Purse into Camera Bag {DIY}

Wayyyy back in March I came across this tutorial to transform a regular 'ole purse into a camera bag.  Since those adorable girly camera bags are way out of my price range (our full set of luggage was cheaper than these bags!) this was the perfect solution for me! 

I promptly headed out shopping (with coupons of course) and purchased a bag for around $20-30.  I made sure to get a bag that had both short straps and a long strap to give me options when carrying it.  This is the bag I chose (actually in it's finished state). 

I didn't find the headliner fabric at JoAnn's so I bought the cheapest foam I could find.  It was about $3-5 for a 1 inch thick sheet.  I also got the stiffest needlepoint canvas they had (to give the bag structure). 

I didn't take pictures of the process and be thankful I didn't!  It was ugly.  ha!  It was pretty much trial and error with the canvas and foam.  I cut them both down to size and attached them with spray adhesive.  I made canvas/foam pieces for the bottom and the longer sides.  I ran out of foam so for the ends I used batting and hot glued fabric over the batting and canvas. 

If you were to look inside the lining of my bag it wouldn't be pretty...but it's all covered up, so who cares?  The trickiest part about this bag was the shape.  It's narrower at the top so I had to trim the foam/canvas to be curved in these spots.  After the fact I figured out I could have gotten away with not turning the bag inside out, as I could have just pulled the liner out.  I had trouble turning the bag right side out and had to re-open the liner to get everything in the right place.  But in the end I have a cheap, cute and padded camera bag!

(Since my DSLR is the only camera I have I couldn't show it inside to show how roomy it is)

I currently don't have any extra lenses (hoping Santa brings me one!) so I haven't made any dividers.  But I have some from my old camera bag so I'm just going to use those since they fit (the orange divider).  There is plenty of room for my charger, cord, manual, lens(es), camera and any other accessories!  There's even room to throw in my phone and wallet so I don't have to carry my purse when I have my camera.  I love it!

Total Project Cost: $30-35
Time to Make: an hour or two, just however long it takes you to customize it for your bag

If you have a DSLR camera, what do you use for a camera bag?