Madrone Pants: Belt Hack

For a sportier look, and a small change to the pattern, the drawstring on the Madrone Pants can become a belt!

In this post, I’m going to show you:

• How to change the pattern to allow for a belt
• How to make the belt.

Bonuses:

• Different Buckle Styles
• How to make your own belting or webbing.

Pattern Modifications

On the pattern, find the draw cord opening notches on the following pieces (A, B, D, E), they’re circled here in pink:

For a 1”/2.5 cm belt, move each notch a fat ¼” or 7.9 mm away from their original location. 

One goes up and one goes down, away from each other.

We want this opening to be the width of our belt plus a smidge more and we want the hole to stay centered on the casing. 

Measure the new hole opening. It should equal about 1 ¼” /3 cm.

This allows for the belt width plus the thickness and enough room to maneuver the belt in the casing. If your belt is a different width from 1”/2.5 cm, the formula is ‘new desired hole width’ minus ⅝”/1.5 cm =______ Divide this sum in two equal amounts. Move each notch by this amount.

When it comes time to sew the Madrone Pants, follow the directions in the same way. At step 3b, you’ll sew your seams ending and starting your new notch locations. And at step 9g, place the topstitching on your elastic above and below your draw cord opening-not at the measurements provided in the instructions. Place each line of stitching next to your opening leaving the full opening for your belt.

On the grey pair, I was experimenting and didn’t quite get the placement correct. You can see the stitching for the elastic running along the top edge and below the webbing opening. While the top edge looks nice and crisp, this edge isn’t very comfortable. I recommend centering your belt opening down lower at the center of the waistband.

You can wear your Madrone pants without the belt and/or with a drawcord still. Because of the elastic, the openings get scrunched closed. No belt:

Assembling the Belt

You need:

• Webbing or homemade belting. You need enough to go around your hips plus about 12”/30.5 cm more for threading through the buckle and a tail to finish.
• Buckle

Thread your belting through the casing without the buckle. Since you have the openings along the waist, it’s possible to slip a loop turner through at one end of a section and pull the webbing through. A safety pin or a Clover ‘Clip and Guide Bodkin’ works for these larger openings too.

Start at the front and come out at the side front going back in at the side back. Repeat on the other side in reverse then out at the front again. Before you add the buckle, try on the pants and make sure you can slip them over your hips with the belt in place. 

Now it’s time for the buckle.

Secure the belt to the buckle at one end. There are a wide variety of buckles and they can be confusing to use. Look through the bags and clothes and backpacks you own for one that is similar. Generally it secures permanently to the buckle at one end or in the center. The loose end usually gets threaded through something else -either the buckle you attached the webbing to or a companion part but it doesn’t get sewn to the second one since it’ll be adjustable and needs to slide through. Once it’s threaded through the buckle, we can then turn under the raw end and stitch it down. Try the pants on and get the webbing length just how you want it leaving enough for the sewing.

In some cases, like on the ladder lock, it’s advisable to sew the end with a little ‘hook’ so it cannot find its way back through the buckle and slip out. Rather than edgestitch the fold, it’s sewn further away to create the ‘hook’ or ‘stop’. The stop makes it hard for it to unthread on its own but can most likely still be unthreaded from the buckle if you want. I usually fold it ¾”/2 cm twice and stitch down the middle of this section. (note below)

You can also sew a decorative piece of matching fabric on the belt end like you see on the grey pair. Synthetic webbing like nylon or polyester can be melted. I didn’t have something handy to do this so I added the fabric to the end of my black belt. Also handy if you’re getting nervous about the thickness of the webbing. No need to fold it if you encase the end with fabric.

Buckle Types

Pictured here are varying types of buckles. Some are two parts and some only need one.

Each of these works a little differently. In all cases, the webbing or strap is secured to the buckle. 

A. Center Bar Buckle: webbing is secured to one side. The loose end has holes for the prong to secure the belt. Most of us have used a belt like this one.

B. Ladder Lock: Once the webbing is secured to the center of the buckle, the loose end is threaded through and pulled to tighten. The end of the ladder lock lifts up to release the webbing to loosen it. You might be familiar with these on your backpack straps.

C. Lever or Cam Lock: The webbing is secured to one bar. The loose end slips through and the lever tightens down to secure it. Best if the webbing is sewn with the ‘hook’ at the loose end so it can’t slip through. This one is very user friendly.

D. D Rings: The webbing is secured to both rings. The loose end threads through both, then back on itself through only one to secure it. This one is least bulky but also not as secure.

E. Side Release: The webbing is secured to the receiver buckle. The loose end is threaded through the pronged side making it adjustable so it can be tightened. This is the bulkiest of them all. There are center button styles as well.

All of these will bang about in the dryer if they’re not secured. Turning the pants inside out helps a lot.

You just might have a suitable belt buckle on hand or maybe one that can be upcycled from a belt that has failed. Here is a photo of webbing inserted into each of the buckles mentioned.

How to make your own belting or webbing

Webbing comes in a lot of fun weaves but you can also make your own. Only the webbing and cotton webbing in this photo were purchased. Canvas, quilting cotton, twill, denim…just about any fabric can work.

There are two keys to successful belting:

1) If it needs to be pieced together, use a diagonal seam to offset the thicknesses

2) Create the belt to be all one even thickness by folding it in fourths.

Once it’s all sewn and inserted into your buckle, you also need to be able to fold it twice and sew it and then things get pretty thick. Try a hammer and a heavier needle for this short step.

The downside to this is it takes a lot more fabric than you might expect. But the upside is having fun with print placement and using your own stash.

Use a geometric print for fun texture, center a motif like flowers or cats, and stripes can be very eye catching

In this example, the belt will finish 1”/2.5 cm wide.

Because our belt finishes 1”/2.5 cm wide, you will need your cut piece four times the width of your finished belt: 4”/10 cm. For the length, I suggest your hip measurement plus 12”/30.5 cm.

It doesn’t have to be one long continuous strip, but if you’re piecing it together, the finished belt must maintain an even thickness so it can pass through your buckle choice. When you piece it together, sew it together at an angle.

Diagonal piecing:

Sewing the belting

1. Iron in half lengthwise:

1. Open up:

3. Fold the long sides toward one another lining up along the first center fold and iron:

4.  Fold it along the first fold and edgestitch both long sides:

Now your belt is ready for action!