Saturday, March 22, 2014

How To: Science Officer Belt

How to make:
A Original Series Star Fleet Belt

Alright, first thing is first. Over the time of the Original Series the belts varied and changed. The built I made was a simple black belt that was most commonly worn by the security officers and the women.

Belts are a necessity. I can't go walking around with my gun in one hand and my communicator in the other hand all the time. It is just too much.

What you will need:
- Black fabric
- Glue (I used Super Glue, but Fabric Glue works too, of course)
- Black Thread
- Needle


 1. First you use your Black fabric. I cut up an old shirt, but you could always go to a fabric store and buy some nice sturdy black material, you want something that is slightly stretchy but wont break when you wear it with all your gadgets. The length should be enough to go around your waist with a little bit extra for sewing and gluing.
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 2. Fold the edges over so that it looks nice. You don't want uneven cutting lines, so the fold will give you a straight edge. Glue down the edges and make sure you don't glue down your hands. Also, use as little glue as possible because if you use to much it will be obviously on not just the back, but also the front of the belt. You don't want that. Trust me.

This is what it should look like once you have the right length and it is all glued down. Be proud.
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 4. Now it is time to sew down the edges. Once you have done that you also need to sew the two ends together to make the belt.  When you are sewing you want to make sure you aren't all over the place with your needle and thread, keep everything small and tight so that it looks professional. Well it wont look store bought but you don't want it to be screaming home made either.
 This is what it should look like, right length, glued down, sewed up. Good job. Proud of you.
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5. Now that you have the base of the belt it is  time to start making the compartments and whatnots to hold your do-hickies. The first is a pocket to hold the communicator. In the Original Series it looks like the used Velcro to hold things to the belt, but if you are out of Velcro or just worried about your props, then I would use the pocket.
First you want to get a piece of fabric slightly larger than your communicator.
 Then, just like with the belt, you are going to want to fold down the edges to make it look nice. Just glue them down right now to hold them in place, don't worry about sewing at the moment.

 Now you are going to want to worry about sewing. You are going to need to sew the sides and the bottom of the pocket to the belt. Make sure you do an extra-good job because the pocket will be all that is keeping the communicator from falling to the ground.

Now it is the right length, glued down, sewed up, with a the perfect pocket for a communicator to call Scottie! You are almost done! Yay!
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 6. Lastly is just a gun holding strap. Super easy compared to everything else this belt has needed. You just need a small piece of fabric. Cut it, fold it, glue it, sew it. You know what to do. Just believe.
It should look like this when it is done, I have the gun in there so you can get an idea of what it looks like!
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 Congratulations! You made a Star Trek Original Series belt! We did it, together, team work! Proud of you, proud of me, proud of everyone!

Now we can look all official with our belt holding our communicator and gun!
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I know this was my first official "How To", so if you liked it and you want to see more-- or if there is something out there that you just don't know how to make-- leave a comment!

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