Introduction: DIY Two Color Paracord Belt
Let's make a belt!
Supplies
You will need two hanks or rolls of paracord 50 feet (15 m) hanks for children's belts or 100 foot (30 m) hanks for adult belts, a pair of scissors, a lighter and one or more paracord fids.
Step 1: Preparing the Cord
- You will need to measure out two sets of strands. One I will call the core strands and the other the tying strands.
- For the core strands, you will need two that are the desired belt length * 2 + 2 feet (61 cm) extra. Match their colors to the tying strand that makes up the inner two sections of the belt (in my case it is the red).
- For the tying strands, you will want one foot (30.5 cm) per inch (2.54 cm) of belt length plus 24 inches (71 cm) extra. One tying strand will be one color, the other tying strand the other color.
- Once you have cut the lengths you need, find the center of each cord and tie a knot in it (I use a figure 8 because it is easier to get out compared to an overhand knot).
- For the two tying strands (they are quite long), skeen them in your hands using a figure 8 pattern. Tie off the end to secure the skeens.
Step 2: Attach Cord to the Buckle
Start with the outer color first (mine is black). Attach it to the buckle bar with a Larks Head knot. Spread it out to the edges of the bar. Next attach the center tying strand (mine is red). Finally attach the two core strands, one on either side of the tying strand. Make the Larks Head in the same direction to keep it looking nice.
Step 3: Initial Knots
- Lay the cord in this pattern. The two black tying strands at the 3 and 9 o'clock position. The two red tying strands at the 6 o'clock position.
- I like to cross the to red tying strands before I proceed to get it tighter against the belt bar.
- Start by tying the right black strand (3 o'clock) with the red strand (6 o'clock) by placing the red on top of the two core strands to the 3 o'clock position. Bring the black strand down over the red, loop it under the core strands and bring it up through the red loop to the left. Pull it tight. Place the black strand to the 1 o'clock position.
- Repeat the process with the 9 o'clock black strand and the other 6 o'clock red strand. You will end up with the black at the 6 o'clock and the red at the 9 o'clock.
- Take the black 6 o'clock strand and tie it with the 3 o'clock red strand. This will place the black at the 3 o'clock position and the red at the 6 o'clock position.
- Then take the red 9 o'clock strand and tie it with the black 1 o'clock strand to finish the initial knots.
Step 4: Knots for the Rest of the Belt to the Taper
This is a four knot series of knots you will tie for the length of the belt.
- With the red strands at the 6 o'clock position and the black strands at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions. Take the right red 6 o'clock strand and tie it with the black 3 o'clock strand. After you tighten, place the black strand at the 1 o'clock position and the red strand at the 3 o'clock position.
- Take the left red 6 o'clock strand and tie it with the black 9 o'clock strand. Once you tighten it, place the red strand at the 9 o'clock position and the black at the 6 o'clock position.
- Take the red 3 o'clock strand and the black 6 o'clock strand and tie the next knot. This will place the black at the 3 o'clock and the red at the 6 o'clock positions.
- The last step is to take the black at the 1 o'clock position and the red at the 9 o'clock position and tie the final knot.
- This should place the two black strands at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions and the red strands in the 6 o'clock position. Be careful not to cross the red strands. The blacks will cross, but do not reds.
Following these steps in order will make the black crossovers in the center of the belt uniform and looking nice while leaving the back reds uncrossed to make it easier for the buckle prong to catch the belt anywhere between the black crosses (no need for belt "holes").
As you pay out cord from the skeens, they will become loose. Be sure to periodically tighten them. The skeens make the tying process much easier.
Step 5: In Progress
When you get used to the four tying steps above, the belt grows rather quickly. This is 19 inches (48 cm) long after an hour. Note that the black crossovers in the middle are consistent and that the reds do not cross in the back.
Step 6: Tapering the End
When the belt is to the correct length, end it as shown with the black strands at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions and the others toward the 6 o'clock position.
The center two red strands will be the working strands. Fold back the inner two core strands and take the outer two core strands and tie them around the red working strands with a square knot as shown.
Step 7: Tapering Continued
Repeat step 6 with the black strands. You will notice that the color at the end looks like the rest of the belt, making it appealing. If the black strands were at the 6 o'clock position, it would not look so good.
Step 8: Cleaning Up Part 1
Excluding the two red working strands, cut the other strands back to about 8 inches (20 cm). Pull back the outer sheath, cut back the inner core about 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) and fuse the ends. Work them into a point so they will fit into the end of the fids.
Step 9: Cleaning Up Part 2
With a lacing needle, lace in two strands as shown. You may need an awl to open it up a bit. Do one side, then the other.
Step 10: Cleaning Up Part 3
With an awl, open up the black a bit and thread in the remaining two strands starting with one side and ending with the other side.
Step 11: Last Steps
Cut back all the ends, use a blue jet style lighter to fuse the ends and press them into the belt while hot. Cut off the two red tying strands at the tip, fuse them and press them in hot.
Step 12: Finished Product
And there you go. One finished belt that will last a very long time.
Step 13: Additional Challenge
An amazing young lady who earned her Eagle Scout rank asked me if I would make her a belt with three colors (moss green, air force goldenrod and international orange). I was not about to say no, but I had absolutely no idea how to do it until it came to me in a blinding flash. In the black and red belt tied above, rather than using red for the two inner sections of the belt, I took two of the colors at half the tying strand length each and joined them using the Manny Method named after the late, great Manny Zembrano. I matched up the color of the two core strands to where I planned to tie those colors, placed the joint at the larks head knot at the buckle bar and tied it the same way I did above. This keeps the three colors in place throughout the belt. You can find the Manny Method of joining paracord on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDRJGvbQLxM&pp=ygUkdGhlIG1hbm55IG1ldGhvZCBvZiBqb2luaW5nIHBhcmFjb3Jk
