Decorative Wide Elastic Waistband.

This bonus tutorial is dedicated to sewing a wide elastic waistband with leather decor.

And I hope you will grow even more convinced that working with leather is nothing beyond your skills.

You will need a clasp of any kind and decoration accessories to make this waistband.

Most importantly, it is a great way to use those bits of leather left after cutting other garments.

Creating a waistband like this is fast and easy work: it will take you, at the very most, an hour and a half whereas the result will make you happy for years. It will be a pretty and robust waistband!

You can use the same technique to sew waistbands from fake leather, suede cloth, and other non-fray materials. You can come up with countless designs as long as you know the step-by-steps of sewing a wide elastic waistband.

So the idea is to make an elastic waistband, decorate it with leather, add a lovely clasp and embellish it with metal accessories. In other words, make a fancy accessory from leftover bits of leather.

First of all, I need leather to use as the background for appliqué elements. I have also cut two pieces of gold leather and duplicated them with iron-on fabric. You will find the appliqué template in the appendix.

I have also prepared four pieces of black leather: two pieces the size of the template and two pieces 0.5cm larger for the lining. These pieces are not duplicated.

I cut a strap of black leather for the clasp and duplicate it with iron-on fabric to prevent it from stretching out. The iron-on fabric should be about 3mm narrower than the slit in the clasp.

I fold the edges of leather over the edges of the iron-on fabric and check if it can go through the slit.

I smear the strap with glue and press the folded edges down.

Then I cut it in half, put each end through the slit in the clasp, and glue it closed.

I transfer the motif from the template on the black leather pieces using a silver leather marking pen and cut it out.

And then I glue the motifs on the gold background using a rubber-based adhesive.

Next I need to stitch around all contours of the motif. I use a regular presser foot because a Teflon foot would partly cover up the motif and I would not be able to make as even rows of stitches.

The first appliqué piece is finished. The second piece should be treated just the same way.

I mark the placement of metal accessories and install them.

Now it's time to glue both ends of the clasp to the appliqué pieces. I mark the centre of the leather strap on the clasp and the centre of the appliqué piece. The clasp is supposed to be as close as possible to the appliqué. I smear the pieces with glue, press them together, and wait for it to set.

I cut a piece of elastic band 10cm shorter than the waist circumference and seal its ends with a lighter.

I need to secure the decorated pieces with the clasp halves on the band. I smear them with glue, press them in place, and trim the edges of elastic band that stick from behind the appliqué.