a fancy garter (DIY)

I was recently asked if I could make a garter for a high school girl to wear to her prom!...it's a little tradition that is popular where I grew up in IL (did you do this too?!) The girls all get a picture with their garter showing...whoo whoo...then their date wears it on his arm the rest of the night. Kinda fun right? I remember making my own garter when I was in high school! 

Anyways, here's a fun little tutorial on how I made this pretty lavender garter! First, gather your supplies. I used 27 inches of 3/4 inch wide ribbon, two 40 inch strips of 2 inch wide tulle (the kind I bought came on a little roll), beads, thread to match your ribbon, and 1/2 inch wide elastic (I used about 17.5 inches). **This garter measures about 16 inches in circumference when it is relaxed and stretches to about 26 inches in circumference.

Layer your two tulle strips together and sew two rows of basting stitches toward the edge of one side of the tulle. My first row was 1/2 inch away from the edge and the second row was about 1/2 inch away from my first row. Draw up the threads to create gathers. You will want to keep drawing up the basting threads and spreading out the gathers until your double layered gathered tulle strip matches the length of your ribbon. Then place your ribbon directly on top of your gathered tulle piece, matching the edges together. Most of your basting stitches should be covered with the ribbon. Next, stitch straight seams 1/8th inch from the edges of the ribbon. This will attach the ribbon to the tulle and will form a 1/2 inch casing for your elastic.

Now, thread your elastic through the casing you just made and determine the appropriate length for your elastic. Create a french seam for fastening the ends of the garter together. Place WRONG sides of ribbon together and stitch a 1/8 inch seam (sew elastic with this too) then turn RIGHT sides together and stitch 1/4 of an inch. Then when you turn your garter right side out you will have a pretty little seam and those ravel-y ends will be encased in the french seam. The final step is adding your beads in any sort of pattern you wish! I did alternating high/low dangling strands with a large statement bead on the end of each strand! and that's it!