KNITTING BELT



OK, this is my first tutorial, so bear with me. I have had a vision of this project for. . . well, a long time. I cannot tell you how gratifying it is to finally see it materialize. I took pictures along the way, so I could post it as a tutorial. I did this because I've never seen anything like this before, and I thought there may be other people out there who might want to make one themselves.

A little history: I like to knit (as you know) and I spend most of my time tending to small children (as you know). Sometimes these do work in conjunction with each other, but sometimes they really don't. I often find myself in a position (say, standing at the stairs to make sure Quinn doesn't tumble down, or sitting by the bath while the kids are splashing, or pacing outside while the kids explore, etc.) where my hand are free, but I can't hold my knitting project. I began to think about how great it would be to have some kind of holder for my yarn and needles, so I could stand or walk around and knit at the same time! You may call this an obsession, and I will forgive you if you do. Maybe it is!

So, this is what I came up with and how I made it.

1. I chose 3 fabrics for the belt: a heavy fabric (linen curtains), a liner (cotton), and something to thicken it up (leftover flannel receiving blanket). I cut them into strips 3.5 in x 39 in.




2. I laid the strips so that the liner and outer fabrics were next to each other, rights sides together. Then, I laid the flannel piece on top. I pinned and sewed around 3 edges, then turned it right-side-out. I folded down the open end and sewed it closed, ironed the strips, then sewed one line down the middle of the strip (length-wise) to secure it.

I then sewed 2.5 in of elastic on the belt as a fastener.



3. Now, for the pouch. Using the heavy fabric, I shaped and cut two pieces. I used the edge of the curtain that was already hemmed, so with out that, you should leave enough fabric on the top edge to fold over on each side). I cut a piece of elastic so that it left 1 inch to the edge on either side (see picture).



Then, laying the back of the pouch flat (right side up), and keeping the elastic centered, I pinned the front edge (right side down) to the edges of the elastic. This leaves a back edge on either side. I then trimmed the edges to be even with the front.



Once this was pinned and trimmed, I sewed around the edges, incorporating the elastic, and turned it right side out.



4. Attaching the pouch to the belt came next. I put the belt on and pinned where I wanted the pouch to lay. Folding the back edge down, I sewed the pouch to the belt. Then, I took a small piece of elastic and sewed it above the pouch. I sewed a seam on each edge and then a seam down the middle, with the intention of it holding 2 needles.



5. Done! I loaded up my pouch and tried it on. It worked!! As a side note, I found the pouch to look a little boring, so I embellished it. This is optional : ).