Tutorial: How to make a Pattern-Matched Belt with Leftover Fabric

If you don’t have enough length of fabric to create a perfectly matching belt, don’t worry! This tutorial will teach you how to cut and pattern match your fabric do you can create a belt to match any outfit even if your fabric scraps aren’t long enough. I’ll also include the steps need to add grommet holes and attach a buckle to your belt.

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Supplies Needed:

1 Belt Buckle
Scrap fabric
Mid-weight interfacing
Belting or webbing (get a width that matches the with of your belt buckle)
An awl and/or a fabric hole puncher (it is also called a leather hole punch)
1/4″ grommets
A grommet squasher (I prefer this big presser, but you can also get smaller handheld ones)

Step 1

make a rectangle for your belt

The length of your belt should be approximately the size of your waist plus 6 inches to account for overlap.

The width will be determined by the size of your buckle. Measure the inside of your buckle and double that number. So since if your buckle is 1 inch, then your pattern needs to be 2 inches wide.

Don’t forget to add seam allowance! I added 1/2 inch around the entire belt.

Step 2

cut your scrap fabric into wide strips

You want to make sure your fabric strips are wide enough for your belt. Square off the sides to make them straight so you can connect the patterns.

Step 3

line up pattern by folding over one piece of fabric

pin and baste fabric strips together where the patterns match

Fold over the seam allowance of one side and line it up with the next piece so that the pattern on the fabric continues. Pin and baste the pieces together to make sure the fabric doesn’t shift when you sew it

Step 4

sew and press the seam open

Sew along the basted line and press the seam open. This should give you a continuous pattern that is long enough for your belt.

Step 5

apply interfacing to reverse side of fabric

apply interfacing to the reverse side of the fabric

Adding interfacing now can help prevent the fabric from sliding around while you cut it so you can get straighter and more precise lines. You don’t have to add interfacing to the entire scrap of fabric, but is should be enough to cover the area you’ll use for the belt.

Step 6

cut out your belt pattern

Make sure to lay your belt pattern down straight so you can cut it evenly.

Step 7

fold the belt in half and sew the length

Step 8

press the seam to the back of the belt

Pressing the seam open on the back will keep it from showing on the front of the belt.

Step 9

sew a curve at one end and trim

This just makes the end belt look a little nicer than having a squared of edge.

Step 10

cut webbing to match the curve

Trim your webbing (or belting) so that the curve matches what you sewed in the previous step.

Step 11

Push the curved end in and Turn the fabric over the webbing

This part can be a little tricky. I find it helps to first push in the curved end of the fabric. Then insert the webbing and use a long tool (such as a loop turner) to help push the webbing into the belt. As you do this the fabric will flip over and turn onto the webbing as you turn it right side out.

continue to turn fabric over top of webbing

Step 12

press the belt

Be careful when doing this to make sure the pattern remains as straight as possible on the front of the belt.

Step 13

measure the spacing for your grommets

Mark your grommet holes about 1.5 inches away from each other. You can make as many as you want.

Step 14

punch holes where you marked them

Use a leather hole punch to make holes in the places you marked. This can be be a little annoying and you might have to wiggle it around a little to punch all the way through.

Step 15

insert grommet and washer on the back, then squeeze together

insert grommets

Add the grommet through facing the front of the belt. The little, flat washer goes on the back of the belt. Now you need to squash the two together. There are many ways of doing this, but my favorite is using one of these grommet squasher machines (pictured below). You insert the belt with the grommet face down on the little platform on the bottom, then just push it down to press the grommet in place. It doesn’t require as much grip strength as other methods I’ve seen.

Step 16

repeat for all grommets

Step 17

pull back the fabric and cut an inch of the webbing

pull back the fabric and cut the webbing

Now we need to attach the belt to the buckle. To start with, we need to trim the belting away from the part that will wrap around the buckle (so it won’t be too bulky). Pull back the fabric and trim about an inch from the webbing.

Step 18

poke a hole just outside the webbing

Using an awl (or sharp, pointy tool) poke a hole in the belt at the edge of the belting inside so that the hole does NOT go through the belting. Make sure it is centered along the width belt.

Step 19

fold belt over the middle of the buckle, pushing the prong through the hole

insert the belt prong through the hole and wrap the fabric around it

Go under that first bar and over the middle of the buckle, poking the prong through the hole you just made. Make sure when inserting the prong that the belt is facing the correct direction. The prong should sit flat on the front of the belt.

Fold the fabric in back so that in nestles in-between the bars of the buckle.