Make a Fabric BOW BELT – tutorial

Method 1 Make an EASY fitted fabric bow belt

A belt serves a lot of purposes – it defines your waist; the beauty of a belt adds to your whole appearance;  It serves to reduce the bagginess of certain outfits; it also at times diverts the attention from certain problem areas in your figure, like a large hip. If you can make a belt using fabric at will matching one or all of your outfits,nothing like it.

It is very easy to make a fabric belt. You just need some scraps of fabric and a few fasteners. As an alternative you can make a ribbon belt with the same directions such as the one given below

Materials needed to make a fabric bow belt 

Fabric of your choice. You can make use of the Scraps in your fabric stash to make this belt.Choose  a medium weight fabric. If you have scraps of sequined fabric that would work for a great bow loop. You can even use scrap leather pieces to make the fabric loop or bow.If you love a thin fabric or and wants to make a bow belt from it , you can attach interfacing to the back of the fabric for adding some weight. 

Snap fasteners  -3 pairs

Thick Interfacing ( Thickest you can find. You can use two strips fused together if you cannot find the thickest)

Hand stitching needle and thread

Pattern pieces 

You need 3 fabric pieces & Interfacing  to make this belt. Cut the following fabric for making the bow belt. 

1) Bow fabric

Width = 8 inch 

Length = Half of waist round – 2″ ( or however long you want the bow to be)

2) Belt fabric

Measure your waist round . Add 1 inch ease and 1″ seam allowance. This is the length of the fabric

Width = 4 inch

3) Bow loop

3 inch * 4 inch

4) Interfacing

Width =1 inch

Length = Measure of the belt fabric minus 1/2 inch. 

How to sew the fabric belt with bow

Step 1

Fold the belt fabric by half lengthwise, right sides together. Stitch along the long edge with a  1/2 inch seam allowance. Press the seam allowance open. Do not stitch the short edges. Through one of the sides, bring the tube right side out. ( A neat trick to turn the fabric tubes inside out easily is to keep a piece of ribbon inside the folded fabric as you sew the side seam. You will have to baste the ribbon to one of the edges. Then when you pull the ribbon the whole thing will turn outside fast. Then ofcourse you can use the trusted Safety pin.)

Step 2

Insert the interfacing piece inside. 

Sew the edges closed, by folding the raw edge inside and top stitching. When sewing the edges, adjust it so the seam you have just now stitched is on the back. You donot want the seam to be anywhere near the front.

Step 3
Stitch the snaps in place. The top snap ( stud) under the left edge. Bottom snap part (socket) on top of the right edge. You need to sew two snaps for the belt to be fastened securely. 

Step 4

Make the bow;  Fold the bow fabric by half lengthwise, right sides together.Stitch the bow fabric piece edges, right sides together on all three sides.Leave 1″ unstitched in the middle; Turn the bow right side out through the opening.
Close the little opening . Make ladder stitch to close the opening with invisible stitching.

Step 5

Prepare the fabric loop for the belt

Stitch the loop fabric right sides together with 1/2 inch seam allowance.Bring it right side out. Take the seam to the back and press. 

Step 6
Place the fabric loop to the middle of the bow; gather the middle of the bow so that it is inside the loop.Stitch it in place from the back with a hand needle and thread.

Step 7

Place the prepared bow on top of the belt, behind where you have attached the snap top. Stitch the bow in place with hand needle and thread with small dainty stitches.

Step 8

Hand stitch the left belt flap to the belt to keep it in place. You may also want to sew a snap fastener behind the right flap of the bow and on belt to keep that flap in place. This is especially needed for big bows. If you have a bow say 4 inch wide, you wouldnot be having aby trouble keeping the bows upright.

Method 2 How to make a bow belt with ribbon

This belt is made the same way as the fabric belt but in an easier way. As the sides of the ribbon are already finished you just have to attach fasteners like a hook and eye or snap fasteners at the edges to make this belt.

Method 3 Sash belt and bow

Another option to get a bow in your belt is the Sash belt and it looks equally pretty, but requires a little bit more fabric than a bow belt.

Check out this post on the correct way of tying a Sash belt bow

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