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Saturday 23 October 2010

Fabric Bow Belt Tutorial

I am particularly fussy when it comes to clothes and accessories and refuse to spend money on anything if it isn't EXACTLY what I want. I've been in search of a black belt that I could wear with a few of my dresses but could not find what I hand in mind in any stores; so I decided to make myself one instead.

It was a very easy fun little project and I really like the result. So here's how I did it if you fancy making one for yourself.

I'm a little embarrassed about the awful photos and can only apologise, I just hope they don't make the instructions too hard to follow.

You Will Need:
1 metre of a light weight cotton/fabric of your choice (you will have a lot left over from this but you need it for the length of the belt. Alternatively you could use 1/2 metre of fabric and have side seams in the belt.)

Fusible Interfacing.

3 or 4 snap fasteners.

Cotton.

How To:
1cm Seam Allowance unless indicated.

1. Cut out two rectangles 8cm x 12cm from a your fabric.

Measure your waist or hips (depending on where you want the belt to sit) and cut one long rectangle 11cm x 'your body measurement' + 6cm.

Cut out some fusible interfacing for each piece of fabric a little smaller than each rectangle and iron on.


2. Sew the two small rectangles together right side to right side, leaving one short side open.

Snip off the corners and some of the excess fabric in the seam allowance.

3. Turn the rectangle right side out, folding the raw edges of the open edge inside the rectangle and iron down.

Top stitch this open edge closed and then top stitch the other short edge for aesthetic purposes.

4. Fold the long rectangle width ways right side to right side.

Sew down the length of the rectangle and turn out.

Tuck the open edges inside the rectangle and top stitch down and iron the whole belt.

5. Pinch the centre of the smaller rectangle into a concertina and hand sew down.

Cut out and sew a mini version of the long rectangle. Mine measured 2.5 x 10cm but I recommend that you make it a little longer than you think you'll need so you can play around with it and see how it looks before you commit to sewing it onto the bow.

Wrap this mini rectangle around the concertinaed middle. Use a little fabric glue for extra strength and hand sew in place.



6. Hand sew the bow onto one end of the belt . I also tacked down the edges.


7. Work out where you want your snap fasteners to go (lining up the backs and fonts on both sides of the belt) and sew into place.

TA-DA! You have a new belt! If you have any questions just post a comment and I'll do my best to answer it.

1 comment:

  1. clever girl! I may need to have a go at this! everyone needs more waist cincher belts! x

    ReplyDelete

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