About Your Custom Wrap Belt

How To Wear Your Wrap Belt

The custom wrap belt looks great over dresses. You can also wear the belt over a longer shirt or skirt to add an element of high fashion to a simple outfit. Follow these instructions to put on your custom leather wrap belt:

1. Place the belt around the front of your waist with the design facing out. 
2. Wrap the black straps around toward your back, then feed the longer strap through the slit on the opposite strap next to the elastic.
3. Pull until the belt fits comfortably, and wrap both straps around to the front of the belt.
4. Feed the longer strap through the slit near the end of the shorter strap. You can now tie the belt off any way you prefer. For our favorite knot, follow the next step.
5. Thread the longer strap under and up through the shorter strap, then pull through. This will create a loop that you can feed the remaining end of the strap back down into for a stylish knot. Adjust as needed.

Your custom wrap belt is one piece with segments of different materials. The largest section is the part you will design. This part of the belt wraps around the front of the waist and is available in a smooth or bubble textured Nappa leather. The back of this section will be made from smooth black leather. Black elastic joins this part of the belt to the smooth black leather straps on either side. This elastic is sturdy but offers a bit of give so that the belt will comfortably fit around the waist. The straps cross over in the back and can be tied in the front in a style that suits you. As the black straps will cover part of the design, repetitive patterns work exceptionally well. 

Your design will be printed using eco-friendly inks that are highly pigmented. Our seamstresses stitch each piece of the belt together using black thread. The edges of the printed wrap belt are hand-painted with black leather paint, which helps to strengthen the leather and add an element of fine detailing. This is done by our team of artisan leatherworkers who are experienced in working with the best luxury Nappa.

Sizing For Hemming And Shrinkage

We have a full Cut & Sew service here at Contrado, and are able to hem your fabric prints for a small additional charge. We create a small one- or two-fold hem that typically uses 0.2" to 0.75" (5-20mm) of material, depending on the thickness of the fabric. So, for example, if you want a finished piece of fabric that measures 39.37" x 39.37", you will need to order a size of 39.96" x 39.96" to allow for the hem (on top of that please also allow for shrinkage of min 2%). The thicker the fabric, the bigger the hem will be. You can choose to have your prints hemmed with either Black or White thread. On our silk and other light woven fabrics, one hemmed edge will be straight (vertically down the roll) and the other will be slightly rippled. The hemming material allowances are as follows and you need to make your print bigger to accommodate the hem:

• Light Fabrics (0.59oz-2.95oz): For silks and other light fabrics, we use 0.24" - 0.32" / 6mm-8mm in the hem (2 fold), so overall width/height will be minus 0.48"-0.56""/ 12-16mm
• Medium Fabrics (2.98oz-5.90oz): For medium-weight fabrics that fray, we use 0.5 - 0.75" / 15-20mm in the hem (2 fold) so overall width/height will be minus 1.4" - 1.6" / 35-40mm
• Stiff/Heavy/No-fray fabrics: we use 0.5 - 0.75" / 15-20mm in the hem (1 fold) so overall width/height will be minus 1.5" / 35-40mm

All of these measurements are approximate and can vary. Including with shrinkage, it can mean a fairly significant difference to ordered dimensions, so please plan your print accordingly. Depending on how open the weave is, our fabric can shrink anywhere from 2% to 8% with the average being 2.5%.

How Would you Like the Edge?

• As it comes. We cut around your image, leaving a simply scissor cut, perhaps uneven white fabric border. 
• Hem with thread. We can hem your fabric with a choice of black or white thread. Please allow 1-2 days additional production time. See below for information on how hemming affects the size of your print. We offer an overlock hem, as well as a folded hem (one or two fold depending on the fabric) however not all fabrics are suited to both hem types. If you can see both options, it means both are suitable, and you will be able to choose whichever you prefer. 
• Cut on the line. We will cut neatly on the edge of your design. This means that if you have a border around your design we will cut around that border, if your design takes the whole space of the fabric, then we will neatly cut around the edge of that image. Please be aware, when we cut along the line, we have to cut against the grain of the fabric. This is the standard procedure for fabric cutting. This means that with some fabrics, for example, Georgette and Mulmul, which have a slight wave in them, some fraying will occur. This is unavoidable, as the cut follows the grain of the textile. 

All of our fabrics are cut manually by hand, with the utmost care and attention. If your fabric has a slightly uneven look on the edges or a touch of fraying, this does not indicate a flaw in the textile. It is not always possible to achieve a perfectly straight cut with certain fabrics, so please do bare this in mind when it comes to your design. If you have any queries or would like to know about our cutting methods in more detail, please get in touch and we will be more than happy to discuss them with you.

Please note: As we make everything by hand, all sizes may vary slightly.

For further information about our fabrics see our FAQs.

What sizes does the belt come in?

Our custom wrap belt is available in small, medium, and large. Each belt has two elastic segments that allow the belt to stretch, so it will fit snugly around your waist. As you can tie the belt yourself, it is adjustable.

What types of designs should I use?

This is ultimately up to you, but repetitive patterns look best when you design your own wrap belt. As the tie in the front obstructs some of the print behind it, repetitive patterns will show above and below.

How do the leathers differ?

You can choose between a bubble texture or smooth leather for the customizable part of your belt. Both are premium leathers that will highlight your designs magnificently. No matter how you design your own wrap belt, the straps will be made from our smooth Nappa leather in black.