A couple of weeks ago, I did a post and video on how to make this white floral & gem design for a belly dance costume bra. This week, I want to share with you how I made a matching belly dance belt from scratch. By the end of this video, you will know how to make a belt pattern that fits you perfectly and a belt decorated with flowers and rhinestones. So let’s get started!
Supplies:
Paper & tape – you really don’t need special paper to make a pattern. I just used some scrap paper and taped them together to get the length I needed.
Fabric – Just like the bra, I used stretchy, velvet white fabric for the belt
Fake flowers from a dollar store
Bead Landing Jewels rhinestones from Michel’s, or you can use any rhinestones.
Hot glue gun
Interfacing or felt type of material to make the base of the belt
Scissors, pins, needles and thread
1. Make a belt pattern
Okay, so first we’ll make a belt pattern. Usually a belly dance belt comes in 2 parts, a front part and back part.
First, tape a couple of sheets of paper together. Pin the paper to your pants where you want the belt to sit. Think about the shape of the belt you want, and put marks with a pen where the front part of the best should end and how deep the front centre should be. If you are making a more intricate design, you may want to put more marks to make the shape right.
And do the same with the back part of the belt. I taped together 3 sheets of paper here, and pinned it to my pants. The back part is a bit more tricky to put marks on, so if you have someone to help you out, that will make things easier 🙂
If you are making a symmetrical design like mine, fold the pattern in half, cut the pattern with scissors based on the marks you made, and make it to the shape you want. It’s better to cut it wider than you would want it, so you can make small adjustments to make it perfect. If you cut it too narrow, then you may have to tape more paper to it, which can make the pattern hard to work with.
Make sure the ends of the patterns are the same width, so when you connect the front and back parts together, the lines flow nicely. Also, give a few centimeters on each side of the back pattern, so when you connect it to the front part, there is an overlapping section on each side, and the front belt should be on top of the back belt.
2. Trace the patterns.
Then trace the patterns onto interfacing and fabric. Just place the pattern on top of the interfacing, trace it, and cut it out. Remember to mark where the front and back belts should overlap.
When you trace the patterns on to the fabric, make sure you give about 1-1.5 cm for a seam allowance. Then once you finish tracing, cut the fabric.
3. Sew the fabric onto interfacing.
Match up the interfacing and the fabric and sew them together. Just like the bra, I used my sewing machine for this, but you can sew by hand as well. And I connected the 2 parts on one side, so I can decorate them together and the design will have a nice flow.
For the back part, after I sewed the fabric onto the interfacing, I added 3 small straight darts along the top and 1 small one at the bottom, so it fits the curve of my body better.
Best way to figure out how many darts to add is to pin the back part of the belt onto your pants again, just like when you created your belt pattern, then see how much gap there is between the belt and your body. Then start adding small darts until the belt fits you perfectly.
4. Glue flowers on!
So once you have the base of the belt ready, it’s time to have fun and glue on the flowers and rhinestones. Just like how we did for the bra, pour some rhinestones on a plate, place flowers on the belt to decide your design while your hot glue gun heats up. It’s best to start with big pieces then fill the rest with smaller flowers.
If the plastic on the back of the flowers is sticking out, cut it off, then put some glue on and press the flower against the fabric.
5. Glue rhinestones on!
When flowers are done, get started on the rhinestones. Make sure you mark where the front belt overlaps with the back belt. Mark it with a couple of pins, so you don’t glue the entire thing with rhinestones and you can’t attach hooks.
So put glue on a small area first, then start placing rhinestones. And keep going until you are happy. It’s nice to think about the flow of the design especially where the front and back sections connect, so when you wear the belt, it looks seamless.
Just like the bra, I placed rhinestones densely in some areas and sparsely in other areas.
6. Sew on hooks and/or snaps.
7. Try on!
And you’re done! Enjoy dancing in this costume at your spring and summer events.
If you have any questions, or if you make one of these, please share in the comment section below 🙂 Thank you for reading!
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