When we belly dancers buy a new set of costumes, more often than not, we have to first alter it to fit our uniquely beautiful body.
In this video, you’ll see how I shortened this beautiful Turkish style belt with nice beading work all around it, and you can see how you may be able to apply what you see to your oversized belt.
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Altering a Beaded Belly Dance Belt
This belt has 2 identical parts, one that goes in front, and one that goes at the back. The left side has hooks and bars, so I connect the 2 panels at the right side. But when I connect them together without hiding the pretty beading design, they are too big on me. I’ve moved the bars of the hooks as far as I can, but it’s still too big.
So my plan is to remove some of the beading from all ends of the panels, shorten them by 8cm, so I will remove 2cm from all ends. Then stitch the right sides together. I’m hoping that without the beads and sequins at the ends of the panels, the finished belt will look pretty much seamless at the sides.
So first, I ripped stitches that held the lining to the belt. Here is how it looks inside. I discovered a piece of wire going through the top of the belt to help keep its shape. A few strands of beads came off from the fringe as I was removing the lining, so I just carefully removed them and set them aside.
Next, I removed the beads and sequins in this area that is about 2cm from the end. I left the beading thread as long as I can, and tied it so the rest of the beading does not get undone. Then I went and removed all hooks and did the same for all the other ends of the belt.
Then I took the left side of the front panel and the right side of the back panel, and sew down about 2cm from the end. This is going to be on the right side when I wear it. I used strong craft & button thread here. I left the excess fabric here, because I realized it wasn’t very bulky, and in case I want to extend the belt in the future or sell the belt to someone who does.
And straighten the inside wire, and did a whip stitch, a hand stitching technique that goes in a spiral fashion. I did this over the wire to secure it in place.
Then I went on to finish the left side of the back panel. I just simply sewed the lining back on with a whip stitch. The bars of the closures were right at 2cm from the end, so I left them there.
And for the right side of the front panel, I folded over the 2cm of wire and fabric towards the wrong side of the belt, and stitched it there.
Then for all sections, I did some beading to fill little gaps created when I removed the beading earlier. I just mimicked the beading techniques, so it looks seamless.
After that, I sewed the lining back on. For the connecting part of the belt, I just folded the excess fabric to the front, and stitched the lining over it.
Finally, I removed excess fringe, secured the rest, and sewed the hooks back on.
And that’s it! It fits me way better now, and the altered parts look quite seamless!
I think the key to altering beaded belts is to not be afraid of undoing the stitches. If you are working on a belt that is entirely covered with beads and sequins, look at how the thread goes and see where you can actually cut. Just be sure to examine where the threads are going, and keep all the beads. Sewing can be mysterious, but it all makes sense if you follow the thread, it’s like a train of thought 😉 Just make sure not to lose it!
And here are beading technique posts to help you re-create the look.
Beading Techniques 1: Single Line
Beading Techniques 2: Twist Line
How to Sew Sequins for Belly Dancers 1: Sequin Line & Fill
How to Sew Sequins for Belly Dancer 2: Sequins & Beads
So take this post as an example, and I hope you can apply it to your belts. Next week, you’ll see how I altered the straps of the matching bra 😀
If you try altering your belt, please share your experience on Sparkly Belly’s Facebook page. And remember to sign up for the Sparkly Belly newsletter from the below link to get updates and free access to patterns and resources only available to newsletter subscribers.
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Thanks for reading, and keep sparkling! 😉
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