DIY Golden Era Belly Dance Belt

Are you in love with the glamour and fun of the Golden Era belly dance?

Well, I am! I’ve been working on my course on Advanced Circle Skirts which includes this romantic, Golden Era inspired high slit circle skirt, which I’m super excited about!

And I wanted to make a simplified version of a Golden Era style belly dance belt to go with it! This version is quick and easy and pretty 🙂 Let’s get started!

Click here to get the calculator to make the belt pattern!

To make this DIY Golden Era Belly Dance Belt, you need:

Pattern paper – any paper like craft paper or wrapping paper would do. 

50cm (20in) Sparkly stretch fabric – this is going to be the outer layer of the belt, and since it’s already embellished with sequins, I don’t need to decorate it. You need about 50cm of this.

50cm (20in) Base stretch fabric – this is regular lycra fabric, and this is going to be the inside layer or lining. The outer layer is see through, so you need to have a lining. I used this color to match my skirt, but you can use a contrasting color so the embellishment on the outer fabric shows well.

Matching color thread

How to Make DIY Golden Era Belly Dance Belt

Take measurements

First, take these measurements:

Your belt line – this is where you want the top of your belt to sit

Your hipline – this is the fullest part of your hips

Measure the circumference of these parts.

Quick calculation

Then we do a quick calculation. I have a special calculator for free here , so you can go ahead, get the calculator and skip this section if you like. But if you want to understand the math, this is how it works.

First, take the belt line measurement, and divide it by 1.2. This is so that the belt will stretch and hug your belt line well. And divide it by 4, because we’ll be making a pattern that’s a quarter of the belt. This is your belt line number for pattern making.

Similarly, take the hip measurement, and this time, divide it by 1.15. This makes it a little looser than the belt line. And divide that by 4. This is your hip line number.

Record these numbers and let’s move on to quick pattern making.

Quick pattern making

On a piece of paper, draw a vertical line. This is going to be the center front.

Draw a horizontal line at the top across the page. This line should be about ½ your actual hip measurement. And draw another vertical line at the end. This is going to be the center back.

From the center front line, measure your belt line number that you calculated earlier, along the horizontal line and make a mark.

From the horizontal line, measure 5cm (2in) down along the center front line, and make a mark. 

Measure 7.5cm (3in) from the mark, and draw a horizontal line from there all the way to the center back line.

Along the line, measure your hip measurement that you calculated from the center front line and make a mark.

From this point, measure down 2cm (3/4in). 

Now connect all these points with smooth curves. For the bottom point, start the curve about ⅔ of the way.

From the center back line, measure the same belt line number on the top line, and the hip line number on the bottom horizontal line and make marks.

From the point on the bottom horizontal line, measure down 2cm (3/4in).

On the center back line, measure down 5cm (2in) from the bottom horizontal line.

Now connect all these points with smooth curves. We’ll use the top horizontal line as it is, and for the bottom line, the curve ends around half way then the line becomes flat towards the center back line.

Cut along the outer lines, and you have the front and back panels ready. This pattern makes a belt that’s 7.5cm (3in) wide at the center front and 17.5cm (7in) wide at the center back. 

Cut Fabric

Fold your fabric right sides together, and make sure the direction of stretch is perpendicular to the fold of the fabric.

Place your pattern on top of the fabric, and make sure the straight edges are right up against the fold of the fabric. And cut while adding a 1cm (3/8in) seam allowance all around except at the fold. 

If your fabric is embellished or has prints, you’ll want to be strategic about where to place your pattern. For example, I placed mine so the large motif is centered, and the rest is symmetrical. 

By the way, a lint roller is great for picking up tiny pieces of sequins that fall off embellished fabric like this!

And repeat the cutting step for the lining fabric. 

Sewing Time!

Place the front and back panels right sides together for each set of the outer fabric and lining fabric, and do a zigzag stitch along the opposite side with a 1cm (3/8in) seam allowance. Use a sharp stretch needle to sew sequin fabric.

Now place them right sides together, and do a zigzag stitch along the top and bottom edges with a 1cm (3/8in) seam allowance.

Turn it inside out, and match up the open ends. And align just the outer fabric, and do a zigzag stitch here.

Then fold the lining fabric 1cm (3/8in) from the edges towards the wrong side, and do a whip stitch by hand to close the opening. 

Finally, do a zigzag stitch along the top and bottom edges as top stitching. If the top part feels a little loose, you can add elastic on the inside as I show in the skirt fitting tutorial here.

And now your Golden Era belly dance belt is complete! Once the pattern is done, the rest is super easy! Using pre-embellished sequin fabric makes this project fun too, because it’s already ready to be worn on top of a nice circle skirt and you have this Golden Era inspired look!

You can embellish this belly dance belt further, but it won’t hold up a lot of beading.

If you want to do heavy decoration, I recommend you make a sturdier belt base. I show how to do that in my Belly Dance Costume Workshop where you can make a nice custom-fit belt base for your unique curves.

And if you want to make glamorous Golden Era style circle skirts with high slits like this, check out my Advanced Circle Skirts premium course.

I’m showing how to make other styles of circle skirts with professional design features, so if you want an upgrade from plain circle skirts, make sure to check it out here!

I hope you liked this DIY Golden Era Belly Dance Belt project, and if you did, please share this tutorial with your belly dancer friends!

And again, you can get a calculator for making the pattern from the below link ↓↓

Click here to get the Golden Era Belly Dance Belt calculator!

Thanks for reading, and keep sparkling!

P.S. Pin this image for your “things to make” board! 🙂

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