https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/diy-couture-belt • Posted by Rosie M.
A cloth belt can be tied around a dress, jumper or cardigan to bring it in at the waist and create a flattering shape. It can be worn as a normal buckled belt would be on a pair of trousers. It can be tied with a knot or a bow for decoration. The belt can be made from either one strip of fabric folded in half, or two narrower strips joined together, so that it has a different fabric on each side. This set of written instructions explains how to make the first kind, but the diagrams show how the second kind can easily be made as well.
A cloth belt can be tied around a dress, jumper or cardigan to bring it in at the waist and create a flattering shape. It can be worn as a normal buckled belt would be on a pair of trousers. It can be tied with a knot or a bow for decoration. The belt can be made from either one strip of fabric folded in half, or two narrower strips joined together, so that it has a different fabric on each side. This set of written instructions explains how to make the first kind, but the diagrams show how the second kind can easily be made as well.
Cut a piece of fabric about as long as you want your belt. Make sure it is as long as the full distance round your waist or hips plus extra for tying.
Fold the piece in half longways, with the right side of the fabric hidden on the inside of the fold. You should be looking at the wrong side of your fabric.
Pin the piece together where the two long edges meet. When you sew along this edge you will need to leave a gap of about five centimetres. Mark each end of this gap with pins so you don’t sew merrily over it.
Sew along the long pinned edge, remembering to leave your gap.
Mark curved or sloping lines at each end of your fabric of you want a shaped belt. This will help you sew accurately.
Sew over the lines you have marked and trim off the excess fabric. Trim close at the pointed corners.
You have now made a kind of belt-shaped pocket with a little unsewn gap
Poke your fingers into the unsewn gap and pull the inside out, exposing the right side of the fabric.
Lay your belt out and iron it flat, tucking the edges around the gap under so that they form part of a long continuous straight edge.
Sew a line of straight stitch 1 or 2mm from the edge of this straight edge, sewing over the unsewn gap. You have made a belt!