Gathered Belt Tutorial

This is the final belt tutorial for Belt Week!  I hope you found one or two tutorials to give a try!

If you make any of the belts using my tutorials, I’d love if you uploaded them to flickr so I can see them!  I need to do another Feature Friday in the next month!

Today’s belt is just a little bit more work than the others, but still super easy.  That’s the great thing about belts—it seems that many of them can be made in less than an hour, most of them under half an hour, and you have a great new accessory for your wardrobe!

First measure your waist, where you are wanting the belt to fall.  Subtract 3” from that measurement to get the length of the back part of the belt..  The width on my belt is 3”.  So whatever your waist measurement – 3 inches x 3” (unless you want a wider or narrower belt).  The – 3 inches is for the gap in the belt—so adjust according to your desires—the ends will be finished and take off a bit of the middle portion as well, so keep that in mind.  For the front of you belt, half your above measurement for the length, and add it to the total length of above.  If you want it more gathered, then add more inches here.  You also need four pieces of double fold bias tape, 1/2” wide.  See the following paragraph to help you out.

Example:  So let’s just PRETEND and say my waist was 20” (just to pick an easy number).  I will have one piece of fabric cut 18” x 3”, and one piece that is cut 27” x 3” (because half of 18” is 9”, so 18” + 9” is 27”).  I will also need two 18” pieces of double folded bias tape, and two 13” pieces of double folded bias tape or ribbon for tying.  Any questions?  Feel free to email me!

Hopefully you stuck with me through the measurements!

So you’ll need your measurements from above to make two strips of fabric, plus double folded bias tape.

 

Take the longer of the two strips, and on one of the long sides, sew two basting stitches close together.  Be sure to take the narrower side of the bias tape and stitch no lower than that—otherwise you’ll have to un-pick and no one wants to do that (so your gathering stitches don’t show).

 

Repeat on other long side as well.

 

Start pulling the top threads and gather until the entire thing is as long as your other strip.

Place the other strip of fabric and the gathered piece wrong sides together and pin.

 

Baste the strips together, just making sure to go no lower than your furthest basting stitch in.

 

Zig-zag the edges of the entire piece now.

 

Cut two pieces of double folded bias tape to be the same length as the fabric portion.  Cut two more pieces of bias tape or ribbon to be used for tying the belt.

 

To make the ties, place the bias tape about 1/4” from one of the short ends, onto the non-gathered side.

 

Fold down the end 1/4”, then another 1/4”.

 

Turn over onto the gathered side and topstitch closely together, making sure to catch the bias tape each time. 

Take your longer strips of bias tape, open, and fold it inside itself.

Place one of the corners on the end inside that fold, making sure the narrower side of the bias tape is on the gathered side.

Then fold down over.

Sew the bias tape closely to the edge, doing the same folding method you used above for the other end.  Repeat with other raw edge of belt.

Sew each bias tape piece used for the ties together to itself.  That sounds extremely weird, but we’re not sewing them to each other, just sewing it so the bias tape doesn’t open.

That’s all!  Now you have a cute, gathered belt!

 

Next 3 photos courtesy of my 5 year old (who is actually pretty cute with the camera, telling me things like, “Let’s move into the shade so the shadows aren’t as bad.”  He’s listening to what little his mommy knows!).

 

Today is the last day to enter your belts you’ve made, anytime in your life.   Entries are accepted until 11:59 PM MST, Friday night, November 12th.

You can also link any belts by going to this post.