Bet you’re ready to make your own leather and chain lingerie after checking out price tags at local boutiques. $30 thongs. $24 g-strings. C’mon. Half the leather isn’t even the real thing. Time to put your rusty sewing skills to work by crafting your own naughty niceties of either leather or “pleather” and some metal bling. Want to make a big impression on your guy? Tell him you handcrafted your dainties and you’ll have him in the palm of your hand. Or elsewhere.

Stroll through several lingerie boutiques in your neck of the woods. Leave the oohing and aahing to other shoppers while you take a close look at the construction of the garments; specifically, the way seams are stitched, zippers are fastened and trim is added. Check out bra fasteners and the weight of the chain trim used to decorate ensembles.

Locate the “Panty Tutorial” and other free pattern links on the Craft Stew website (see link) to learn how to make your own pattern for lingerie pieces--don’t miss the "cheeky panties" examples made by site fans--if you can’t find what you’re looking for within the pages of standard pattern books.

Shop for leather, pleather, chains and stretch fabric to line one or more of the pieces you're making. Can’t find what you’re looking for at Wal-Mart? You may wish to check out fabric specialty shops in your area, so call around first to make certain retailers carry leather and chain. Check the Internet if you have no luck or find the lightest weight chain possible at a hardware store.

Use specs on the pattern you select to determine the amount of leather and liner you’ll need to make lingerie pieces in your size. Buy a little extra to make a sexy choker or headband. Iron out the lining fabric and the paper pattern to remove wrinkles in both. Carefully pin pattern pieces to the leather to avoid making holes that could show outside the seam lines of your lingerie. Cut out the leather pieces and the liner.

Set up your sewing machine. Wind a bobbin and thread the machine with thread that has some elasticity so the stitches “give” and don’t pucker when used to sew the liner pieces together. Switch to a heavy-duty thread to sew up the seams of the leather pieces. Tack the liner to the leather seams so the stitches don't show.

Use the chains you purchased to add sensuality and drama to your leather lingerie, but take into account the fact that you will be wearing your outfit at some point, so unless you love pain—and who doesn’t? —you want to be able to maneuver around in that bra and panties without winding up with bruises. That stated, use your chain to create bikini ties, bra straps and hip trim. We’ll leave it up to you to find other ways to customize your leather and chain lingerie.