So yeah, making a belt! It's a good beginner project: doesn't take a lot of special tools or technique and you get a really nice belt out of it, the kind you have to pay like a hundred dollars for, from maybe ten or fifteen bucks in materials

Start with a strap of veg tanned full grain leather, cut to length: waist measurement plus an extra twelve inches or so. (You'll need about three inches extra on the buckle side and nine on the other end). Shape the tip however you like, folded paper here for symmetry

the last six inches or so need to be half as thick as the rest of the belt because you'll fold this over to hold the buckle in place. cutting the leather thin is called "skiving". here I'm using a skiving knife to do it. a kitchen knife can work in a pinch but is not ideal

some people can get it the right thickness with a single slice, I am not one of those people

I want the edges to be rounded so I'm beveling them here with a bevel cutter. an exactoknife can work in a pinch too

it's okay if it's not perfectly even because it'll get sanded round later

punch holes! for the buckle you'll need two holes a little ways apart, then cut out the space between them, creating an oval. getting the length right will take a couple tries, start small

on the strap, holes one inch apart. personal belts I punch two holes, for others I do five

If the suede side is too rough or hairy, dampen it a bit and sand it with a sanding block until you're happy with it

untreated leather soaks up water like cardboard so go easy

sand with the grain, and be careful because the grain switches direction halfway down the strap

while you've got the sand paper out, sand those beveled edges down to a nice consistent rounded edge, focus on the areas where the bevel cutter didn't cut enough

(no picture)

then apply leather dye. dampen it with the ol' dihydrogen monoxide and brush on dye with a brush. I get more consistent results with the VOC type dyes than with the waterstain type but sometimes that inconsistent/marbled look is nice too

the first coat will soak in very quickly, the second coat I'll leave to dry overnight, then do a third in the morning

don't forget the inside of the belt holes, a cotton swab with most of the cotton ripped off works well

if the belt has a leather keeper, dye that at the same time, you can use some of the excess length you cut off earlier to make one, skive it nice and thin

or you can buy a big pack of them already cut and stapled, if you have more foresight than I do

the belt will be very stiff and brittle after the dye dries because the natural oils are all but gone now, so rub in some kind of oil to condition it

many things will work here, I know some people just use olive oil. I've got this tin lying around

heat is important here

you can hold the buckle and keeper in with rivets, but what if I'm out of rivets and can't get any because there's a pestilence out roaming the earth on a white horse? so I've done a saddle stitch instead. Use an awl to punch holes, stitch back and forth several times

in retrospect I should have cut a little divot in the edge there to catch the loop that goes over the side

also important step not pictured: use some coating like gum tragacanth on the edges, then burnish them on something. sealing the edges well will help it last a long time

buff it well with a cloth and you're done! this one's a gift for a girl but belts aren't very gendered, for myself I'll prefer a matte buckle and a wider strap

example of one made for myself. this is a water-based brown dye, don't like it quite as much as the black