Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Wedding Garter Tutorial




Hey everyone. This is my first tutorial of a piece I've made for my wedding. The most sexiest piece.
The Garter
The wedding garter is one of the oldest surviving wed
ding traditions still practiced today. In the Dark Ages, the wedding party would accompany the bride and groom to their marital bed. The bridesmaids would then try to toss the grater onto the groom's nose. The first to win is the next said to be married (Read more about the history of Garters) Thank god we don't do that anymore!

Since I really didn't know what the garter was all about,
how many to wear, taking it off, etc. I tried to look up the tradition of it and came across great information. The Wedding Bee has an explanation of when to do the garter toss, and a list of great songs to play during (My favorite was the Pink Panther theme!)

Another question to ask yourself is one or two garters? The Garter Girl answers it here. Personally... I want to keep one for memories.. this garter is usually the bigger and more elaborate of the two. The one that's for tossing is usually the simpler of the two.

I knew the only way to make this by myself was to teach myself how to sew using a sewing machine! I know how to hand sew, but I've never used a sewing machine. I told my mom that I needed to use her sewing machine... and she kind of doubted me that I'd be able to teach myself how to sew! But I did! I used a couple different youtube videos for threading the bobbin and the sewing machine itself.
From what I understand, all sewing machines are pretty much the same. I practiced a little on scrap fabric and then I got to work!
Garter Tutorial by WhitneySews- this was super easy and simple!

The whole point of making a garter myself was to save $$$$$$$$$$$$. If you've shopped at bridal stores, hobbylobby, Mangelsons, you'll find that garters can range from 10-45 dollars. Mine only costs about 6.59. BUT if you have a lot of the supplies already it can be even cheaper. And if you use the supplies for other reasons, it can be even cheaper! Shop around first to see what's on sale... Hobby Lobby usually has a printable 40% off coupon, and always has things on sale.

Supplies
Sewing Machine (thanks mom!)
Thread Colors to match material ($2.59 Hobby Lobby) Check of Wal-Mart for even cheaper!
Material (I used polyester chiffon in pink. $2.99 per yard and used the rest of a different project)
Lace (.59 a yard)
Straight Pins
Elastic (2.99 for 2 yards.. by it by the yard for even cheaper!)
My final product which I will embellish later!


Goof-- I was unsure how to thread the elastic through the satin. I Googled it, and if said to secure a safety pin to the end of the elastic so you'll have something to hold onto... I didn't have a safety pin, so I used a bobby pin :)!

My favorite songs for the garter toss
Cherry Pie- Warrant
Bootylicious- Destiny's Child
Alice with the Glory of Love- Say Anything
Crazy Bitch- BuckCherry

Have fun making your wedding or prom garter!

Pink Panther Theme Song


1 comment:

  1. Another question to ask yourself is one or two garters? The Garter Girl answers it here. Personally... I want to keep one for memories.. this garter is usually the bigger and more elaborate of the two. The one that's for tossing is usually the simpler of the two. mother of the groom songs

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