More Upcycled Bracelets from Vintage Belts

Hi everybody! Not too long ago, I posted about some cool bracelets I made from old belts. My sweet daughter and her friends thought they were pretty neat, so they’ve been buying more belts for me to get crafty with.

The denim bracelet on the left required a small amount of sewing, while the one on the right involved removing the metal piece on the end of the belt, and then reapplying it after shortening the belt to bracelet length.

Let’s start with the denim bracelet. First I removed the buckle from the belt, and then I removed the metal prong [that slides into the belt grommets] from the buckle using pliers. Starting from the finished, pointed end, I measured out my wrist size, added an inch for comfort, another inch for sewing, and another couple of inches to thread through the buckle.

Of course I didn’t take photos as I was going along, but I do have this nifty diagram that I hope helps. You want to sew the cut edge of the bracelet around the center, metal bar of the buckle.

Your final step is to thread the pointy, finished end through the buckle and tack it into place on the sides with a couple of stitches, and you’re done.

For this army/navy style bracelet, you do not remove the buckle or the prongs. Because the eyelets run the entire length of the belt, you can cut it down, making a “mini” belt, and it will still functions properly.

Again, no photos of the process, but this diagram may help. Cut the belt to bracelet length, plus a couple of inches for threading through the buckle. Then remove the metal tip using a flat head screwdriver to pry it up (it has little teeth that grip the mesh of the belt). Next, replace the tip onto the cut end of your bracelet. Tuck the cut ends into the mouth of the metal piece and gently pound it closed with a rubber mallet.

This is an easy, fun little project, much easier than the directions sound.

If you decide to give this project a try, go to the belt section of your favorite thrift store and try them on your wrist. Examine how they are made and determine whether you can easily turn them into funky looking bracelets. Every belt is different. The style of belts I used in my original post differ from these two, yet they came out great.

If you have a daughter or granddaughter, this would make a fun project to work on together. The young girls I’ve shown these to really like them, and in fact, my sweet daughter just bought me two more vintage belts to upcycle.