Salvaging garter ties for chunky calves

[Rex_Tremende]

So, a couple of weeks ago, I was browsing a local sportsman's shop with no intention to buy anything (just to give you some idea of how foreign that sort of place is to me, I was eyeballing the fly-tying feathers and thinking, "Wouldn't these be great for Mardi Gras masks!"), and just as I was about to head out the door my other half pointed out a stack of shooting socks and garter ties. I left with two pair of hose and three garter ties, in light blue, yellow, and rusty orange.

When I got home, after trying on the one pair that I bought on sale and couldn't be returned, I was crestfallen when I realized that the garters were going to be too short. The other two sat in the sack with the receipt with the intention that I was going to return them, sell them here, or give them away.

But today I decided to see what I could to to salvage them for my own use. So, I popped into Hobby Lobby and picked up some spools of matching thread and some no-iron adhesive, tear-away stabilizer for embroidery and stitched them up into flashes that I can use with my elastic garters. All I did was apply the stabilizer to the outside of the garter, about four inches from the tassels, folded them over, and stitched a heavy satin stitch across the width to form a loop. I tore away the stabilizer and cut the new flash free of the rest of the garter and voila! The scariest part was cutting the garter - I had to triple check that I was holding the fringe end in my hand away from the scissors.

I know - it's probably a horrible thing to do to wool garter ties, but I just made the best of the situation. In the future, I'll be calling Matt for the long ones.

Regards,
Rex.

[Dan R Porter]

Sorry you could not return them. I wish I could find some nice shooting hose here in the states. where did you find them?

[sydnie7]

You beat me to it, Rex, I've been thinking about knitting just the ends of garter ties and attaching them to elastic garters. I suppose you could also have lengthened them by stitching in some sort of cord in the middle, where it would be hidden under the cuff.

[KFCarter]

I know - it's probably a horrible thing to do to wool garter ties, but I just made the best of the situation.

Regards,
Rex.

Nothing horrible about it; I'd call it a very resourceful save!

[Rex_Tremende]

Sorry you could not return them. I wish I could find some nice shooting hose here in the states. where did you find them?

The shop's name is Delamere & Hopkins in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Cincinnati. The sell Barbour hose and garters.

You beat me to it, Rex, I've been thinking about knitting just the ends of garter ties and attaching them to elastic garters. I suppose you could also have lengthened them by stitching in some sort of cord in the middle, where it would be hidden under the cuff.

Or a bit of elastic (or grosgrain ribbon) the same width as the garter. I wish I had thought of that. That would have been WAAAY simpler.

Regards,
Rex.

[Bugbear]

I suppose if you had really big kalves, you could buy two pairs of garter ties, and sew them together. Or buy two pairs; snipp off one end of each garter long enough to make a flash; then sew the long ends together. You would have a set of garter ties, and a set of flashes.

Glad it worked out, Rex, and hope your other half likes them too.

[JolyStNicholas]

Great tips one and all. I have a red set that I have to extend one way or another. Now I have a variety of ways to handle the situation.

[ForresterModern]

I wish I could find some nice shooting hose here in the states. where did you find them?

Not to hijack the thread, but here is an oversees online site that I have found that has nice ones that are suitable for kilt hose as well.

http://www.thesportinglodge.co.uk/sh...roducts-socks/

10% off code "special10" at checkout.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.