Sunday, October 20, 2013

Beaded Buckles


After cleaning up the edges of the belt with some extra beads (which was relaxing, but took much more time than I was expecting!) I decided that a beaded buckle was needed.


Following the fabric was not going to work, and my go-to always seems to be floral, which did not seem right, either.  In the end I sort of followed the idea of the damask scroll work, but made it my own.



The belt for my eyelet dress was a test run for the buckle construction.


Quilting batting was used to pad out some plastic needlepoint canvas which was covered with my beaded fabric (for the prior version I cut up a plastic lid, but the holes that are built into the needlepoint canvas are much easier to work with).  


To finish the raw edges on the back side, I cut a piece of fabric to the shape of the form, turned the edges under, and stitched over the back side of the buckle.



There are a couple of hook & eyes and a snap or two that need to be stitched on, but I am going to wait until I have the dress finished.


At the moment, the belt does not quite fit around my form, but it works on my waist.



[Britex has generously provided the fabric and sewing supplies for a dress I will be wearing to a formal event in October. I will be sharing some of the steps and construction techniques with you as I work on this project over the next couple of months.]

15 comments:

  1. wow your really good at beading! your belt looks beautiful.

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  2. It looks amazing!! You have some awesome beading skills :)

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  3. What an amazing labor of love - with gorgeous results!

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  4. This looks fabulous! I'm completely in awe of your hand beading.

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  5. Wow! I love your buckle...just a great idea....i can't wait to see the finished dress! It's going to be amazing!!

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  6. It looks amazing. You are so talented!

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  7. My goodness! How innovative you are! I cannot wait to see the rest of it. I always like the posts that show how to best. Thank you for posting them.

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  8. Congratulations, you put another cork in my catterwalling.

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  9. WOW! That is stunning! I can't wait to see the entire creation!

    xoxo
    -Janey

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  10. This is so incredibly, intricately beautiful. Stunning work!

    ♥ Jessica

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  11. Wow! You have got great skills... thanks for sharing

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