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Hands Occupied

Contemporary yarn crafts by Heidi Gustad. Knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame.

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How-to: DIY a Wide Belt

November 25, 2013 7 Comments

How-to: DIY a Wide Belt at Hands Occupied

I’m a lady with an hourglass figure. I like my figure, but a lot of modern clothes aren’t necessarily designed to flatter my silhouette. Belts, dresses and higher-waisted pieces are staples in my wardrobe. Sometimes I find a cute dress that doesn’t have a tailored waist, or a top that hangs straight down, masking my waist entirely. That’s when a wide elastic belt comes in particularly handy. Wide belts elongate your waist, are super cute, and they’re incredibly easy to make.

Supplies

a piece of wide elastic long enough to fit around your waist plus 4 inches
belt buckle, same height as your elastic
scissors
straight pins
measuring tape
needle
thread

How-to: DIY a Wide Belt at Hands Occupied

Directions

Measure your natural waist with a measuring tape. Cut your elastic to the size of your natural waist plus 1.5 to 2 inches, depending on how wide your belt buckle is. Your belt should fit quite snugly, with just a little stretch to the elastic when you’re wearing the finished belt. I recommend pinning your cut elastic to your belt buckle as shown below and trying it on, pin side out, for size before sewing it together. If it’s too loose, you can increase the seam allowance or trim excess elastic before sewing. Easy!

How-to: DIY a Wide Belt at Hands Occupied

When you’re satisfied with the fit, fold the raw end of the elastic under twice and pin in place.

How-to: DIY a Wide Belt at Hands Occupied

Finally, you can either hand or machine sew the elastic parallel to the belt buckle, removing straight pins as you go.

How-to: DIY a Wide Belt at Hands Occupied

That’s it! A crazy simple DIY belt that’s super slimming for people needing to accentuate an hourglass waist, or for people wanting to emphasize a subtle waist (my mom and I have very different body types – she tells me creating a waist illusion is important). :)

Filed Under: DIY Style, How-to, Sewing Tagged With: belt craft, craft, crafts, diy belt, diy style, elastic belt, flattering belt, Sewing, simple, wide belt diy

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

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Comments

  1. marissa | Rae Gun Ramblings

    November 25, 2013 at 11:11 pm

    ok I so need to keep my eyes open for some belt hardware

    Reply
  2. margaret

    December 8, 2013 at 7:29 pm

    These belts are great to wear with low cut jeans also! Keeps them from puckering in the back….and they are comfy. Never thought to fold under the elastic at buckle. That makes them look better. Thanks!

    Reply
  3. Maya

    October 9, 2014 at 9:01 am

    Would you be able to tell me the brand of the belt buckle you used? I can’t seem to find one like it!

    Reply
    • Heidi

      October 9, 2014 at 1:07 pm

      Sure! I got the buckle pictured at my local JoAnn, and the brand was Dritz. :)

      Reply
  4. september heart

    October 5, 2015 at 2:36 pm

    Where can I buy 5″ black elastic, preferably cotton gabardine to make cinch belts.

    Reply
  5. Alicia Bouck

    August 24, 2020 at 5:04 pm

    Awesome! I would love to make my own belt. Were do you find your belt hardware?

    Reply
    • Heidi

      September 8, 2020 at 7:07 pm

      Big box stores like JoAnn, but my favorite is local shops and indie online retailers. They usually have interesting finds! :)

      Reply

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi, an author, yarn craft designer and content creator specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. My work unapologetically features primary colors and vintage-meets-modern style. My first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is now available!

Professionally I’m most known for: advanced intarsia knitting design & modern latch hook design.

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Craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. / #latchhookbook out now!
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knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
Happy Wrestlemania weekend, folks!!! 🎊 It’s c Happy Wrestlemania weekend, folks!!! 🎊 It’s coincidentally International Punch Needle Rug Hooking Day today, so I’d be remiss not to share a first look at this project finished JUST in time to wear while I watch some rasslin’ on a pirate ship in a football stadium in Tampa! 💪🏻 I’m excited to watch tonight’s women’s matches the most. Eee!
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Pictured: A blond woman in a denim dress and glasses wearing a giant belt made with punch needle. The belt is made with wool in primary colors and was inspired by the WWE Universal Championship title belt. 
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This is just a preview - after jab 2.0 tomorrow (feeling grateful 🙏🏼), I’ll be editing together a vlog about the design process for this wooly waist cover. Sometimes it’s hard to know how to make some of your wilder craft ideas come to life. Stuff you’ll never find a pattern for, you know? I’ll finish editing that ASAP, but I might take a few days to edit if I feel like trash from 💉 and only want to watch wrestling and wrestling YouTube for a day or two. 😂
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#ipnrhd #punchneedle #wwe #wrestling #championshipbelt #wool #yarn #handmade #universalchampionship #universalchampion #rugmaking #wrestlingfan #wrestlemania37 #wrestlemania
A look at the halo on the back of my wrestling-ins A look at the halo on the back of my wrestling-inspired punch needle project! It’s interesting to see how fuzzy the handspun beige yarn is compared with the primary color sections of @knit_picks Wool of the Andes Bulky. ❤️💛💙🤎 
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Pictured: The back of an in-progress punch needle project. A wooden punch needle tool sits on the work.
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#punchneedle #woolrug #rugmaking  #kpambassadorsapr21 #sponsored #griefproject #handsoccupied #wrestlingfan #universalchampion #yarn #yarncraft #wool #needlepunch
Happy Easter / One week til Wrestlemania! Finishin Happy Easter / One week til Wrestlemania! Finishing up the punch needling part of this crazy @wwe inspired project by tonight. 💪🏻🧶 Anybody else have crafty plans for this fine spring day? 
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Pictured: A blond woman sits, smiling and holding an in-progress punch needle project inspired by the Universal Championship belt. Houseplants are in the background and there’s lots of sun. 
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#punchneedle #griefproject #handsoccupied #heidigustad #wrestlingcrafts #wwe #universalchampion #universalchampionship #wool #wooloftheandes #primarycolors #oxfordpunchneedle
I'm finally starting to get some of my energy back I'm finally starting to get some of my energy back from the past few weeks, and as I dip my toe back into production mode, the long-promised seamed sweater knitting YouTube series is at the top of my list. I've got FOUR versions of a simple sweater I've been playing with since last JULY to feature as a free pattern for folks who want to knit along during the series. Pictured is the first prototype for the series, knit in 2 colors of @knit_picks Mighty Stitch yarn. I imagine this soon-to-be short sleeved number will come in handy as an emergency Waldo costume or Christmas sweater. 🌲 
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I've got my own list of topics I think folks would like to see in a series like this: things like tips for construction, working with vintage patterns, how to seam as invisibly as possible, and more, but as always, I'd love to hear from you: What scares you about knitting seamed sweaters? What would be helpful to cover, especially since we'll be doing more long form video content. I get so much positive feedback on my series of 20 minute+ intarsia tutorials, so I'm using those as a starting point as I produce this series. Seamed sweaters using vintage or self-improvised patterns are one of my favorite things on the planet, so I'm eager to share some seamed sweater skills with y'all super sweet folks. 😉 
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Pictured: A red and white striped, short sleeved sweater knit in pieces that have yet to be seamed. They are laid out on a yellow and orange colorblock background and one sleeve is yet to be bound off. 
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#handsoccupied #seamedsweater #kpambassadorsmar21 #sponsored #knitpicks #waldo #waldosweater #wip #yarncraft #yarn #knitting #knittersofinstagram #heidigustad #vintageknitting #sweaterknitting
Work continues this evening on my absurd punch nee Work continues this evening on my absurd punch needle pro wrestling inspired championship belt project. I’ve finished most of the front pretty quickly thanks to the @knit_picks Wool of the Andes Bulky yarn I’m using. For now, I’ve got a couple more weeks until Wrestlemania, & I’m on track to finish this in time! 
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The biggest question I have is what to do with the “plates” - the open circles in the picture. Should I try to closely replicate the Universal Championship belt or go rogue and make it wool themed? Please advise in the comments. ☺️🧶🙏🏻🐑 
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Pictured: The front of an in-progress punch needle project. A wooden punch needle tool with navy yarn running through it rests on top of the work. 
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#kpambassadorsmar21 #sponsored #knitpicks #punchneedle #rugmaking #primarycolors #punchneedlerughooking #punchneedlelove #wool #wip #yarncraft #yarn #yarnaddict
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