The Celtic Braid Belt

The Inkle Band Becomes A Belt

I wove this lovely Inkle band to make a belt with.  It’s a lovely pick-up pattern that I found online and I wrote all about it last week in my blog.  I mentioned ordering some belt hardware from an Etsy shop and transforming this belt and showing off the results.  I received the hardware for my belt.  I have to say I was a bit surprised when the hardware showed up.  It was not at all like I had imagined, but it was exactly the way it was presented online.  I imagined this hardware worked entirely different, but it worked out well.  I was completely perplexed by it and of course it came with no directions, but who should need them?  Well, actually, Me.  There are some simple directions online at the Etsy shop, they are so simple, I missed them as instructions.   I contacted the seller who was very nice and even though she was on vacation, wrote a short note to explain to me how to get it done.

Securing the ends of the band evidently isn’t required.  Just a dab of “fray Check” (who can use just a dab?) and you should be good to go.  I have trust issues with Fray Check.  I think Fray Check is great if I snip a length of string and want to prevent it from fraying.  That’s what its for, to prevent fraying.  I would never trust it to cut a length of weaving and secure it with fray check only.  It is after all “Fray Check” not “Weave Check”.  I apply it to the cut ends of my Inkle and Tablet woven bands, but I also secure using an overcast stitch and/or buttonhole stitch and sometimes I fold them over and hem them.  In this case I applied fray check, overcast the end and hemmed the end applied to the buckle.  The end that has the end piece was simply overcast after the fray check.

The buckle is a “Military” style buckle with end piece.  I had this buckle imagined as opening and closing clamping down on the other end.  However, the buckle doesn’t work that way, it has a sliding bar that clamps down on the end.  The buckle connects to the band very simply by a lever on the back with teeth.  I can switch this band out if its ruined and the buckle is still in good shape.  It suggests cutting the belt 4 inches longer than your waist.  I should have enough for two belts, but we’ll see if that holds true.  I have a feeling that one will be a little shy.  With this buckle, you slide the end of the band through the slot where the lever is, and bring the end back towards the “U” shaped lever and flip the lever, this causes the Teeth to engage the band and holds it in place.  It’s surprisingly secure.  The other end needs to have the end piece applied to it, by squeezing or crimping it around the end of the band.  It’s wise to use a cloth to prevent marring the finish of the end piece, but I just so happen to have some plastic end pliers for stone setting that came in very useful for this.

I’m fairly happy with this belt.  It seems pretty secure.  The other belt that I made with hardware I found at a fabric store which will remain nameless (Joann’s) allowed the belt to slip, making it fairly useless as a belt.  This one should work well.  I did find a mistake in my weaving right where the end piece goes, but not much I can do about that now and I don’t think its all that noticeable.  I ordered four of these buckles, two black finish and two nickle finish, all for a 1.25″ band, so I better get to work and make some more bands.