During American Idol this past season, General Larry Platt gained his fifteen minutes of fame with a wild rendition of the song, Pants on the Ground. “Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, lookin’ like a fool, with your pants on the ground.” Proving a) we will watch just about anything, and b) these super fast and easy webbing belts are a must-have to keep you and everyone you know from lookin’ like a fool.

During American Idol this past season, General Larry Platt gained his fifteen minutes of fame with a wild rendition of the song, Pants on the Ground. “Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, lookin’ like a fool, with your pants on the ground.” Proving a) we will watch just about anything, and b) these super fast and easy webbing belts are a must-have to keep you and everyone you know from lookin’ like a fool.

I made all four of these belts in under an hour. As I was whipping them out, I was making a mental gift list of who would get the wide printed-webbing version and who gets the cute-as-pie webbing and ribbon version. Webbing comes in just about every color of the rainbow, and don’t get me started on all your choices for ribbons. The ribbon for this project came from our friends at The Ribbon Retreat. Thanks, Lanea!

Sewing Tools You Need

• Any Sewing Machine (we recommend the Janome Jem Gold 3)

Fabric and Other Supplies

The belt-wearer’s size, and how he/she will wear the belt, determine the amount of webbing and ribbon needed. The best way to judge is to measure the waistband of the pants on which the belt is most likely to be worn. To this measurement, add 8″. For the kids’ belts, you only need to add about 5″ to the pant’s waistband measurement.

In our examples below, we wanted a hip hugger belt for the adults. Our waistband measured 38″ and to that we added 8″ for a total length of 48″. For the kid’s belt, our waistband measured 31″ and we added 5″ to that, which equals 36″ – a perfect yard.

Adult’s Printed Webbing Belt

• 1½ yards of 1½” printed webbing:  we found our cool cartoon webbing at Bolt Fabric Boutique in Portland, Oregon
• One 1½” military buckle and tab end: ours came from jcaroline creative!, we chose a nickel finish
• Dritz® Fray Check
• Scissors or rotary cutter and mat

Child’s Webbing & Ribbon Belt

• 1 yard of 1″ colored cotton webbing: ours came from ours came from jcaroline creative!, we chose red and fuchsia
• 1 yard of 7/8″ decorative ribbon: ours came from The Ribbon Retreat , we used Anchors Away in white and Peace Camo in Pink
• One 1″ military buckle and tab end: ours came from jcaroline creative!, we chose a nickel finish
• Thread: we used all-purpose thread to match the webbing in the bobbin, and a .004 monofilament polyester invisible thread in the top in smoke
• Fusible seam tape, such as Stitch Witchery or SteamASeam
• Dritz® Fray Check
• Scissors or rotary cutter and mat
• Iron and ironing board

Getting Started

1. As described above, cut all webbing and/or ribbon to the correct length.
2. Apply Fray Check to both ends. Allow to dry, which will take 15 to 30 minutes. Go have a cookie.
   
   NOTE: Instead of Fray Check, you could finish the ends with a tight zig zag stitch or another type of overcasting stitch.

Adult’s No-Sew Webbing Belt

1. Decide which way you want your belt to thread. It would traditionally go from left to right, but left-handers unite… when you make your own belts, you can have the belt thread from right to left!
2. Once you determine direction, check again and make sure any pattern on the belt is going the right way. Our webbing was printed with fun cartoons, which we wanted facing heads up.
3. Thread the appropriate end under the hinge of the belt buckle. It should extend a good ¼” beyond the ‘teeth.’
   
4. Pressing with both thumbs, press the hinge down into position so the ‘teeth’ bite into the webbing.
   
5. Slip the end tab onto the opposite raw end of the webbing. Make sure you slide the webbing all the way in to the tab so the raw edge rests against the inside ‘fold’ of the tab.
   
6. Press the tab together with your fingers. Then, to secure the tab in place, you can either cover the tab with a piece of fabric to protect the finish, and gently squeeze it all the way together with a pair of flat pliers.
   
7. Or, still covering the tab with a piece of fabric to protect the finish, gently hammer  it together.
   
8. Slide the end through the buckle and adjust the rolling pin to tighten. (Telling you how to buckle a belt makes me feel just like those poor flight attendants who have to tell us how to fasten a seat belt.)
   
   

At Your Sewing Machine & Ironing Board

Child’s Ribbon Belt

1. Following manufacturer’s instructions, adhere a strip of fusible seam tape to the center of the webbing.
   
2. Layer the ribbon on top, right side up and centered. Press in place.
   
3. Thread your machine with thread to match your webbing in the bobbin and invisible thread in the top.
4. Edgestitch the ribbon to the webbing along both sides.
   
5. Insert the finished belt into the military buckle, following the same steps as above.