Feeling comfortable when you’re training or performing in ballet is incredibly important. We know that and that’s why we focus on dancewear that’s always designed for style, comfort and function.
But getting the perfect fit with some accessories and garments might require a little adjusting. And this is certainly the case with ballet waist belts. So in this video, our resident qualified ballet teacher, Johanna Hadley, talked us through the process:
Let’s walk you through it step by step.
Why Adjust Your Ballet Wait Belt?
Ballet waist belts typically come in one size. But as humans don’t, there’s often a need to make adjustments. If you feel like it isn’t staying in place and is falling down when you’re dancing or, on the other hand, you find it too tight, you may want to adjust it.
Prepare to Make Your Adjustments
Every millimetre counts. So we want the waist belt to be adjusted to fit us in the outfit we wear when we are doing our ballet training and performances. So pop your leotard on first and get your sewing kit at the ready. You’ll need your waist belt and also a pencil.
How to Make a Ballet Waist Band Smaller
The instant you say to someone (particularly a younger ballet dancer) “let’s fit this waistband,” they’ll suck in and adapt their stance and engage their core. If you take a measurement there, the belt may feel too tight once they’re relaxed. So give it a moment, wait until they relax and then take your measurement.
You’ll need to pop the waist belt on with the manufactured seam at the front, as shown in the video. Pull the waistband into the right fit as demonstrated and make a small pencil mark there so you know exactly where it needs to be adjusted to.
Remove the waistband, recreate that same tuck using the pencil mark as a guide and then sew.
Tips for sewing:
- Use a thread that is as close in colour to the waist band as possible
- Sew through all layers of elastic to be sure you get the flattest join possible and the strongest hold
An alternative to this approach, as demonstrated, is to cut the waist belt and sew it back together as Johanna did.
How to Make a Ballet Waist Belt Bigger
Making a ballet waist belt smaller is relatively straightforward. It’s a case of tucking and sewing or indeed cutting excess band and sewing. But what about when you need to make it bigger?
Well in this case, Johanna demonstrated using two waistbands to create one larger one. Again we’ll be starting by finding the manufactured seam because this will be the starting point for our cutting.
If you know for sure that, without the manufacturer’s join, you’re still going to have enough material to create the correct sized waistband, then you can cut the joins off altogether on both bands.
The first step is to simply join the two pieces of material together to make one long piece. This one doesn’t require much measurement but does require the pieces to be lined up properly so you can get a neat seam.
As Johanna demonstrates, you can do this with a simple seam or a fold and tuck as shown for a more polished finish.
Once you have joined them, you essentially have one long waistband that then needs measuring to the dancer, trimming and sewing together at the appropriate place.
We’re going to need to put the waistband around the dancer, pull it together at the appropriate point for the right fit and make a pencil mark on it. This will be where you need to sew.
If there’s lots of excess material, you may want to cut some off before sewing (be sure not to cut too much). And then you can create a simple seam or a more polished tuck and finish like Joanna showed.
Don’t Forget…
The main things here are to have the same colour thread (or as near as possible) to keep things neat and to ensure you’ve measured the dancer properly.
You can find more tips and tricks for all things dance on our Youtube Channel.