DIY Fabric Flower Belt

Hi guys! Today I'd like to share a DIY for a lovely belt embellished with pretty fabric flowers!

You may recall that in my last Weekly Wishlist post, I was drooling over a gorgeous belt from Anthropologie that fit that description.

Ah, yes, that's the one! Such a pretty accessory, but alas, it costs a pretty penny. So what's a crafty girl to do? Mope? No, of course not! Just do it yourself! 

And so, I set out to create this pretty accessory by myself with a budget of $10. I actually came in at half my budget! Since I have plenty of fabric as well as needles and thread at home, all I had to pick up was the belt, which I found for $5!

Want to make one for yourself? Here's how!

For your supplies you'll need: scrap paper, scissors, a needle and thread, fabric (I probably used 1/4 yard each of three different prints), a small amount of stiff fabric, and a stretchy belt. Make sure the belt doesn't have a standard buckle in the front, but anything with a clasp similar to the one pictured above will be great!

The first thing on the agenda is to make a bunch of fabric flowers in a couple of sizes. I made 4 large flowers and 5 small flowers for my belt, but you can definitely play with the number and scale.

Begin the flower making process by cutting these totally flower power shapes out of your scrap paper. Then, cut circles roughly 1" in diameter out of your stiff fabric. You'll need 1 circle per flower.

Next, cut (or tear) a strip of fabric that's slightly wider than your flower template.

You'll need to cut out 8 flower shapes to make 1 fabric flower. Because that's an awful lot of cutting, I folded my fabric, then cut 4-8 out at once. Your cutting doesn't have to be perfect for this, so I say just try to make life easier!

Ok! So we've got a stack of 8 flower shapes, a circle cut from the stiff fabric, and a needle threaded. Let's get to business!

Fold one of the flower shapes in half, then in half again. Now, "in half" is definitely relative as this shape isn't exactly meant for perfect folding, but do your best! You want to end up with a little wedge when you're done folding.

Place your first fabric wedge on your stiff fabric circle with the point of the wedge at the center of the circle and stitch it into place. Repeat with 3 more of the wedges until you have what looks like a weird four leaf clover.

The next four wedges should be stitched on just like the previous four, but this time you'll want to center the wedges over the lines between the wedges on your previous layer.

Once the last of your fabric wedges are sewn on to your circle, knot the thread at the back of the circle and trim off the ends. At this point your flower is alllllllmost done. You just need to grab the top wedges and give them a little twist between your fingers to floof them up a little. (Floof being an official term, obviously!)

Voila! Flower complete. Make some more and then you can work of placing them!

Now it's time do some flower arrangement (ha! See what I did there?). The layout is ultimately up to you, but I did my larger flowers towards the center and added the smaller ones in to help taper the shape. Once you get a layout you like, pin the flowers into place, being sure to pin through the circle underneath the flower since it acts as a nice anchor.

Once your flowers are pinned, stitch them in place one at a time. You don't have to be super neat with your stitch work, but be sure to stitch all the way around your the circle anchor on your flowers so it will be well attached to the belt. Stitch all of your flowers on, remove the pins, and then sit back and admire your handy work!

Isn't that lovely? Other than the obvious color and pattern differences, I think it's a dead ringer for the Anthropologie belt and at just a tenth of the cost! I'll definitely be wearing this with pretty full skirts all summer!

Til next time!

-Becca

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