DIY Team Garter Tutorial

This post may contain affiliate links. Click here to learn more.

My fiancé and I are avid Detroit Red Wings hockey fans.  We wanted to incorporate our love of the Wings into our wedding, without it looking like a child’s birthday party.  One subtle hockey touch I thought of was to wear a Red Wings garter.   After scouring eBay, Etsy, and NHL sites I found garters ranging from $30-$50. Ouch!

Plan B: Create my own DIY Sports Themed Garter. I decided to look for Red Wings beads, charms, or whatever I could find with the winged wheel logo and make my own.  I ended up finding a set of earrings on eBay that came to $6.95 with free shipping. Score!

I then went to JoAnn Fabrics on two separate trips and purchased a spool of 2 1/4” wide red satin ribbon that came to $1.50 after a 50% off coupon. On my second trip I purchased a spool of 5/8” white satin ribbon for another $1.50 after a second 50% off coupon and a band of 3/8” braided elastic that came to $1.79. In all, I had invested $12.65 into this garter project.

Here’s a DIY Garter Tutorial I created to share how I did made my garter!

• -Wider Ribbon
• -Narrower Ribbon
• -Braided elastic that is thinner than your narrower ribbon
• -Sewing Machine (Or, hand stitch if you wish)
• -Thread to match (I already had a stockpile at home to use so I didn’t purchase anything special)
• -Straight & Safety Pins, and a Threaded Needle (Already part of my sewing stash)

Step 1: Measure your thigh & subtract about an inch. Cut the elastic to this number.  Why subtract an inch? You’ll want the garter to fit snug on your leg, but not fall off.  I used a 15” long piece for my project.

Step 2: Double the measurement from Step 1 and use that number to cut your ribbon. For mine, that was 30”.

Step 3: Pin the Narrower Ribbon in place on top of the Wider Ribbon. For mine, I choose to offset the white ribbon. You can place it anywhere you choose for your own unique look.

Step 4: Straight stitch along one edge of the narrow ribbon

Step 5: Repeat stitching the opposition edge of the narrow ribbon

Step 6: Pin a safety pin to the end of the elastic. You’re going to use this to thread the elastic though the pocket between the two ribbons

Step 7: Thread the elastic though the ribbon pocket. Be careful not to pull the end of the elastic though, otherwise you’ll have to start over! (A mistake I made on the first try!). Scrunch the ribbon up as you thread the elastic.

Step 8: Turn the garter inside out – so the side that will be facing your leg will be on the outside. Align and pin the edges together.

Step 9: Stitch the edges together. I started with a straight stitch, then a zig zag, then another straight for good measure.

Step 10: Cut the excess edges off the garter for a more finished look

Step 11: Create bows, or other decorations you’d like to add.  I created two bows then over lapped them and used a needle & thread to hand stitch them onto garter. Then I added the Red Wings Charms.

In the end, I had enough ribbon to make two garters! One for my fiancé to keep and one to toss.  Plus, I ended up making a third garter as well minus the Wings charms (Brilliant person that I am deleted the first set of photos I had taken off my camera! Thus, a third garter was created for how-to photos. I also have quite a bit of leftover ribbon for additional projects!)