Homemade Vintage Belt

So, this is my FIFTIETH POST!!! That's pretty exciting! So... as i have recently been forced by the economy to be a stay at home wife I have enjoyed tinkering with a few crafts! My most recent craft is a darling vintage belt. I will admit, though, that with these supplies I had no intentions of making a belt. I ended up mistakenly buying the wrong felt and couldn't do the project I had in mind. The felt I purchased was adhesive backed... sad day; but, it turned out to be ok.

Here's what you need 

to make this darling belt:

 glue gun; taupe twine; lace ribbon (mine's 1/2 inch thick); assorted buttons; espresso colored felt

Begin

by cutting a large (2 in) circle out of your felt;

then,

hot clue your ribbon to your circle of felt.

I only glued 1/2 inch portions at a time, so that it was easier to manage the flimsy ribbon and the glue

complete the circle by gluing the ribbon on 

the outside diameter of your felt.

it's ok if your first circle is VERY sloppy, but it doesn't matter... don't let it get to your perfectionist brain. see what mine looks like!

glue your ribbon in a spiral shape until you 

cover the entire felt circle. 

glue down the end and trim off excess ribbon.

the center doesn't have to be pretty; you're going to cover it

glue your button

  down in the center of the flower

now, the petite flowers

cut two small circles 

(about an inch wide)

they do not have to be perfect, either

you will use the same process on these flowers

as you did on the big flower...

the inside is just a little bit more intricate.

I glued myself to my flowers pretty much each time I used the hot glue

a finished "petite" flower 

minus the button

choose how you want to arrange your flowers on your belt

cut out three small squares from your felt

affix these three squares to the back of your ribbon

in the place where you want your flowers to sit

then,

peel the adhesive backing off your flower, dot it with hot glue,

and 

and stick it to your small felt square

this sandwiches the ribbon (belt) between the two felt pieces and prevents the glue from seeping through the lace ribbon

because my felt was adhesive, i pulled off the backing and stuck it to the ribbon...

you can hot glue it if your felt is not adhesive

this is what it should look like at this point upside down

Note: i only peeled off a portion of my large flower's backing

...cut a rectangular strip of felt and attach it across the entire back of the flowered section of your belt.

this adds support.

Make some of these guys using hot glue and your twine :)

make sure you measure your buttons first so that they will hold them snugly

Sew your "fish" to the ribbon.

To establish where to sew them, place the belt around your waste (with the flowers attached) and overlap it as needed. Mark the places of the flowers with a pencil  on the ribbon that overlaps.

Sew three buttons to trimmed down felt.

Attach your felt pieces with the buttons to the back of your flowers.

Finally

wrap the belt around your waist, make adjustments where necessary, and trim off the excess ribbon!

btw: check out this great giveaway at Kaycee Lee Photography