craft whatever: Tutorial: Easy Reversible Fabric Belt for Summer

Do you like this belt? Well, I made it. And I thought I would share the tutorial with you today! How's that sound?

You see, I used to have this gorgeous belt, a Vera Bradley belt, but the buckle broke. I was crushed. And in need of a new belt. I had that VB belt for-ev-er! You see, the Vera belt was a gift, and since I am so ~~cheap~~ awesome at saving money I decided to make a very similar belt for much less moolah.

The original VB belt was very long and I did this double-over thing with the end that I really got used to wearing so I wanted to make a belt similar in construction/size. (Having said that, I have a couple more belts to share with you later on that address some of the things that bug me about this belt- like the length and thinness.)

Here is my tutorial for a FAST and EASY Reversible Fabric Belt that you can make today and wear in about an hour (or less)!

I had trouble finding the buckle in a store. I found this one at Hancock Fabrics.

Step 1: Cut your fabrics based on two things- size of the buckle and desired length of your belt. My old belt was about 42 or so inches long which coincides with the width of my cotton fabric (44" wide). So I decided to just use the entire width of fabric as my belt length. For the width, measure the straight bar in the middle of your buckle and multiply that by 4.
My buckle was 1.5" wide x 4 = 6" so I cut each fabric piece to 44" long X 6" wide.

Step 2: a. Fold length of fabric in half and press. b. Open and fold raw edges to the crease you made in fig. a. Press. c. Fold in half along that first crease and press.

When you get to "c" try, try, try your best to keep the belt 1.5" wide at all parts. Do this for both fabric pieces.

Step 3: Sew ends with "right" sides together. I did a few zig zags over the raw edges and a few straight stitches for a clean edge.

Step 4: Feed the buckle onto the belt like this:

At this point, if you feel the belt is going to be too long, cut it to size.

Step 5: Pin the two strips together.

Your strips *should* be exactly the same right? But in reality, you may have to shimmy them to be even in spots.

The end of the belt, I just did a simple fold like this:

Then when you sew it together, just tuck in any stray raw edges so they don't stick out.

Step 6: Sew fabric together. First, sew across the belt near the buckle. Then edgestitch along each side. Options here are using different thread color in your bobbin or sew two rows along each edge. Options only.

I couldn't get as close as I wanted to the buckle. I might hand sew it later (although I am quite allergic to hand sewing!) or try a different presser foot or just leave it. I also think I could sew along the edges in this middle area with the entire strip laid out flat before putting the buckle on. But I really wanted to have a no-fuss solution to my broken belt. If you have a solution to this could you share your secret with me?

I do have a couple more belt ideas that I can't wait to share with you! Perfect for summer! {yay summer}

That's it! Now go wear the heck out of your new belt !!!!