When you make a garment, you can bring a lot of character and beauty to your project by focusing on the details. Thoughtful touches to a collar or hem can change the look of an entire dress, and little accessories like a hair bow or a belt can pull everything together. Today we want to share a Farmhouse Fabrics original tutorial of what we call our “Heirloom Belt”. This belt was featured on one of our little girls in our latest advertisement in “Classic Sewing” magazine (see pictures from the ad here) and it is a lovely touch to an heirloom dress or blouse. Make it for a little girl in your life or make one for yourself! Here is what you will need:
Swiss beading-width of your preference (determine your length by measuring around the waist of whoever you are making the belt for and then add an inch) See the beading we used here.
1 yard silk satin ribbon-width corresponding to your beading size. See the ribbon we used here.
Grosgrain ribbon-width of the entredeux to entredeux of your beading and color of your beading. The amount you need will be the length of your beading without that added inch. See the ribbon we used here.
Flat tape threader or ribbon weaver
Scissors, thread, and sewing machine
First, fold under and press the seam allowances of your beading.
It will end up looking like this:
Lay your beading on top of your grosgrain ribbon. The beading will be slightly longer than the ribbon and you can fold that excess over the ends of the ribbon. Pin in place.
Using your sewing machine, topstitch your beading to your ribbon being sure to catch the folded over ends.
This is where the amazingly handy ribbon weaver or flat tape threader come into play. If y’all don’t already have one of these you need to get one now….when I used one for the first time I felt like I was experiencing a whole new world. We stock several different ribbon weavers, but I used my favorite: the flat tape threader from the John James Bodkin set. Thread your choice of ribbon weaver with ribbon (my ribbon was 6 mm wide) and weave the ribbon through your beading. 
And ta-da! You are done! Use this sweet belt as an accessory on your lovely heirloom outfits and make it in varying widths using different entredeux. What a lovely little detail!
