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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Woven Belt Tutorial

woven belt tutorial made from t-shirts -#DIYbelt #stretchybelt
This tutorial is for a nifty belt. It’s made out of t-shirt yarn! If you don’t know how to make t-shirt yarn, see my tutorial. (You’ll need yarn from 1-2 t-shirts for a belt like this. My belt is 38” long.)
woven belt tutorial (2.1)
I have several ‘swing’ type cardigans and I wanted a belt to make them look more fitted.
Want to get started?

You’ll need two D-rings. I doubled the middle piece of the belt and tripled the outer strands to make the belt chunkier. Cut your two middle strands 2x plus  6” longer than however long you want your belt. For the outer strands, cut 2x 50” per 9” of woven belt plus 6” (so I cut three strands about 230” each).
woven belt tutorial made from t-shirts (2)
One thing: your middle pieces should be relatively the same color as the outer pieces. It shows through a bit. Also, yes, 230” is a lot of length to work with. We can talk about how I kept that under control.
But first, find the middle of all five pieces of t-shirt yarn. Loop them all through both D-rings so they are secure.
woven belt tutorial made from t-shirts (4)
Next, separate the four middle strands from the six outer strands. You should have three outer strands on each side. To manage the extreme length, roll each set of three strands into a ball. woven belt tutorial made from t-shirts (6)
Now we’re read to start weaving. Here are the pictures for the steps, followed by a description…
weaving tutorial
1. Make sure you’ve separated the strands three to each side and the middle strands are lying flat. 2. Take the strand on the left and make a backward “P”, crossing it over the middle four strands. 3. Cross the strand on the right over the tail of the left strand… 4. Then bring it under the middle group of strands…. 5. And finally through the loop of the backward “P”. Tighten everything up. Make sure that the first stitch is as close to the initial loop as possible. Make sure subsequent stitches are close to the one before.

Repeat steps 1-5 but substitute the right strand for the left. Repeat until the belt is as long as you want. Then you’ll need to finish it off. I sewed mine (use a heavy duty needle). Sew through a few times. woven belt tutorial made from t-shirts (22)
And you’re done!
woven belt tutorial made from t-shirts (25)
You may think this looks hard, but it is really pretty easy. It's the same technique you probably used for making hemp necklaces about 10 years ago at camp (at least I did!)
woven belt tutorial made from t-shirts (1)
It is a great way to create a new accessory. I had made this braided belt last year, but decided to go with a chunkier look this time! Have fun.

19 comments:

  1. Oh love it the chunky look is great for a belt

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  2. Love this belt! Great job & thanks for sharing the tutorial. Stopping by from The Winthrop Chronicles.

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  3. Really cute! I love that you could make a belt to match your outfit. Thanks for the tutorial. I'm visiting from The Winthrop Chronicles.

    Have a great week :)
    Deborah

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  4. Love it, great accessory & it doesn't look too hard to make!

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  5. How awesome!
    I've been wanting belts that are smaller to bring in flowy shirts and dresses, but with no budget for clothes I can't just go out and buy some.
    But this project is just perfect - and it'll be interesting to see what colors of old t's I can use :)
    I think my sister and I used to make friendship bracelets knotted like that... back when that was the big thing to do!

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    1. Amen to no budget for clothes...that's why I make stuff!

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  6. Oh wow, that's super cool! I love how chunky it is! Thanks for sharing at The Fun In Functional!

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    1. Just stopping by to let you know I featured this on my blog today! Thanks so much for sharing the tutorial. You can check out the feature and grab a button here: The Fun In Functional #24

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  7. I love how it looks. Thanks for linking up at friday fun party.

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  8. This is gorgeous! Yet again, I am inspired by your creativity!

    Thanks for sharing this week at the Happy Hello, friend!

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  9. This is such a fun idea, thank for linking to my party!

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  10. What a cool belt and it looks so easy! I have lots of t shirts I could use to make one too.

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  11. This is really a neat idea Gracias! Elsa Gonzalez

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  12. what a great idea love it and cant wait to get into my t shirt drawer

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  13. I totally love this belt, but am confused on how to cut the t shirt to make such a long length. Is anyone else confused on how to do this????

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    1. There's a tutorial (it is linked toward the beginning of the post) of how to make continuous T-shirt yarn. http://monkeyseemonkeydo-jennifer.blogspot.com/2010/08/making-yarn-from-t-shirts.html
      That's the link. Good luck.

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