Making a fabric-covered belt

My encounters with vintage fashion on my Edinburgh trip weren't just limited to the Biba exhibition; I came home with dresses from both Fantouche Vintage and Carnivàle Vintage. (I also came home with some more yarn from Kathy's Knits, and the wonderful Edinburgh Fabrics came up trumps with supplies for my 1915 ensemble, but those are posts for other weeks!)

Anyway, moving on. The dress from Carnivàle is a dressmaker-made cotton shirtwaist in a fabulous print. But like so many vintage dresses, it has lost the matching belt which once fitted through its belt carriers. It would definitely look better with a belt, so I set about making a replacement. I was never going to be able to match the greens or the gold in the print, so I went for a dark grey instead.

The fabric

Tasha Could Make That has this excellent video on making matching belts for dresses, but she uses a foundation of belting, which appears to be fabric-covered plastic strip sold in a roll. I've been unable to find anywhere in the UK which sells this, so have come up with an alternative approach, which I’ve now used several times. On the basis that I can't be the only person who needs to do this, I've attempted to write down my method in case it's helpful to anyone else. (Apologies for the fact that all the images will appear to be the wrong way round to most readers - because I'm left-handed I sew from left to right.)

Start off with your buckle. I was lucky to find this mottled green one in my buckle box, which was ideal for the dress. The belt width will be determined by the height of the hole inside the buckle, in this case just under 2.5cm. The belt needs to be wide enough to 'catch' on the buckle, otherwise it may slide open. Don't make the base too wide, however, as it will have fabric wrapped around it.

Having the perfect buckle was definitely a good start

Instead of belting, I use pelmet buckram (also called pelmet backing) for the belt base. This is a stiff woven fabric, 5-6"/12.5-15cm wide, and coated on both sides with heat-activated adhesive. It comes in rolls and is sold by the metre. Cut out a piece twice the width of the belt, and long enough to include both a wrap around the centre of the buckle and an overlap (don't use your dressmaking scissors to do this, the adhesive granules will do them no favours!). Fold it in half lengthways.

Folding counteracts its tendency to curl

You could attach the belt fabric directly to this, but I always make a base layer of plain, thinnish, cotton. This is cut slightly longer than the belt, and about 2.5 times the width. I also prefer to only have one layer of buckram around the buckle, so I cut off about 1"/2.5cm from one side.

Set up ready to start ironing

Wrap the cotton tightly over the unfolded edge, and iron it to melt the adhesive. Be careful not to let the iron touch the buckram at all, so don't go all the way up to the edge of the cotton.

Do this all the way along the belt

Then repeat with the other side.

Make sure the fabric is tightly wrapped

The belt will be very pliable when it's warm, but will turn rigid when it cools. I always leave mine on the ironing board until it's entirely cold, to make sure I end up with a flat belt.

Trim the end with the double thickness of buckram to a point. Cut a scrap of the outer fabric into a hexagon to fit the belt end, and sew it onto the wrong side of the belt (the side with the overlapped cotton).

This method avoids the bulk of lots of wrapped fabric

The outer fabric should also be cut slightly longer than the belt, and about 2.5 times the width. Trim one end to the point shape, fold the edges under, mitre the point, and sew the edges onto the scrap attached to the belt point. Then fold the fabric tightly round the belt and sew down the rest of the point.

Hopefully the picture makes it clearer

Work along the belt, pinning the fabric tightly and slip-stitching it into place.

The base fabric provides something to pin into

Belt covering completed

I tend to leave some fabric beyond the buckram at the buckle end. Fold the end of the belt round the buckle, and sew it down.

The buckle attached

Because I am a completist, I like to make a belt loop as well. These are fiddly, but I eventually worked out a method which works for me. Cut out a strip of fabric approx. 3.5 times the width of the desired loop, and long enough to go round two layers of the belt plus a decent seam allowance. Fold it lengthways to the width of the loop on one side, and a narrow seam allowance on the other side, and press. Then fold it lengthways again, and press firmly.

The green line marks the final fold, gauge shown for scale

Diagram of the folded fabric

Unfold the strip, wrap it round the two layers of belt, and pin the ends together. This should be snug, but not really tight. Make sure that the fold lines are aligned.

Pinned together

Remove the pinned strip from the belt, and sew along the pinned line. Do not cut the thread when finished.

Sewn together

Trim off the excess seam allowance, and finger press open.

Ready to fold up

You can now fold up the loop along the pressed lines, and slip stitch the edge into place.

Sewing it together

You now have a completed belt, with a matching belt loop.

All done

And here is the dress, worn with the belt. It's a bit short-waisted, even for me, and I don't normally show my knees, but I still really like it.

I think the grey works well

It's fun to make a shiny new garment from scratch, but there's a different, but equal (to my mind, at least), satisfaction to be gained from a project which enhances something already made but a little lacking.

Finally, I'm aware that this tutorial is a bit sketchy in places. As ever, if you get stuck trying to follow it, please get in touch and I'll do my best to help. Happy belt making!

How to make a hizem

This is a real blast from the past. Way back in June 2013, I made a traditional Tunisian dance costume. Because the associated blog post was about the elements which fitted into a Squares, Rectangles and Triangles sewing challenge, the other parts, including the yarn belt or hizem, were only mentioned in passing.

Part of the costume

However, I was recently asked about the belt in the post comments. I always read comments, no matter how old the original post, and will always try to help with queries if possible. So here, finally, is a post on making the hizem.

The hizem laid out on the inches side of my cutting board, for scale

It was made from Aran weight wool, which I believe is Worsted weight in the U.S. The belt should be 1½ times your hip measurement, with a further 70 cm / 28" added on for the tassels. The wool needs to be wound into a hank the length of the finished belt, and should consist of around 150 lengths of wool - i.e. 75 loops. I made mine by winding the wool round two chair backs - if you do this, make sure that the chairs don't start to slip closer to each other as you are winding.

The red line shows the belt length

Once the hank is completed, tie off the wool 14" from each end to form the tassels. The ties are made by wrapping a length of wool tightly round the hank around five or six times, tying the ends in a knot, and then using a bodkin to 'lose' the ends of the wrapping wool in the hank.

Then make another tie at each end, 2½" up from the first one, to form the tassel head.

The knot is visible on the tie on the right

On one end only, make a further tie, 6½" up from the tassel head. This is to form the loop. Split the 6½" section into two halves, and tie each half into five or six sections. If preferred, all of these ties can be mde using one long length of wool, run from one tie to the next within the hank.

The completed loop

There are two further ties to add, A and B. Where they are placed depends on the length of the belt. To work out the position of tie A, hold the belt behind you, bring the tassels to the front, and pass one end through the loop on the other end. Make tie A where the belt will pass through the loop.

Bringing the belt through the loop, tie A is shown with an arrow

Another view of tie A

Make tie B midway between tie A and the end of the loop.

Showing the lengths of all the different sections

Finally, cut the ends of the hank to form the tassels, and trim any uneven strands of wool.

A hizem in action

Hopefully I have covered everything. As ever, if anything is unclear, please get in touch.

New Look 6594 - midriff section

I'm giving this topic its own blog post, rather than including it in a longer post about making the dress, in the hope that it will be easier to find for anyone else struggling with the pattern. Only one of the online reviews I could find for New Look 6594 mentioned having trouble with this section, and that was written by a self-confessed beginner. My guess is that all the other reviewers were, like me, experienced dressmakers and so, like me, had known what to do without reading the instructions. But when I did look at the instruction sheet, it seemed to me that part of the instructions for attaching the midriff sections to the bodice isn't very clear, and the illustration doesn't provide much help. I'm not surprised a beginner found it confusing.

There are two, identical, midriff sections for the dress, and these are the instructions for attaching them to the bodice.

New Look 6594 instuctions, steps 12 and 13

Step 12 states to pin one midriff section to the outside of the bodice, pull up the bodice gathering to fit, and then baste the two together. The two pieces should be pinned right sides together.

My dress, with step 12 completed

Step 13 is to pin the midriff facing to the midriff, right sides together, with the bodice in between the two midriff sections, and sew the three pieces together. However, you really have to look closely at the illustration to see both midriff sections in it, and it probably helps if you know what you're looking for.

The midriff facing is only just visible

At first glance, the illustration just looks like the same part of the dress as shown in step 12, shown right way out instead of inside out.

This is what the step 13 illustration looks like to me

My explanation of step 13 would be to lay the right side of the midriff facing onto the wrong side of the bodice pin the three layers together matching centres and notches, and stitch. I also think it would be better if the illustration of step 13 showed the wrong side of the bodice, not the right side, to make it clearer what step 13 achieves. I have tried to show it in the photograph below. Unfortunately, the right and wrong sides of my fabric are quite similar, so I have labelled each part.

What step 13 actually looks like, when pinned together

I always find it far easier to follow instructions if they include a picture of the end result, so I can see what I'm aiming for (especially useful when I'm trying to follow a recipe!). So, for anyone whose mind works the same way as mine, here are pictures of the completed bodice and midriff, from the outside and the inside. (Note: I only thought to take these photos after I had attached the sleeves - I use the commercial construction method of attaching the sleeves first, and then sewing the sleeve and side seams in a single step.)

Completed bodice and midriff - the outside

Completed bodice and midriff - the inside

I hope this is helpful to anyone puzzling over the pattern instructions. As ever, if you need any more information, please add a comment below and I will do my best to help.

Simplicity 8243 - the blouse collar

Here, as promised, are my notes on how to turn the very pointy collar points of Simplicity 8243. The approach I used is a little more complicated than just using something sharp to push them through, but there's no risk of accidentally pushing the scissors/bodkin through the fabric and making a hole.

The blouse collar has a very sharp point

Unfortunately, I can't remember where I came across this method, so I can't give credit where it's due. If I ever find it again, I'll be sure to update this post with the details.

I forgot to take any photos of the process as I was making the blouse, so for the purposes of this tutorial I made a mock-up of just the collar point. I've made no attempt to compensate for turn of cloth, and I've used contrast thread to make it more visible. If you've never used this method, you might want to make a similar mock-up to try it out before working on the real thing. Click on any photo to enlarge it.

First, mark where the stitching needs to pivot at the collar point.

Seam allowances marked with Frixion pen

Next, sew the seam and stop one stitch before the pivot point, with the needle down. Raise the presser foot.

The needle positioned one stitch before the point

Cut a length of thread in a contrast colour, approx. 20cm/8" long. This should be proper sewing thread (Gütermann, Drima etc.), not soft basting thread, as it needs to be strong. I've used red, and will refer to this as the 'red thread' from now on. Lay the red thread between the two layers of fabric, at right angles to the stitching line, and pull it straight and back slightly so that it is right up against the needle. The two ends either side of the needle should be of equal length.

The red thread pulled up against the needle

Lower the foot, and take a single stitch, ending with the needle down.

Raise the foot, and pivot the fabric ready to sew the next part of the collar. With the foot still up, take the left end of the red thread, and carefully bring it round the back of the needle so that it ends up lying parallel with the right end, still between the two layers of the collar. Make sure not to pull on the right end in the process.

The left end of the red thread (top) moved round to join the right end (bottom)

Take both ends of the red thread, and tuck them inside the collar, pulled taut and lying against the machine sewing you have just completed. You may need to temporarily unpin a section of the next part of the seam to do this. In the next picture, I have folded back the top layer of the mock-up to show the red thread, but it should be lying further to the left. It's important that it's out of the way of the next line of machine stitching.

The red thread positioned inside the collar

Once the red thread is in place, repin the seam and continue to sew the collar. The red thread has now formed a loop around the stitch at the point of the collar. Repeat the process on the other collar point.

The mock-up stitching complete, with the red thread just visible

Press the seam, then trim and grade the seam allowances. Taper the seam allowance to almost nothing at the collar point. Snip the curves.

Seam allowances trimmed etc.

Turn the collar right side out, leaving the points to last.

Turning the collar out

Take hold of both ends of the red thread, and gently but firmly pull on them. This will pull the point out.

After pulling on the red thread ends

To remove the red thread, simply pull on one end.

The red thread is easily removed

Press the collar, and admire your pointy points!

The real life collar

As ever, if you have any questions please get in touch via the comments, and I'll do my best to help.

Laughing Moon #100 - making the chemise without a placket

Laughing Moon pattern 100, Ladies' Victorian Underwear, contains patterns for two different corsets, drawers, and a chemise. The chemise has front yoke consisting of two overlapping parts, which can be either fastened together with buttons or left to lie flat. The pattern details suggest that the front yoke can be made in a single piece with no placket if preferred (the neckline is wide enough to be pulled over the head without the need for the placket), but there are no instructions on how to do this, and part of the construction method given will not work with a single-piece yoke front.

I wanted to make the chemise without the placket, and I these are my notes on how I made the yoke.

Pattern illustration (top) and my single piece version (below)

Note: I cannot vouch for the historical accuracy of this construction method - indeed I suspect that it is not very accurate at all, as it is a technique used in modern dressmaking - but it does provide a neat finish.

My completed yoke

The first thing to consider is the cutting out. Pattern piece 24, the front yoke, allows for both overlap of the pieces and a seam allowance. For a single-piece yoke, the piece needs to be cut from folded fabric, with the 'centre front' line placed on the fold. To avoid any confusion, I traced off a new pattern piece. This also means that I still have the original piece, if I want to make a chemise with a placket in the future.

Place this line on the fold of the fabric when cutting out

Cut two of the new piece 24.

The instructions state to sew the yoke fronts to the back at the shoulders, and then repeat this with the facing pieces. Yoke and facing are then sewn together around the neckline and armholes, and the completed yoke turned right side out. However if the front yoke is a single piece, it is impossible to do this, as the yoke cannot be turned through.

This cannot be done with a closed front yoke

Instead, stay stitch all the curved edges of all the yoke pieces, then pin the yoke front to the yoke front facing, right sides together. Sew right round the neckline. Sew each armhole from the bottom to about three quarters of the way up. In the picture below, the pins mark the section to be stitched.

Sew the section between the red pins

Trim, grade and snip the seams (do not trim the unsewn sections of the armholes yet), then turn the yoke front right side out and press. Repeat the process with the yoke back.

Open out the shoulders of the yoke pieces, and with right sides together pin the yoke front to the yoke back.

Yoke front and back pinned together

Sew the shoulder seam of both yoke and facing in one continuous row of stitching. Press the seams open, and trim off the excess.

Press under the seam allowance of the remaining section of the armhole on both yoke and facing, you may need to snip the curves. Once you are happy that the edges of the yoke and facing match, trim off the excess fabric from the seam allowance. Sew yoke and facing together using either ladder stitch or overcasting, as preferred. I used ladder stitch, with a couple of overcast stitches at the shoulder seam to hold everything in place.

Sewing up the armhole

At this point you have a choice. The pattern instructions suggest you attach the chemise front to the front yoke and the back to the back yoke, then sew the entire side seam from hem to armhole. However to me this seemed likely to create a lot of bulk at the bottom of the armhole. I preferred to complete the yoke as a separate piece.

The way this is done is very similar to the shoulder seams. Open out the front and back yokes, pin the side seams right sides together, and sew in one continous line. Press the seam open, and trim off the excess.

The side seam pinned together

The result is a yoke with smooth seams.

My completed yoke on my dressform

I will cover making and attaching the chemise, and a bit about the embroidery, in my next post.