Keepin' Our Pants Up

So, there's a condition that seems to run in our family, called glutialhypoplasia. Now, don't worry, don't worry...this isn't a serious condition, it just causes a few problems for those affected. Mostly pain when sitting for too long, and the purpose for today's post: difficulty in keeping our pants up. To counteract this side effect of glutialhypoplasia, we find it necessary to have an assortment of belts. For small children, such as Maryn, this can be kind of a problem. They're hard to find this small, and more importantly, they are hard to undo when you have to go to the bathroom really really really bad because you've been holding it for the last hour or two.

I was at a little boutique a while back when I saw some really cute belts. Actually, I think they were supposed to be dog collars, but it gave me an idea to make my own belts for Maryn. The supplies were pretty easy to find, and it only took about 15 minutes to make. I thought I'd give you instructions on how to make them, should your child also be burdened with glutialhupoplasia.
Here's the first belt:

Cute, huh? Here are the instructions:

1" polyester webbing

Coordinating 7/8" grosgrain ribbon

1" D ring set

about 3" of velcro

thread

I'm going to apologize now for my crappy sewing and lousy pictures.

First, measure your child's waist, with pants on, around the belt loops. Then, add 5 inches to that measurement. At your fabric store, you should be able to find 1" polyester webbing. I found mine at Hobby Lobby, and I just saw it today at Walmart. Don't get confused by the cotton webbing--it's a little bit more difficult to work with when finishing the ends. Just stick with polyester, m'kay?
Alright, so you have your polyester webbing cut to the waist length plus 5 inches. What you want to do first is to finish off the ends. This is why I prefer polyester, because it melts easily when you run it over a small flame, whereas cotton just catches on fire. (I know this because I tried it)

So using a lighter, run the end of your webbing over a flame a few times. This should keep it from fraying. Do this to both ends.

Next, take the fuzzy part of the velcro and attach it to one end with your sewing machine. (I was too lazy to switch my thread out for white...I won't judge you if you do this, too.) We will call this end, the "short end," just for clarification.Now, cut a piece of ribbon about 7" long. Finish off the ends with a flame. (this is also why I recommend grosgrain...it melts nicely) Flip your webbing over, and on the short end (see...clarificating, isn't it?) stitch your 7" piece of ribbon. At this point, you should have a piece of webbing with velcro on one side and a short piece of ribbon on the opposite side of that. Next, cut a piece of ribbon about 5 inches shorter than your belt and finish off the ends. On the same side as your fuzzy velcro, meet the long end of the belt up with the end of the ribbon, and stitch the ribbon on. It won't go all the way to the short end, but that's ok, because that end will be folded over anyway, like such: After the ribbon is sewn on, you need to put the D rings on the long end. Stitch away.
To figure out where to attach the stiff piece of velcro, it's best to try the belt on your child. Make sure you leave a little room to grow. You don't want an ugly piece of white velcro sticking out. Sew it on, and you are done!
I also made one out of cotton webbing. I had found some cute iron on butterflies, and you can't iron on polyester webbing....the whole melting action, remember? I just had to finish off the ends with some ribbon. It doesn't look as nice, and it sure wasn't easy, but Maryn likes it, and that's all that matters.

Here's that happy girl who doesn't cry because she can't get her belt off when she's gotta pee really bad.

After my adventures in children's belts, I found some 2" webbing and some cute 1 and 1/2 inch grosgrain ribbon for myself . I wish I could find it in more colors than just black.

The end.