Lace Belt Tutorial

Thanks to my friend Jamie's new interest in DIY belts, I decided I had to give it a try. And look what I made!

Cute, yes? I'll admit, I had no idea where to start, so I did what I always do. I googled. After some hunting, I decided on crocheted lace. My inspiration came from this one at The Sky is Pink:

From there, I headed to JoAnn's to see what I could find. I wound up with 1 spool of white cotton crocheted lace (3 ft/spool), and 1 spool of twill tape (9ft/spool), which I just found out I LOVE! I like the girly lace paired with the twill vs. satin to dress it down a bit. I think it'll be more versatile that way.

Spool of lace: $3.99
Spool of twill: $3.99
Though if you had coupons, it would be even cheaper! I opted to use my coupon on the Martha Stewart Score Board, which I'm sure you'll hear all about at a later date.

You can see that one side of the crocheted lace has a scalloped edge (bottom), and one has a straight, thicker edge (top). I suggest ironing both the lace and twill before you start. I used most of the lace, but had twill leftovers. I actually irons the whole spool though. I figured I'd might as well while the iron was hot. As I started unrolling, it was twisted up as it got closer to the center of the spool.

Ok, all ironed? Let's start.

1. Layer your lace and twill, and wrap it around your waist. Tie the twill. Once the twill has it all anchored, adjust the lace so that you have the right size gap you want in the front by folding the extra lace under. You can see I already pinned the side on the left. Note the pink pin. Then decide how long you want your bow ends, and trim accordingly.

2. If you haven't already pinned your lace, pin it where you had folded the extra lace over. I didn't want extra bulk, so I decided to stick with one fold, and a raw edge.

3. Start sewing. Since it's lace, and full of holes, I stitched back and forth 4 or 5 times, moving over slightly with each row. In the end, my stitched area is about a quarter inch wide. Don't forget to backstitch!

4. Pin your twill to your lace wherever you want it (I stayed near the top). Stitch your the lace and twill together both directions lengthwise. I also stitched the side near the short end of the lace for extra stability. Hem your twill ends. I did do a double fold for that. Not raw edges there!

And there you have it! A new super cute belt!

And just for you, I put on lipgloss. And jeans. From the laundry pile. I have no white walls in my house, so this is the best I could do. The bathroom door. Which actually wasn't so bad, since I could take pictures in the mirror.

Have you made any belts lately? Are you thinking about giving this one a try? If you do, I'd love to see! Leave a comment and link me up :)

Linked up to:
Talent Tuesday @ Vintage Wanna Bee
Running With Glitter
Sunday Scoop @ I Heart Nap Time
Get Your Craft On @ Today's Creative Blog
Take-A-Look Tuesday @ Sugar Bee Crafts 
Weekend Wrap Up @ Tatertots & Jello
Sew Darn Crafty Party @ Sew Many Ways
Just Something I Whipped Up @ The Girl Creative
Inspire Me Monday @ Singing 3 Little Birds