Tutorial: Reduce a Belt

Being a mother, has pretty much taken all of the fun out of shopping.  I used to love to go to stores, walk around, and dream of things that I'd one day purchase.  As a mom, shopping with kids is a bit of a nightmare.  I do my best to gather everything on the list, and get out of the store before anyone has a major meltdown (myself included).

I've been doing a bit more shopping than usual trying to find things to wear to both my brother's, and my sister-in-law's weddings. Blurgh...to finally buy something for yourself, and be forced to try on clothes with kids...pretty much torture.

I found this pink belt on one of my shopping trips.  It was on clearance at target, and I thought that it might work, so I threw it in the cart.  I pulled it out when I got home, only to realize that I'd picked up an extra large, and it was about eight inches too big.  Urggg...what was I to do, go back to the store and wait in the customer service line with my boys?  NO WAY.  I'd make it work.

So to reduce the size of the belt, I first measured the belt and determined how much it needed to be reduced.  I then flipped over the belt and measured the overlap on the back of the buckle.  Record both numbers.  Subtract the amount of overlap from the amount that the belt needs to be reduced. I also noted the measurements between the buckle hardware, the stitching lines, and the belt loop.  Doing so would help when I needed to put the belt back together.

I then cut that amount of length off of the buckle end of the belt.

 Dissect the belt, keeping the buckle, and loop handy.

 Next I measured in the amount of the belt overlap (1.5" in this case).  I added a mark on the center of the fold line, and then transferred two more marks, indicating the start and stop of the opening for the buckle hardware.

I used my hole punch to open up the marked area. You could then tidy up the opening with a pair of scissors.

Fold the belt over the buckle, and overlap the back.  Stitch near the buckle using a leather needle in the sewing machine, and a zipper foot.

Next position the belt loop near the first stitching line.  Stitch the tail end of the overlap to the belt, securing the belt loop in place.

Ta-da...a resized belt.  The hole punches look a bit untidy, but when the belt is fastened it isn't visible at all.  It was a quick little project, and I avoided a trip to the customer service line.  

So, don't be afraid to buy a belt that is a killer deal on clearance....you can always take it in.