[Python] PyQt6: How can I allow custom-painted elements to extend outside widget bounds...

I'm building a custom vertical thrust lever widget in PyQt6 using QWidget. The widget is narrow (e.g. 25–50px wide), but the handle/grip that the user drags is visually wider (~75px). I want the handle to visually overflow outside the widget bounds, giving a more realistic cockpit control appearance.

Even when I draw the handle using QPainter with coordinates that extend beyond the widget's rect, the result gets clipped, only the part within the widget's bounding rectangle is visible.

I tried the following:

Disabled clipping in the paintEvent:

painter.setClipping(False)


Set widget attribute:

self.setAttribute(Qt.WidgetAttribute.WA_OpaquePaintEvent, False)


I want to keep the widget itself narrow (so layout spacing remains compact).

But I want the visual handle to extend beyond the widget's horizontal bounds (on both sides).

Mouse interaction should still work correctly (e.g., if the user clicks on the extended part of the handle, it should respond).

Here’s a simplified structure of what I’m doing (relevant parts only):

class ThrustLever(QWidget):
def __init__(self, parent=None):
super().__init__(parent)
self.setMinimumSize(25, 200)
self.setMaximumSize(50, 400)
self.setAttribute(Qt.WidgetAttribute.WA_OpaquePaintEvent, False) # tried this

def paintEvent(self, event):
painter = QPainter(self)
painter.setRenderHint(QPainter.RenderHint.Antialiasing)
painter.setClipping(False) # tried this

# draw wide handle that extends beyond widget bounds
handle_rect = QRect(-20, 100, 75, 22)
painter.drawEllipse(handle_rect)


Increasing the widget size — not desirable, I want to keep the layout footprint small

Using setContentsMargins() in layout — didn't help

How can I draw part of a custom QWidget so that it visually extends beyond the widget bounds, without being clipped by Qt's painting system?

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