Making Tie Belts

1. You will need to have color-coordinating fabrics (belt body, lining and ties), tassels and grosgrain ribbon. Black is a traditional - and easy - theme color for tribal belts.
2. You will need to have texture-coordinating fabrics (belt body, lining and ties). This means: match the sheen and the type of weave on the ties, lining and belt body. Matte fabrics like cotton and linen may not match a metallic brocade; shiny satin may not match a rustic tapestry. Tightly woven fabrics may not look good with loosely woven fabrics.
3. If you choose a stretch or a light-weight or an off-grain fabric for the belt you will have to underline it before sewing it so that it feels and acts like a heavier-weight fabric cut on grain.
4. A fabric with a woven-in design is often a good choice if you don't intend to ornament the belt body after sewing. Brockade, ikat and tapestry provide built-in designs. However, plain fabric will do fine if you use the self-binding option.

The upholstery remnant table at your local fabric store is a good place to look for fabric, but be careful. You don't want to end up with a belt that looks like it was upholstered. If the pattern appeals, analyze how it will look on stage around your hips.

Second-hand clothing stores sometimes have brocade dresses or suits made of the perfect material. Examine the fabric carefully for wear before purchasing.

Your belt body, lining and ties will be cut on the grain - which means with sides running parallel to the selvage and to the weft (woven threads). This is for strength and stability; cutting off-grain allows the fabric to stretch in uncontrolled ways. Short pieces at the remnant table are often cut on a slant or curve. Make sure that you will be able to get the belt body you need from it when you cut on the grain ... or you will have to underline the belt body before you use it.

The goal: to shape the body and lining without using a pattern.

If your belt body needs to be underlined, do it now.

Mark the front slope on the Tribal and the Classic belt:

• Self-binding tribal:
  Make a mark 4" down from the waist on each end;
  Make a mark 7" in from the side on each bottom;
• Tribal:
  Make a mark 4.5" down from the waist on each end;
  Make a mark 7" in from the side on each bottom;

Connect the dots and cut. Round the bottom of the cut if the fabric looks better than way.

The goal: sew the belt body and lining together, incorporating an "automatic" binding if desired.

Pinning the pieces together is easier if the fabric is resting on a table.

• Right sides together, lay the shaped Body fabric on top of the lining fabric, lining up at the BOTTOM edges. If you are creating a self-binding version, there will be 1.5" of lining above the top edge of the body fabric.
• On the bottom edge ONLY: trim the lining to match the Body shape and pin the two layers together..
• With the Body fabric on top, match the lining and the Body at the TOP edges. Self-binding version will have a bubble running the length of the lining.
• Pin Body and Lining together at the top edges.
• Sew bottom and top edges. Backstitch for strength at each end. Do NOT sew the sides.

  1/3" seam allowance for self-binding version.

  1/2" seam allowance otherwise.

  If belt fabric is prone to fray, stitch again 1/8" from first stitching line.

• Turn right side out.
• Press flat.

The goal: correct the look of the self-binding if necessary. Consult Self-Binding page.

The goal: make two flat ties neatly and quickly.

Consult the Fast Flat Ties section on the Ties page. Make ties that are at least 18 inches long.

The goal: attach the ties to the belt as easily as possible by stitching in a circle.

• Lay the belt on the table with the body side up. Lay a tie on top of the belt, with the raw cut edges at a belt side and the tie seam facing up.
• Pin the raw edges of the tie to the raw edge of the body, NOT to the lining. Put a pleat in the tie belt if necessary to make it fit the width of the body fabric.
• Pin the other tie on the other side.
• Open up a side and stitch in a circle on the inside, being careful not to hit the basting pins with the machine needle. Sew the ties to the belt with 1" seam allowances. Sew each side in a complete circle, continuing the stitching onto the lining then up and around to the beginnng of the body where the tie is attached. This extra stitching will make the next step easier.

  Make sure that you stitch the belt seam allowances into the position you want them to have when you wear it. If you are doing the self-binding version, then stitch the seams flat, like the body, because you want to use the entire width of the belt fabric under the binding.

• Pull the ties away from the belt so that the raw seams fold inward.
• Fold the lining seam under at the circular stitching line and press and pin the side closed.
• Top-stitch the sides closed. I use a long narrow rectangle to flatten the enclosed seam allowances.

Goal: Neat topstitching that will emphasize the beauty of the belt and strengthen the seams.

• Make sure the belt is pressed and that any self-binding is positioned properly.
• For the tribal belt: with the belt body facing up, run a seam from the middle of the finished end of one tie, across the top of the belt and the other tie, then down around and across to where you started. When topstitching a self-bound belt. topstitch 'in the ditch - the seam where the lining is attached to the belt. Otherwise, recommend staying no more than 1/3" from the edge.
• For the classic belt: start the topstitching at the bottom of a tie where tie and belt are connected. Stitch around the tie, across the belt top, and around to the point where the bottom of the tie joins the belt on other side. Do NOT topstitch the bottom. It usually looks odd because of the bulk of the chainette underneath.

Goal: create exterior darts that will make the rectangular belt conform to your figure, be less likely to slip down while dancing, and maintain shape under stress.

The placement of darts on a belt is not the same as darts on a dress. You don't have to exactly match your figure, although you can if you want. You just need to put a few generic darts in there to curve the belt and add shape.

Darts are normally made before finishing the edges. In this case, we make them AFTER everything else is complete. This allows the bulk of the dart to act as self-boning, and also allows you to make adjustments in the future if required.

The rule of eighths (which can be the rule of ninths, twelfths or whatever you choose - but you'll have to come up with your own dart spacing):

• Fold the belt body in half, with the lining side on the outside.
• Iron each half into half. This creates quarter-belt marks.
• Iron each quarter into half. Now you have eighths.
• Run a basting stitch down each fold.
• Place darts at 1, 3, 5, and 7. The darts are 1/2" inch at the top and taper to 1/8" at the bottom. Because of the turn of the cloth, these four 1/2" darts reduce the belt waist size by 6".

• You can run the dart to the very bottom of the belt, or you can stop part way. Your choice.
• If you want a panel-belt look, run it to the bottom.
• After you are done, remove all basting stitches from un-darted folds IF they are visible at 3 feet.

• If you want a panel-belt look, make the smallest possible tuck (probably 3/16") at points 2, 4 and 6. This will reduce the waist circumference by another 1.5". If you do this, the panel belt look will become a strong design element and you will probably have to space your tassels evenly within the panels (8 tassels) or at each dart/tuck point (7 tassels).