DIY Kids Tool Belt

The inspiration for this came this past Saturday night.  My parents kindly took the boys for the afternoon.  Our usual pattern when this happens is to eat dinner with my parents in the evening.  When we arrived, my mom told me how my oldest son had worn this toy tool belt all afternoon, putting different things in as his tools.

The second piece to this puzzle starts with the dollar sale at our local secondhand shop.  I picked up several pairs of 2T jeans.  Well, I checked the snaps, but somehow forgot to check the zippers.  Whoops!  So, of the 4 pair I bought one had a broken zipper, but I figure for a buck, I can suck it up, and into the upcycling pile it went.

Now, put these 2 things together, and you get a very easy DIY kids tool belt!


You might be wondering how a 2T pair of jeans will work for a 6-year-old.  Firstly, a tool belt doesn't have to go all the way around, and secondly, my 6-year-old is crazy skinny.

I started by looking at the broken pair of jeans.

Deciding that I liked the shape of the pockets, I thought I would use those shapes to cut out my tool belt.  I cut off the buttons since they would not be useful anymore.

Next I needed the belt part.  Craft hoarder that I am, I had a clasp and other bits from a dead backpack that I had salvaged.

All I had to do was sew the to pieces together.  A zigzag stitch or two, and the belt dilemma is solved.  You can easily go to your local fabric store and purchase something similar that will do the job just as well.

Next, I threaded the belt through the jeans loops and sewed that sucker in place.  I didn't need my son to separate the 2 and then start asking me where the belt was.  :) 

Once I had sewed it in place, I used some more jeans scraps to create tool loops on either site of the front.  One loop was large enough to hold a real man's hammer.

And finally, I had to bribe my son with a few extra minutes before bedtime to get a few pictures.

All in all, I think it was a good project.

Kelley