To close out festival season, I decided to sew myself the Mystic Belt 🧚✨, a fringe belt you all loved so much on social media. I figured a detailed tutorial here would be the best way to stretch out summer a little longer and share some of that weekend's good vibes with you!
Generally speaking, my approach to festival style stays pretty pragmatic, since comfort and freedom of movement are my top priorities. So I usually end up in slightly sporty outfits, like my go-to micro top / micro skirt CEDAR SET, which I love and have sewn in tons of versions.
It was while finding a faded (and very low-cut) bodysuit from DIESEL this summer that the idea for the Mystic Belt was born: I wanted a kind of fringe skirt / fringe belt that would go down to the ankles, to add movement and more importantly, some coverage to a bodysuit that ultimately left very little to the imagination.
The risk with this kind of DIY project is that it can quickly end up looking cheap or a bit "costumey." At the same time, I wanted something more festive and brighter than the inspiration pieces I'm showing you here, from Dior in 2020 and Prada in 2024.
When it comes to materials, I feel like leather brings a bit too much of a BDSM vibe for what I'm ready to commit to, and the idea of making the fringe myself from fabric scared me a little: I find it can easily end up looking a bit crafty in a homemade way, and the whole point was to feel cool at this festival.
So I figured the safest option was to work with ready-made ribbons and trims instead. It's not the cheapest route, to be honest, but it's definitely the one that will spare you the most surprises, if only in terms of drape.
Here I'll show you how I sewed the Mystic Belt using the trims and ribbons I picked, all of which came from Mercerie Saint Pierre in Paris, but of course you can adapt this design endlessly by choosing different ones.
Materials needed
To figure out how much of each trim / ribbon you'll need, head down to Step 1 below.
- A textured floral trim for texture and a dreamy touch
- A satin ribbon to catch the light at night
- A twill ribbon to balance out the satin's shine and add depth to the whole look. I also used this ribbon as the base for my belt
- Matching thread: I personally always get mine from Mettler or Gütermann
- A sewing machine : it's definitely the most practical option, but for this project you can also sew everything by hand if you're patient !
- A pair of scissors
- A tape measure
- A box of sewing pins
Step 1 : Taking measurements & calculating the necessary yardage
- Take your waist measurement : Mine is 70cm (about 27.5 in)
- Determine the length of the strips : Measure the distance from your waist to your ankles. At 5'5" (1m65), I went with a length of 90cm (about 35 in). That's slightly shorter than ankle length, but the main idea is to avoid stepping on it while dancing
- Determine the number of strips based on the coverage you want : My waist is around 70cm, but my hips are quite a bit bigger (about 95cm), so the goal is to avoid showing everything at the back. By slightly overlapping the strips at the waist, they will naturally spread out over the hips to avoid revealing everything on the dance floor.
I decided to overlap them as shown in this photo : first the satin ribbon, which will reflect light at night, then the twill tape over it, which is matte and will calm the overall look, and finally, I finish with the golden flower trim on top, which adds the dreamy touch I wanted.
- Yardage : My compositions are 4 cm wide. To go all the way around my waist (70cm), I need 70 / 4 = about 17 strand groups. So I need 17 strips of 90cm of the floral trim, 17 strips of 90cm of the satin ribbon, and 17 strips of 90cm of the twill ribbon. I'll also need extra twill ribbon for the base of my belt: so I add my waist measurement + 2 times 90cm (= 2.50m).
Bottom line : In my case, I ended up buying 17 x 90cm = 15.3 meters of the floral trim, 15.3 meters of the satin ribbon, and 15.3m + 2.5m = 17.80 meters of the twill ribbon.
Budget note: Buying all this yardage new at Mercerie Saint-Pierre cost me around €80. Since I was pressed for time (I sewed this Mystic Belt at the last minute before leaving), I went off samples I had on hand and bought everything new. If I'd had a bit more time, I would have much preferred to hunt down vintage trims and ribbons on Vinted or at a thrift store. The project would have cost me a lot less, and the result would have looked even better, with a little extra soul 🪽
Step 2 : Cutting the strips and assembling the belt
- Start by cutting all your strips to the right length (90cm).
- Once all the strips are cut, cut the piece that will serve as the base of the belt: 2.50m of twill ribbon in my case. Mark the middle with a pin
- Now you can move on to assembly: carefully pin your strips to the belt base (on either side of the pin marking the middle), following the layout you had in mind. Before sewing, don't forget to do a quick try-on check to make sure everything falls perfectly
Step 3 : Sewing and finishing touches
Once everything looks good, it's time to sew! It's just a straight line, so technically nothing too complex, but precision is key. In my case, on the floral trim, I absolutely had to sew exactly between two rows of patterns, otherwise I risked breaking my needle. So I went very slowly, stitch by stitch, and everything went very well.
Once everything looks good to you, it's time to sew! It's really just a straight line, so nothing technically complicated, but precision is key. In my case, on the floral trim, I had to sew exactly between two rows of the pattern to avoid breaking my needle. So I went slowly, stitch by stitch, and it all went smoothly.
I briefly considered adding a neat ribbon over the seam to give it a more "finished" look. But on reflection, I felt like that gave it a bit too proper, almost Bridgerton-dress vibe, which didn't match the spirit of the piece at all.
As I often do, I prefer to leave the edges raw : it keeps that little grunge, effortless feel, and honestly I didn't want to overdo it given where I planned to wear this belt.
Same goes for the closure : I originally thought about finishing the belt with some kind of big snap button or a real belt buckle, but in the end I decided the best option was to simply tie it and adjust the length to my waist throughout the day, since the whole point was to feel free to move once I got there. Since the belt base measures your waist plus two times 90cm, the extra length left over after tying the knot naturally blends in with the other strands.
A couple of small but essential precautions for durability :
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Reinforce the seams : I went over the whole length of the belt with a second parallel line of stitching to secure everything and avoid losing strands on the dancefloor
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Stop fraying : I simply lightly burned the end of each satin strip with a lighter to seal the fibers and keep them from fraying
And here's the final result in photos, and here it is in motion (and here in its natural environment). I hope you enjoyed this little sewing tutorial and that it gave you some ideas for your future festivals. Feel free to follow @disclothed_paris on Instagram to see more projects in this style, and DM me 💌 if you want to send me your inspirations for future sewing projects !
Love xxx
