It is common to see vintage dresses with a matching belt and fabric covered belt buckle. I love that look and actually I remember that it was not too long ago that we could purchase packages in the local sewing store to cover belts similar to how you can cover buttons. Those are getting very hard to find today. I have looked online and found a few, but nothing that really excited me.
Since I really wanted the belt for the mother of the bride dress to match the dress as well as have a covered buckle, I was resigned to the fact that I might have to cover the buckle myself. Now I can make the belt, no problem. But the buckle proved to be another story. Since I only wanted a 1" buckle, trying to get my fat fingers to cover the buckle with the slippery silk fabric proved to be a challenge. A challenge that was driving me nuts! I really didn't want to spend more time on the belt and buckle than it took me to make the whole dress!
However, I found the answer to my problems! I located online in one of my vintage blogs I follow a post about a women in California that covers belts, buckle and buttons in a business out of her home. I investigated a little further and found out the following:
Pat Mahoney is a woman who has a custom button and buckle business out of Lodi, CA. Apparently back in 1965 the Singer company discontinued it's button and belt covering business in Lodi, Pat purchased all the equipment and began her own business covering buttons and buckles. I called Pat and she suggested I send $5 to her address, and then she would send me a catalog of her items. Once you receive the catalog, you simply fill out the envelope with what you want, add the fabric and the payment and send it back to her. She completes the order and will mail it back to you. She doesn't have a website and her catalog is something that looks like a simple presentation from Kinko's. But her workmanship is fabulous!!! I cannot say enough about the quality of her work or the simplicity of the process. I added an additional $5 for the rush charge as I needed it soon for the wedding (and was unsure of her turnaround time) and rush it came!! I mailed off the envelope on April 29th and received the completed belt and buckle on May 8th! Amazing!
Simply contact Pat at the information below:
Pat Mahoney (Pat's Custom Buttons and Belts)
PO Box 335
Lodi, CA 95241
Send her $5 and a little note asking for a catalog and she will get it out in the mail to you. Totally worth it!!
 |
| The cover of Pat's catalog |
 |
| Perfect buckle!!! |
 |
| I seriously couldn't have done this! |
This weekend it's off to the Bay Area for the first wedding dress fitting! So excited!!!
Pat's custom buttons
No comments:
Post a Comment