Ribbon Tie Toddler Belt - with Tutorial

Last year for Valentine's Day, I made the easiest string of felt hearts to put on the mantle. I cut WAY too felt hearts. So I stuck them in a box for this year. Those hearts combined with some leftover ribbon (more on that below) ... enter - the Valentine's Day Toddler Belts! I very quickly whipped up (like less than an hour) two toddler belts with ribbon closures. One has felt hearts, while the other is plain red gingham. 

This little model shoot didn't as planned (sometimes that - taking the pictures - is the hardest part of this blogging process)! My other model came down with a double ear infection, so she slept the day away inside - sad! Meanwhile, someone was happy to oblidge and wear both belts and indulge on a big fat lollipop from her favorite fabric store. (Fabric store to her = big fat lolllipop). So imagine a picture of two toddlers wearing these belts instead, ok? 

Back to the project. Has anyone else noticed that Pottery Barn Kids uses really nice ribbon on their wrapped packages? I've never been able to throw it away, so I just keep throwing it in a drawer to use for later. I cannot throw this kind of thing away.

If you want to make one too, here's the instructions. This is VERY easy and takes well under an hour. If you run into any questions, please don't hesitate to email or leave a comment!

Materials:

• 1/4 yard fabric (You'll have scraps)
• Fusible Fleece (I use pre-packaged Pellon 987F)
• Coordinating Ribbon
• Felt Scraps (optional)

Step 1. Measure child's waist. I wanted to have the ends of the fabric portion of the belt NOT TOUCH, but instead have a slight opening for the ribbon & bow. I measured both my daughters and surprisingly, they both had 18" waists.


Step 2. Cut materials.

• Fabric: cut two pieces your child's waist measurement x 2.5" each for the front & back (mine were 18" x 2.5")
• Fusible Fleece: cut 1 piece: your child's waist measurement minus 1" [mine = 17"] x 1"
• Ribbon: cut 2 pieces approximately 15" each (you can trim down if needed)
• Cut Felt Shapes, for the heart overlay (optional)

Step 3. Fuse the fleece to the wrong side of the front piece, following the package instructions.

Step 4. Make a "sandwich" with the right sides of the fabric facing - with the ribbon pieces pinned to the short ends as the "inside" of the sandwich.  Make sure the length of the ribbon is INSIDE the "sandwich." Hopefully the picture below clarifies that mumbo jumbo.

Pin ribbon to the bottom of sandwich so you do not sew it! Note, the ribbon is INSIDE the sandwich.

Step 5. Pin and sew all the way around. I like to sew this with the fleece side UP, so it's not dragging on the feed dogs.  Leave 2" opening on a long end for turning.

Step 6. Clip corners. Turn. Poke out corners. Press.

Step 7. Top stitch all the way around! If you like it plain, stop there (like I did with the Red Gingham one) ... if you want some Valentine's Day Flair, then ...

Step 8. Grab the felt shapes, arrange and pin on the front of the belt. (The belt is really reversible at this point, so just pick a side). Sew a straight line through the middle of the shapes - and you're really done! For that big "double heart" I did stitch the smaller white one to the bigger red one so that it wouldn't flop around.  



(I decided to take 2 hearts off & space them out before I sewed them down. I wanted to see the white / red dot fabric more.)

Step 9. Grab and model and spruce her up. ;-)

Yes, SHE insisted on her skinny jeans with her special red shoes. And I am obsessed with her in them. Obsessed.



Have fun!




Take a drive in your flashy red shoes!