DIY Leather Skinny Belt

Hey sweet people! Today I’m comin’ at ya with what may possibly be my favorite DIY ever…yeah I said it. And it can be your favorite DIY too because it is just that good!

 

 

Do you ever notice a staple wardrobe piece missing from your closet, but then once you go to track it down it’s suddenly nowhere to be found?! I’ve resigned that I will never find the perfect white t-shirt, but a black leather skinny belt to wear with dresses and high-waisted jeans was something of a dream I refused to let go of.

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Y’all I looked everywhere for this dang thing. Ready-to-wear shops, re-sale sites like Poshmark or Thred-up, even Ebay…nothing. Finally, I decided to take things into my own hands. After coming across this Etsy shop, I was so excited to try my hand at making one instead.

 

 

This was a surprisingly fast and simple make. I’ve never made a belt before or seen anyone do it, so for some reason I thought it was going to be a bigger deal than it was? I don’t know why I thought this, but in under an hour I learned a new skill and had my new favorite belt ever with definite plans to make another version in brown, so I promise you- no advanced crafting skills required for this DIY! To make this simple leather skinny belt, here’s what you’ll need:

 

 

SUPPLIES:

• 3/4” leather strip

• 3/4” belt buckle set (I used this floral one)

• 1/4” Chicago screws

• Revolving leather punch

• Scissors

• small screwdrivers matching size and style of the Chicago screw (I used a standard flat head)

• measuring tape or another belt the length you’d like to make

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Step 1: Measure your waist and hip measurements to find how long you need to make your belt and where your holes will need to be punched. If you plan to wear this for dresses and jeans, I recommend wearing the actual jeans or dresses you plan to wear the belt with so you can accurately measure along where the belt will lay. If you’re copying the length of a belt whose size you like, you can skip this step.

 

 

Step 2: Adjust your hole punch to match the size of your Chicago screw (I set mine to 1/4”). Make 3 evenly spaced holes starting 1/4” from the top of your leather strip. I made mine 1 1/4” apart. This will make the loop around the belt buckle at the top. (You can see in the image above which pieces belong to which hole.)

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Step 3: With the top of your belt buckle facing the table and the bottom of your leather strip (the rough, textured side) facing up, insert the prong of the buckle into the center hole. Fold over your leather piece and attach with the Chicago screw. Make sure the part you screw (the one with the groove) is on the bottom part of the belt, and the smooth part is on the top for a clean finish. It should match the pictures above.

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Step 4: Now it’s time to make your punch holes. If you have a belt to copy off of, you can cheat and simply lay that one over your leather strip to copy the holes. If not, start at your smallest measurement (typically at your waist) that you took earlier and create as many holes as you like to your largest measurement (usually your hips) spaced 1” apart working from the end with the belt buckle to the raw edge. On my belt, I made 7 holes starting at 31” to 37” from the top of the belt, measuring from the buckle prong.

 

 

Step 5: If needed, trim any excess material off the end of your belt to length. Here, you can simply round the end to polish it off, or you can add an end tip like I did. Follow the steps below to do so.

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Step 6: Attach your end tip. As you can see from the first picture, my end tip was a biiiiiit smaller than the leather for my belt. To make it fit, I just cut the ends at an angle in towards the center of the belt to form a point the same length as my end tip. Then I used the world’s tiniest screws (they came with the buckle set) to secure the tip piece to the leather.

 

 

Step 7: Now it’s time to attach your belt loop. I saved this part for last so I could properly try on my belt with my jeans to accurately see where the belt loop on my belt would land in comparison to the belt loops on my jeans (I didn’t want them to overlap, if that makes sense). To prevent the loop from sliding off my belt, I decided to secure it using waxed thread. You don’t need to do this step, but I knew it would bother me- so here’s what I did: I adjusted my hole punch to the smallest setting and created 2 holes 1/4” away from the Chicago screw.

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Then I simply sewed around the bottom of the belt loop with my waxed thread, entering and exiting from the back so the knot would be hidden while I was wearing the belt. You don’t have to use waxed thread for this- I just happened to have some on hand and used it for it’s sturdiness. Any strong thread or yarn will do.

 

 

That’s it! You just made your own leather skinny belt like a true bad ass! I love how this piece works perfectly with jeans and dresses, and how easy it is to customize your pieces to work with your wardrobe. I’ve already gotten so much wear out of this thing and it is hands down my favorite accessory to polish off my outfits right now!

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What’s your favorite wardrobe accessory? If you make this skinny belt, be sure to tag me @happymakes_me because this is one make I can see so being able to be made in soooo many variations and I would love to check them out as inspo for my next belt!

Happy making!

-XO-

C

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