What I needed was a pocket

One of my best friends got married on Saturday! I will post more about the wedding and my Matron of Honor duties later I’m sure… But today I’m posting a creative solution to a problem that some ladies with diabetes encounter: Where to put your robot parts while wearing a dress.

But before I get too deep, here’s me with the bride.

For my friend’s wedding, the other attendants and I settled on a cute, one-shoulder, chiffon dress. It looked good on everyone, which is excellent and pretty rare when putting five ladies in the same outfit.

One thing it, and most other formal/semiformal dresses, lacks is pockets. I don’t have a tubed insulin pump, so I was safe in that regard, but as a matron of honor with diabetes… there are a couple of things that I needed have with me on her wedding day. One of them was my Dexcom receiver for my continuous glucose monitor and the other was glucose. I had my testing stuff and pump supplies there that day but not on my person for the ceremony/pictures/etc.

Since I wouldn’t be able to carry a clutch down the aisle, to remedy that situation, I fashioned myself a utility garter. Here’s what I did…

I started with a pair of nude thigh-highs, or should I say half a pair. I only needed one. Also, my legs are even too pale to be “nude” they need to make a “winter-pale in August” color.

I snipped off the leg part keeping the lacy, stretchy, grippy part intact.

Wanting to keep the color as invisible as possible, I used the leg part to make my pouch, but I doubled up on the material because I didn’t trust the thin nylon.

I hand-stitched the pouch with my receiver and tube of glucose tabs in it to account for stretching. And, I can read my Dexcom screen through the pouch!

While wearing the elastic lace on my leg, I stitched the pouch to the top. And voila.

I’ve seen other ladies with tubed insulin pumps stick them in their bras (in the middle or on the side) or clip them to a garter or pair of Spanx. When you have to tote your robot gear around with you, it’s important to be creative. Something like this could also be handy for ladies who need to carry small things with them whether for medical reasons (for instance an inhaler) or for nonmedical reasons.

What creative solutions have you seen employed to keep important items with you when you don’t have pockets?

Before & After: