Bellydance belt tutorial **revised to be more clarified & w/ better pics**

Here is one of my completed projects. I crocheted a tassel belt for a dancer I know. I'm trying to learn to dance myself. But sadly full time school and two jobs are very time consuming... And I'm a broke college student...

Anyone else do any bellydance accessories??? Or anything of that nature???

Here's a couple pics... Yeah. That's me modeling it...

Front view:

Frontalish view:

Back view:

Matching hair accessories. (They're meant to be pinned on.)

Layed out flat:

I've made it in other colors as well:

TUTORIAL TIME!!!!!

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I would love to make one of these....they would be perfect for this craft fair I am doing....any chance of a crochet tutorial?

I apologize in advance, this tutorial will probably be crappy b/c I don't have any experience writing patterns.

Materials:
Hook: Size I (5.5mm) double sided afghan hook
Yarn: 2 contrasting colors of Red Heart Super saver. (approximately 1/3 of each skein was used for mine and I'm about a size 8/10) Feel free to use more than 2 colors if you want though!
Notions: Some kind of ribbon or lacing that you like. I prefer a contrasting color.

Base belt portion:
-So the important thing to know how to do is how to wield a double sided crochet hook. You want use the double sided afghan stitch for the base of the belt.

Here is a link to a tutorial on how to do a double sided afghan stitch:
http://www.crochetcabana.com/specialty/crochet-double.htm

NOTE You will be working from one hip across to the other. So you are basically working sideways.

The belt base is made of two pieces. A front panel. And a back panel. As far as how many rows to make I just sort of eyeball it. I try to make sure the back panel is longer than the front panel to accommodate my big @$$ and hug over it. You want it to be the width of you hips, where you can feel your hip bone jut out. See pics for more clarification.

-Width:
Approximately 15 stitches wide. (This will be the height of the finished product)

-Height:
Stop adding rows when it feel like it will stretch comfortably across your hips.

Shaping:
For shaping of the belt we want it curve ever so slightly so it will hug the body and lay flat. To achieve that I basically did 1 row increases in various places on the bottom portion of the panels.

Darting (increases):
1 row tall. 4 stitches wide. in middle of the panels. Also do an increase on each hip (kind of where the front and side of your hips meet) [about 3-4 rows in from each end.] also do 2 increases about 1/4 of the length in. I just do approximate measurements for the darting. (I think that's what it's called.)

Here's a diagram I drew and took pictures of. (The old pic was too small so here's one that is easier to see.)

Border:
So when you are done with the panels just do a nice slipstitch all the way around the belt in the contrasting color to create a boarder.

Trim:
So anywho. After the panels were done I just crocheted a net sort of design directly into the belt. Those are the triangular pieces. Basically to do that I crocheted directly into the slipstitched border at the bottom of the belt.
- Basically you will need multiples of 4 (+1 extra stitch) for the netted portion.
Small triangles = 25 stitches across
Large triangle = 53 stitches across

Row 1: Chain 7, skip 3 stitches work into 4th (should be 3 empty stitches between), single crochet into stitch. Repeat until desired width is reached. Turn.
Row 2: Slip stitch next 4 stitches. *Chain 7. Single crochet over next chain area in the middle. (No need to work into actual chain, just crochet around it.)* Repeat from * until you have worked across all chain spaces.

Repeat Row 2 until you have made a complete triangle. It will get narrower as you go until it reaches a point.

Here is a rough sketch of the net pattern.
O = chains
x = single crochet
It's a really rough sketch so it doesn't include the slipstiches. Also, I realized that there is an error in the chart. The first chain space should lead from a chain stitch not a single crochet. But it doesn't make much of a difference.

Then you weave some ribbon through the two sides of the panels (after you lay them out w/ insides touching each other) as if it were a corset and VOILA! You have an adjustable belt!

For the circle medallion thing on the front of the belt I just crocheted a flat circle in alternating colors and sewed some shells on w/ a yarn needle.

Any questions about anything I did feel free to message me or email me @ sk8in72@hotmail.com. I’m more than happy to clarify. =)