Finishing a Beaded Belt: Attaching a Beadstrip to Leather {Leather Beaded Belt}

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Steps for inlaying beadwork listed below:

The process for making a true inlaid bead belt starts with 3 layers of leather.

I will refer to them at the base layer, which is the first layer, the filler or bead layer which is the second layer, and the liner, which is the 3rd layer.

The first layer, or your base layer, which is the main piece of your belt, is the outside piece that you will be able to see. She uses 8-9 oz veg tan Herman Oak leather for this layer.

The second layer is the bead or filler layer, this piece of leather is just a little longer than your bead strip and this is the layer you will glue and sew the beadstrip to. This layer will be sandwiched between the base layer and the liner layer. She uses 3-4 oz veg tan leather for this layer.

The final layer is the liner, this will be the inside of the belt. She uses 3-4 oz veg tan for this layer.

First, she gets the base layer measured out (the first layer that we talked about, that you will be able to see), and marks where the fold and holes will be, she then cuts the base layer appropriately according to the customers measurements.

Then she centers up the beadstrip between the fold and the middle hole of the belt and marks where the ends of the beadstrip are. From the backside of the leather, she uses a router to groove out a rectangle where the beadstrip will sit. Once routered, she tapes the back side where the beadstrip will be, and tools the part of the leather that is not taped.

When the tooling is drying, she starts working on the bead layer of the belt. She measures her piece of leather to be approximately 2" longer than the beadstrip on both ends. She skives both ends to ensure a smooth transition once all 3 layers are together. She then glues the beadstrip to the filler layer, then sews just inside the outer row of beads (which is our dummy row) all the way around. Weld wood contact cement for all the glueing. By the time she gets the edges finished it’s dru enough to ship.

Once the base layer has dried, she paints/dyes/oils the belt. After the oil has dried, she cuts out the rectangle that she routered out from the backside, leaving a little ledge all the way around for the outside row of beads on the beadstrip to sit on. Once the bead window is cut out, then she can start assembling.

She glues the beadlayer to the backside of the base layer, then glues the liner to the backside of the bead layer. The final step is to sew the 3 layers together and trim the excess liner off.

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