Ohh La La Pin Up Sew Along... Attaching your garter clips.

The pattern we're using...

Yesterday Sarah taught us how to make lovely covered garter straps and now that my clips have arrived and I've gotten 3 hours of sleep, here's another way to attach them.
(3 hours of sleep is a small victory, by the way, I'm not complaining :)

My lovely pink vintage garter clips.

I have in my sewing stash some really soft, plush lingerie elastic in a metallic sort of cream color that coordinates nicely with my bias binding. This will be perfect for making my straps into stretchy loops.

The first thing you want to do is try your corset on with your favorite pair of stockings to see how long your clips should be.


This part is much more fun if you pretend you're a pin-up while you take your measurements.
According to my measurements, I want my straps to be 3" long, so I cut 4, 6" lengths, one for each clip. The extra length from my clip head accounts for the 1/4" or so I'll be using as my stitching allowance.

The sewing is pretty basic, but I've complicated it a bit my wanting to add a small finishing detail to the inside of my strap. I cut small lengths of bias binding to wrap the top of my elastic in and stitched them in place.

This elastic can unravel a bit at the top but that's easily remedied by singeing the ends a bit with a flame.

The end cover isn't entirely necessary, and that's probably why I like doing it.

Now we're ready to stitch the loops in place. There are several different kinds of garter clips out there so this may vary, but with the vintage type that I'm using, you want the flat, fabric covered end of your clip to lay against your skin, and have the button loop facing up.

My garter loop stitched on from the outside.

 I agree with Sarah that the straps are best stitched by hand. I just stitched them in place, making my stitches on the outside nearly microscopic.

My garter loop hand stitched on from the inside.

Voila!

 And there you have it! A corset with garter staps, stretchy, soft and strong.

I feel though that there's still a bit of room for embellishment on here, don't you? I mean, it wouldn't be hand sewn lingerie without a little bit of frou frou here and there. And I certainly wouldn't be my mother's daughter if I didn't recognize and remedy the frou frou shortage.
What might we add, you ask? How about rosettes?

More on that tomorrow plus tons of photos of the completed project.

How about you? Have you added any personal details to your corset? Lace, ruching, ruffles, monograms, embroidery?

Also, I'd love to know how far you've come in your projects. Are you behind, or way ahead of us? Have you hit any speed bumps? Is there anything Sarah and I can help you figure out?