecting my spinning and have yet to learn how to ply and dye yarn.
To jumpstart my weaving, I decided to order mohair from U-Braid-It and practice on some smaller projects. After watching a ton of YouTube videos, I was eager to try my hand at weaving. I wanted to make something useful and also practice my techniques. My Canon Rebel needed a strap and two of our guns didn’t have slings, so decided to construct a mini roper cinch for each of them. They turned out beautifully and I gained the confidence I needed to make my first larger project for our horses.
Here is how I made a mohair camera strap and two gun slings using mohair, my weaving loom, and tapestry needles.
Materials Needed for Making a Mohair Camera Strap or Gun Sling
- Weaving loom
- 25 feet of 8-ply mohair cord
- Scissors
- Masking tape
- Measuring tape
- Tapestry needles
- Hemostats or needle nose pliers
- Cord separator
- Cord beater
- 1-inch D rings
- Other hardware (nylon buckles or gun sling swivels)
- 5/8-inch nylon strap
- Lighter
- 12 feet of 2-ply mohair yarn
You can buy or make a weaving loom. Mine is made from 1×3 inch hardwood with holes drilled every inch for adjustability to any size project. It has metal hooks to secure your D rings for hand weaving.
The strap is made by weaving 8-ply mohair between the D rings. You will need scissors to cut the mohair, masking tape for the ends of the yarn, and a flexible measuring tape for your project. Tapestry needles and hemostats or needle nose pliers are helpful for burying the ends of the yarn when you are finished weaving.
Since this is a double woven design, a cord separator helps keep the front and back strands from overlapping. I use a ¼ inch dowel that fits into the holes on my loom as a cord separator. A cord beater helps compact your weaving so that it is nice and tight. I use a piece of sanded wood as a cord beater.
I made the camera strap and gun slings with 1-inch D rings. The camera strap is attached to the camera with two pieces of 5/8-inch nylon strap and buckles while the gun slings were attached with the same nylon strap and gun sling swivels. You can buy any type of hardware that fits the needs of your project. Use a lighter to melt the ends of the nylon strap after you cut it so that it does not fray.
If you want to make a design on your camera strap or gun sling, you can use any color 2-ply mohair. I used a couple feet of different colors to make arrows and diamonds. Twelve feet is enough to make a design on both ends of the strap.
Directions for Making a Mohair Camera Strap or Gun Sling
- Measure out and cut a 25-foot-long piece of 8-ply mohair cord
- Wrap both ends with masking tape so that they do not unravel
- Adjust your loom so that the hooks are 28 inches apart
- Put a 1-inch D ring on both the upper and lower loom hooks
- Thread one end of the 8-ply cord into the upper D ring leaving 24 inches of loose cord coming out the back on the lefthand side, secure with a hemostat so that it does not move
- Thread the long cord through the front of the lower D ring, pull so that it is snug
- Come back up to the upper D ring and thread the long piece from behind the D ring
- Continue this process of coming in the front of the lower D and behind the upper D until you have 9 strands. Five of the strands should be in front and 4 in the back
- You should end up with at least 24 inches of loose cord at the top, on the lefthand side of the upper D and at the bottom, on the righthand side of the lower D, which you will use for weaving. (See the second image above)
- To finish the roper-style bottom, use your fingers to push the first front strand down and pull the first back strand forward. Push down and pull up every other cord so that now all of the back strands are in the front and the front strands are in the back. Thread the loose end coming out the righthand side through this space and pull it snug. It will lay horizontally against all the vertical strands.
- Run your hands up to the cord separator and then come down to the weave you just did. This will bring the front strands back to the front and the back strands back to the back. Weave the loose piece through this space so it is coming out the righthand side again. Use your cord beater to make the weave nice and tight. (See the first image above)
- Repeat this process two more times, pushing down and pulling up every other strand and weaving the loose piece through. You should have the cord woven through six times horizontally when you are done.
- Now you are ready to bury the end. I bury the end by flipping the loom over and running the tip of my hemostats through the weave and pulling the cord through. I do this twice in two different directions so that it is secure. When it is buried twice, you can trim the end with scissors
- To finish the roper-style top, you will do the same thing. Use your fingers to push the first front strand down and pull the first back strand forward. Push down and pull up every other cord so that now all of the back strands are in the front and the front strands are in the back. Thread the loose end coming out the righthand side through this space and pull it snug. It will lay horizontally against all the vertical strands.
- Repeat until you have the loose cord woven through six times horizontally.
- Bury the end like in the same way that you did on the bottom.
- Now the strap is essentially done and you can make a design on it if you wish. To make an arrow or pyramid shape, cut a piece of 2-ply mohair and fold it in half and weave it under one vertical strand of 8-ply mohair and over the next. Omit one strand after you reach the other side each time to make a triangle shape.
- When you are done using one color of the 2-ply mohair, secure the end by threading it through a tapestry needle and weaving it twice through your design on the back side and trimming the end with scissors. If the weave is tight, use the needle nose pliers to give you the leverage you need to pull the needle through.
- Instead of leap-frogging the 2-ply over and under the 8-ply cord, you can also wrap the 2-ply around and come through the back of your wrap to secure the ends. Get creative with the design and don’t be afraid to experiment! (See some design ideas in the image below)
- Once you are done with your design, you can remove your strap from the loom.
- To attach your mohair strap to a camera or firearm, you can cut 5/8-inch nylon strap to the length that you want and use buckles to secure it. Use a lighter to melt the ends of the nylon strap so that it does not fray.
Mother, farmer, author, and teacher by trade… She loves tending to things and watching them grow!