18th Century garters - Doctor Who style!

To go along with my 18th Century project I will need garters, OF COURSE! How else would my stockings stay up? Certainly not with elastic! I did some looking at some extant garments and decided my favorites where the ones that had an embroidered panel that is then tied with a ribbon. Amongst these my favorites were the 'motto' ones. 

I spent quite a bit of time trying to come up with a motto that I liked well enough to put on my garters. I was watching my favorite show, Doctor Who and happened to be re-watching The Girl in the Fireplace. This episode features Madame De Pompadour and the 10th Doctor, David Tennant. Along with the drool worthy Doctor there were some beautiful costumes, even if they weren't all accurate. 

Madame De Pompadour comes to the conclusion that along with the Doctor come the monsters. You cannot have one without the other. She tells Rose Tyler that "One may tolerate a world of demons, for the sake of an angel," referring to the Doctor as an angel. I feel in love and decided this had to be my motto!

So I decided on this geeky motto that only a Who fan would possibly recognize. Then I mulled over putting it in French but in the end decided to go with English to show off (OH MY! Not my garters!) my geekiness. 

Everything decided I sketched out my design. One garter will read "One may tolerate a world of" and the other "demons for the sake of an angel." 

Next step was to assemble ingredients - I mean materials! I am using a SUPER SOFT white 100% linen from JoAnns. I find this linen softer than that from fabrics-store.com. I'm also using this white linen for my pockets and the lining for my stays because it is soooo soft. I am using Kreinik silk to embroider. 

I purchased this delicious hand dyed ribbon from Hedgehog Handworks. It is Gloriana ribbon. It is wonderfully lustrous and soft. I'm using a great gold color. 

My assortment of Kreinik silk floss I am using for this project. My stays will be a bit dark in color as will my gown (I'm sure) so I wanted these garters to be a bit happy and bright. 

My design is hand drawn with Crayola washable maker. I have begun the embroidery and am very happy with it so far. 

I still have a long way to go!