Belts Archives -

Tutorial: Easy Corset Style Belt (with free pattern)

Emily Joice — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 18:33:23 +0000

I only started sewing a few years ago, and I’ve always found corsets to be a bit intimidating. But a corset belt? I just wanted to try and see if I could do it, and I could not be happier with the result. It was actually a lot easier than I expected too!

Based on my experiment, this tutorial will teach you how to create a corset-style belt that laces up in the front. You can draw out your own pattern based on the pictures if you want, but I’m also providing a free PDF with the design I used. Just be sure to lengthen/shorted according to the size of your own waist.

sewing Pattern pDF

This page contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

Supplies Needed:

1/4 yard of fabric (or large scraps)
Mid-weight interfacing (I used Pellon 950f)
A leather hole punch
1/4″ grommets
a grommet squasher

Step 1

Make your Corset pattern

You can make your own corset pattern if you want to. Feel free to use the one pictured as a reference. I’ve also digitized the pattern that I created, so feel free to print it and use the shorten and lengthen lines to make it fit your waist. The final waist measurement should be slightly less than your waist measurement, to account for the lace up area in the front of the belt.

Step 2

Cut 2 fabric pieces and 2 interfacing on the fold

I like to use fabric scraps to make what ever accessories I can. So this is leftover from a pair of pants I made a while ago. You should only need about 1/4 yard of fabric. Cut these on the fold and make sure you cut 2.

Step 3

apply interfacing to the corset

Make sure to follow the instructions of your fusible interfacing and apply it to both sides of the fabric belt pieces.

Step 4

sew the corset belt together leaving a gap in the middle

With right sides together, sew the two belt pieces. Make sure to leave a gap in the middle so that you can turn it in the next step.

Step 5

clip corners and curves and turn belt right-side out

Use scissors to clip all corners and curves before turning out to the right side. I find it useful to have some kind of pointy tool available to poke out the points of the belt.

Step 6

press belt and sew up the gap

One turned, press the belt flat. Then sew up the gap in the back. You can hand sew and use an invisible stitch, but I’m usually too lazy and just sew it up by edgestitching with a matching thread.

Step 7

punch holes in the belt

Measure the spacing between holes (about an inch) and drawn them onto the fabric using tailor’s chalk or an erasable marker. Using a leather punching tool, poke holes on the marks you made.

Step 8

Insert grommet and squash it in place

Insert the grommet piece through the hole, them place the flat washer on the reverse side of the fabric. There are many ways to apply grommets, but I have found that the easiest way for me is to use one of these big grommet squasher. It doesn’t require as much grip strength as other tools I’ve used in the past. You place it face down on the bottom and squash in place.

Step 9

repeat for all holes

Repeat for all of the grommets.

Finished!

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Tutorial: How to Make a Braided Belt With T-shirt Scraps

Emily Joice — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 18:34:18 +0000

Learn how to make a quick braided belt using leftover fabric scraps. You can use as many strands as you like for this braid, but in my instructions I’ll go over how to braid 5 strands together. Have fun with your unique creation.

Check out more DIY belt tutorials

This page contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

Supplies Needed:

Scraps of knit fabric
2 D-rings (or any type of buckle)
Matching thread
Optional: Loop turner

Step 1

Cut the knit fabric into strips

For this braid, I cut 5 long strips of fabric. Make sure they are long enough to fit around your waist at least twice. You can make them longer and trim them at the end.

Also, make sure you’re using knit fabric for this (such as jersey). While you can braid woven fabric, it tends to wrinkle and crinkle, so you need to be more precise when folding the braids. Knit fabrics are more bendable and flexible.

Step 2

Optional: sew your strips into tubes

If you’re using fabric that has a clear right and wrong side, it’s a good idea to sew them into tubes before braiding. This will prevent the wrong side from showing up in the final braid. However, if you have a fabric that’s the same color or design on both sides, this step does not matter as much.

Step 3

Turn the tubes right-side out

Using a loop turner (or what ever tool you find easiest to use) turn your fabric strips to the right side. You do not have to press the tubes after turning them (but you can if you want to).

Step 4

Sew the ends together

Fan them out a little when sewing together rather than stacking them all on top of each other. This will make it a little easier to start the braid cleanly.

Step 5

braid the strands together

To braid 5 strands together start with the strand on the far left. Bring that strand over one and under one so that now it’s sitting in the middle. Then move the strand on the far right. Move that strand over one and under one. Go to the far left strand and move it over one and under one. Then back to the far right, and so on.

Continue with this pattern until you have finished the entire braid.

Step 6

Sew the end and trim strands to match

When you get to the end, sew across all of the strands. Then trim them so that they match in length.

Step 7

Wrap one end around two D-rings

Wrap the cut end around two D-rings and hand-sew it in place.

Finished!

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Tutorial: How to Make a Belt With Fabric Scraps

Emily Joice — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 23:04:43 +0000

I love making accessories with leftover fabric scraps. Not only does this reduce the amount of waste from my sewing hobby, but it also means I end up with a lot of truly unique creations. So buckle in and get ready to make your own belt, with a buckle, eyelets and all (I promise it’s not as hard as it looks!).

Check out more DIY belt tutorials

This page contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

Supplies Needed:

1 Buckle with a prong
Fabric scraps
Paper, pencil, and ruler
Mid-weight interfacing
Belting or webbing (get a width that matches the with of your belt buckle)
An awl and/or a fabric hole puncher (it is also called a leather hole punch)
1/4″ grommets
A grommet squasher (I prefer this big presser, but you can also get smaller handheld ones)

Step 1

Make a rectangle pattern for your belt

The length of your belt should be approximately the size of your waist plus 6 inches to account for overlap.

The width will be determined by the size of your buckle. Measure the inside of your buckle and double that number. So since if your buckle is 1 inch, then your pattern needs to be 2 inches wide

Don’t forget to add seam allowance! I added 1/2 inch around the entire belt.

Step 2

arrange your fabric scraps

Lay out your fabric scraps to determine how you want them to look on the final belt. It’s a good idea to square off the edges to make sewing them together easier.

Step 3

sew your scraps together

Sew the scraps together and press the seams open. Make sure it’s long enough for your belt pattern.

Step 4

cut out your belt pattern

Step 5

cut out and apply interfacing

Cut out interfacing with the same belt pattern then fuse it to the back of your belt.

Step 6

fold the belt in half and sew the length

When I do this, I like to fold one end of the belt back to ensure the raw edges don’t become a problem later on.

Step 7

press the seam to the back of the belt

Pressing the seam open to the back will keep it from showing at all on the front of the belt and it will make it easier to insert the belting.

Step 8

sew a point on the end of the belt

Draw in a point on one end of the belt (the side you did not fold in earlier). Sew the point and clip the fabric. Then trim the belting to match the point on the belt.

Step 9

Push the point in and insert belting to turn fabric over the belt

This part can be a little tricky. I find it helps to first push in the pointy side of the fabric. Then insert the belting and push the point further into the belt. As you do this the fabric will flip over and turn onto the webbing as you turn it right side out. Be sure to press the the belt to flatten it before moving on.

Step 10

measure the distance between grommet holes

Mark your grommet holes about 1.5 inches away from each other. You can make as many as you want.

Step 11

punch holes in the belt

Use a leather hole punch to make holes in the places you marked. This can be be a little annoying and you might have to wiggle it around a little to punch all the way through. It your belting is giving you trouble, an awl can also be used to help get the holes started.

Step 12

insert grommets and squash in place

Add the grommet through facing the front of the belt. The little, flat washer goes on the back of the belt. Now you need to squash the two together. There are many ways of doing this, but my favorite is using one of these grommet squasher machines (pictured below). You insert the belt with the grommet face down on the little platform on the bottom, then just push it down to press the grommet in place. It doesn’t require as much grip strength as other methods I’ve seen.

Step 13

pull fabric back and cut belting

Now we need to attach the belt to the buckle. To start with, we need to trim the belting away from the part that will wrap around the buckle (so it won’t be too bulky). Pull back the fabric and trim the webbing to you have about 1.5 inches of just fabric at the end of the belt.

Step 14

Poke a hole in the belt

Using an awl (or sharp, pointy tool) poke a hole in the belt at the edge of the belting so that the hole does NOT go through the belting. Make sure it is centered along the width belt.

Step 15

insert the prong through the hole and fold the fabric around the belt

Make sure when inserting the prong that the belt is facing the correct direction. The prong should sit flat on the front of the belt. Then fold over the fabric on the back of the belt and hand sew it closed. Go over the hand-sewn edges twice to give it extra security and make sure the belt buckle won’t come loose.

Finished!

The post Tutorial: How to Make a Belt With Fabric Scraps appeared first on .

Tutorial: Obi-Style Belt for Anime Costumes (free pattern)

Emily Joice — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 18:35:26 +0000

I’ve always liked how wrap-around belts look with the thin string going around the middle. So, I decided to make my own using some fabric scraps that I have on hand. This is actually a fairly simple tutorial that’s great even if you’re a beginner. You can print the pattern that I used for this, just remember to adjust it to match your own waist size.

Check out more DIY belt tutorials

This page contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

Supplies Needed:

about 1/4 yard of fabric (or some large scraps, the front and back don’t need to match)
Mid-weight interfacing (I used Pellon 950f)
Optional: matching ribbon

Step 1

Make your obi pattern

I’ve digitized my pattern if you want to print that. You’ll just need to adjust the length of the belt so that it fits around your waist plus 3 inches for overlap. You can use a ribbon instead of the long fabric rectangle if you prefer.

sewing Pattern pDF

Step 2

cut out your fabric pieces

Cut two belt pieces on the fold and two long, narrow rectangles for the ribbon. The front and back fabric don’t have to match.

Step 3

cut out and apply the interfacing

Cut 2 interfacing on the fold and fuse it to the two fabric pieces.

Step 4

sew the ribbon

Double fold the ribbon the same way you would fold belt carriers or bias tape, then sew down the length of the ribbon.

Step 5

baste ONE ribbon to one side of the belt

Put the other ribbon aside, it will be added later.

Step 6

sandwich the ribbon between the two belt pieces and sew them together

Leave a gap in the center of the belt for turning it out.

Step 7

turn right side out

The ribbon should be sewn into the center of one side.

Step 8

press the belt flat and sew up the gap

You can hand sew with an invisible stitch or machine stitch with matching thread.

Step 9

sew the second ribbon on the other side of the belt

Sew it about 3 inches in from the edge of the belt so that it will be at the spot where the belt wrap overlaps. Start with the ribbon facing in toward the center of the belt.

Step 10

flip the ribbon and sew again to cover the raw edges

After sewing in place, fold the ribbon over so that now it faces the end of the belt. Sew close to the fold.

Finished!

The post Tutorial: Obi-Style Belt for Anime Costumes (free pattern) appeared first on .

Tutorial: Adjustable Belt With Elastic Back

Emily Joice — Sun, 08 Feb 2026 18:36:29 +0000

This is probably my favorite belt to make. Not only is it really quite easy, but the elastic back makes the belt completely adjustable too! So choose some fancy fabric scraps and what ever color elastic you want to put together this quick and easy belt.

Check out more DIY belt tutorials

This page contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

Supplies Needed:

1″ elastic
Scraps of fabric
Mid-weight interfacing (I used Pellon 950f)
A clip-on Buckle

Step 1

make your pattern and cut your fabric pieces

You want to cut 2 of the rounded longer pieces and 2 of the rectangular short ones.

sewing Pattern pDF

Step 2

cut your interfacing

Likewise, cut two interfacing long pieces, and two shorter rectangles

Step 3

apply interfacing to the fabric

Fuse the interfacing to the back of each belt piece.

Step 4

sew fabric pieces together

Sew the matching pieces together leaving one end open. On the open ends, fold the fabric to the inside before stitching.

Step 5

clip and trim curves and corners

Step 6

turn to right side and press belt pieces

Step 7

cut elastic to fit around your back

You want to make the piece short enough that it will slightly stretch as you’re wearing the belt, but won’t feel like it’s squeezing you.

Step 8

insert elastic into the ends of the belt pieces and sew in place

Insert the elastic into the open sides of the belt pieces then edgestitch the elastic in place. To further reinforce the elastic, I recommend sewing a box X as well.

As shown below, start by making a horizontal line going right, then straight down, then back to the left. Now go on the diagonal, then back down going over the first set of stitches, and then diagonal the other way.

Step 9

add buckle to shorter belt piece

Now all you have to do is add the buckle. The one I’m using is a vintage military-style buckle that you can clip on, but you can sew your belt to what ever king of buckle you like.

Finished!

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