After months of kinda-sorta wanting a cummerbund belt in my wardrobe, I decided I definitely wanted one to wear with my Tux Dress (post forthcoming, I’m waiting on Sew Weekly). I kept an eye out in op-shops over the past few months for a still-good-but-castoff cummerbund; when I still turned up nothing last week I took matters into my own hands. I can wear a wide cummerbund-style belt with most of my other clothes. Here, I’m wearing it with the Leaflace Dress.
It’s made of black silk-cotton radiance. I like radiance because unlike most satins, it washes easily and doesn’t show pinmarks. The back is carefully elasticized to allow the back to stretch, but I covered it in such a way it doesn’t look like a scrunchie. I chose to hand-stitch this cummerbund, but the pleated section could easily be made by machine. You could also opt not to pleat the front section- leave it smooth, bead it, embroider, whatever makes you happy. It’s not a difficult project, and the end result is light but strong and very wearable.
- Chestnut Bun on Chestnut Hair
- Front- not too wide, but wide enough to be noticeable.
- Back- Elasticized, but not “scrunchy.”
- It’s hard to photograph black satin, even in full sun! I love the pleating, next time I’ll have to make one in a light color so I can share snaps easier…
- I used two trouser hooks and bars to close the side of the cummerbund. When positioning the hooks, make sure the hooked edge is next to the edge of the belt. Sometimes I forget and sew them in the other way around, which is not very secure.
- I whipped it in place invisibly from the outside, though you can see my stitching from the back.
- Then I picked up the backing piece I made earlier and layered over all the basting and etc. It covers the other side of the buckram.
- Once I secured the pleats and basted the raw edges to one side, I lapped the elasticized back piece under the cummberbund piece. I wrapped it around me to check for fit, tweaked it in a little bit and then whip-stitched the elastic to the back of the cummerbund. At the “side seam” area, I stitched the cummerbund front flatly to the elastic so it wouldn’t flap around.
- After basting. I can’t get a good photo of this pleating to save my life, but it really pleases me to look at it and run my fingers over the texture.
- Once I pinned everything, I secured the pleats with some hand-basting. I basted through all layers except the last (exterior) layer of the pleat for invisible security. Again, not difficult in the slightest but it did take me about 45 minutes. And wear a thimble!
- Full of pins after hand-pleating. I tucked the raw edges to the back side of the buckram, they will be covered up later.
- This part is not not not difficult. I simply hand-pleated one row after another of radiance, pinning as I pleated. The effect is soft, somewhat organic. I could have also marked some pintucking lines on the fabric, stitched them by machine, pressed them, and then molded the pintucked fabric to the cummerbund base. But I didn’t. I felt like hand-pleating. Either works.
- The fun part! Pleating! This is not not not hard, but it does take a little time. It’s good “TV watching” work. I laid the buckram down in front of me, and laid the radiance on top of it, shiny side out. I tucked the raw edge under buckram. When I took a picture of it, it just looked like black fabric. I flipped it up to show the buckram with the fabric wrapped around the bottom edge. Notice how much radiance I have to work with- that’s for the hand pleating.
- I pulled the buckram base out of the pressed piece of fabric and set the radiance aside. The raw edges are all pressed under now and ready for me to use it a backing piece later on.
- With the matte (non-satiny) side facing in, I pressed the radiance around the buckram. The matte won’t slip against my dress.
- Then I cut another piece of radiance- this time slightly wider and longer than my buckram, though a similar shape.
- Then I trimmed the short ends of the buckram, to make the “cummerbund” basic shape. I smoothed out the shape until I liked it.
- I folded the buckram in half and laid the short end of my back piece over the short ends of the buckram. I want the short ends of the buckram to match the width of the elastic, so I marked the width of the elastic on the buckram.
- I used a piece of buckram as my base for the cummerbund. In the past, my belts turned out a little too heavy because I used several layers of heavy interfacing. This belt is nice and light and sturdy with one layer of buckram. I started with a 3.5″ (6cm) wide piece. It is as long as half my waist measurement.
- I overlocked each short end to secure the elastic to the fabric. Zig-zag stitching is also recommended.
- Pin the elastic to each end of the fabric tube. It will “scrunch” slightly, but you want it to so the elastic can stretch.
- Turn the tube, and position the seam on one side (the inside) of the belt. Press. Insert the elastic- I didn’t need to use a bodkin or safety pin, the elastic went in easily.
- Stitch the long edge of the fabric together, right sides in.
- Fold the fabric in half along the line you just marked and press. Then cut out the strip of fabric. You will use the edge of the fabric from the previous step as a guide for cutting- no stress.
- If you choose to cover the back of the belt, lay it on your fashion fabric. Eyeball or measure 1/2″ (1.2cm) seam allowance on one long side as shown. Mark the other edge of the elastic on the fabric (mine is marked with a pin). At one short end, cut the fabric 1″ or so longer than the elastic, to allow the elastic to stretch.
- This is belting elastic- for a very casual belt you may decide not to cover it.
- Requirements: -1/2 yard or so of light/medium black satin- I used cotton-silk radiance. -1/2 yard (enough to fit half your waist measurement) 1.5″-2″ (36mm-48mm) wide elastic, – .1m/4″ buckram (or felt or heavyweight interfacing) and wide enough to cover the front of your waist, -trouser hooks and bars, sewing thread, scissors, pins
One last little detail: I found the Chestnut Bun on Pinterest some time ago (how did I find recipes or hairstyles before pinterest?). I’m in love with this simple little bun- it actually works on my not-quite-long-enough hair and holds it neatly and prettily. Even better, it works best on slightly dirty hair. Just sayin’. It kind of collapses when I use clean hair, so I spritz clean hair with hairspray and brush it out at the ponytail stage. It works really well. The best part is it’s super easy to do. Check out the Chestnut Bun Tutorial at Strawberry Koi.