Sew Easy #24, How to Make Belts and Buckles

a belt covered with the same fabric which was  used in making your dress is often the most becoming for house dresses as well as for better  dresses it's becoming especially if you don't care to call attention to your waistline such a  belt is often referred to as a self-covered belt there are many ways to make a self-covered  belt and you'll want to choose one which will give you both a smart appearance  and durability in the finished belt here is a method that I find quite satisfactory  and easy you start with commercial belting and you'll want to select building  level wash as well as dry clean the strip of fabric used to cover the belt is  often cut are usually cut along the lengthwise grain of the fabric however you could cut it on  crosswise grain if that would give you a better design for your dress if you cut it  along the very edge of the fabric be sure to cut away the selvage so that  both sides of your strip will be the same we cut that strip six inches longer than  the waistline measurement and our model's waistline measurement was 28 inches so I cut  my strip the 28 inches plus the extra 6 inches here's how I arrived at the width of this strip  of fabric when the belt is finished the fabric should extend a little bit on each side so the  building will not show when it's being worn the building I'm using is  three quarters of an inch wide we'll double that width then  add one eighth of an inch then when we fold that strip  so the edges meet in the middle we'll have just the right  amount of fabric at each edge that was twice the width of the  belting plus an eighth of an inch this method is acceptable for fabrics  about the weight of cotton print if your fabric has a design now is the time  when you'll want to be sure it will be centered now by bringing these two edges together it's  easy to keep the folded edges straight and smooth if your fabric will take a firm crease you  may not need to baste these edges in place one end of the belt should be cut to a point and very quickly cut a pattern  for that point of paper first a strip just the width of your belting and pull that right through the middle and trim to get the paper you want pull that right on your belting and trim and you have a nice well centered point now we're ready to put the building down on the fabric but we don't want the raw edge of  the building to show here at the point so we'll bring the fabric around to the back  side to cover just the point here's how we do it bring the point of the building about  half an inch from the end of the fabric then fold along the point first one side  and then the other creasing them well unfold and trim off just outside  of the fold that you made first let your creases fall back into place  and now the same thing with your fabric about half an inch from the end  fold first one than the other press the creases in and trim off the excess from  just outside the first fold you made but leave enough to catch under the stitching start stitching at the point and on the wrong side after you've stitched from the  point to the edge of your belting leave your needle down raise your  presser foot and turn your corner now you can use the edge of  your belting as your seam guide start stitching at the point again and stitch  the other side in place in exactly the same way we have four threads at the point where we started  both of our rows of stitching we don't want a knot so the best thing to do is to pull those threads  through to the wrong side thread them into a needle and then bring them down between the  fabric and the building and tack them in place and here's the belt ready for the buckle this is just one of the many kinds  of buckles found on the market today whatever kind you get again  be sure that it's washable and follow the directions that come with a  particular kind of buckle that you have purchased remove one side of the  covering from your gum pattern and place the gum side of the pattern  down on the wrong side of your fabric place it with the grain of your fabric  and then trim around the pattern cut down through the middle and  along each of the slashes indicated then remove the other covering from the gum paper and place the buckle top buckle  which is the largest of the two down on the gum side locate the cross bars on  your pattern and center your buckle in that way after this is simply a case by folding  the edges over smoothly and neatly finish by pressing the back  side of the buckle into place and then attach the prong with pliers now you have your belt and your buckle let me  describe what you'll do from here cut the slot for the prong of your buckle start two inches from the  end make a slot a little less than an inch long be sure you get your prong right side up point it away from the end of the  belt then it will go on correctly the measurements we have given will enable you  to use your machine to stitch the buckle in place and now for the other end in order to have  a good fit start at the crossbar right even with the fabric measure off your exact body  measurement and put one hole at that stop then put another hole on either side  eyelets will reinforce the holes you'll have a self-covered  belt that you'll enjoy wearing