Garter ties

[Gor]

Greetings, Rabble! I was just wondering if anyone had tried using strips cut from old t-shirts as cheap hose garters. I have a few that are ready for the rag pile and thought that might be a better use for them. As always, thanks for the input.

[brewerpaul]

If you are just planning to hold up your kilt hose i think baleing wire could even be used if you could put up with it. The issue is what shows as a flash or the end of the ties. On woven ties you have the nice ends to show off as opposed to flashes but Im not sure old t-shirt material would work well. When i dont use flashes or my garter ties I tend to use elastic that has velcro sewn to it. These are not exposed and keep my kilt hose well in place.

[Gor]

I was thinking of leaving the ends exposed like flashes. That's the part I was curious about, honestly. I guess I could have been more clear. My apologies.

It doesn't seem like they would appear much different from the commercially available flashes, but I could be wrong.

[brewerpaul]

Due to the stretch in t-shirt material you may not get the results you want. Traditional flashes that fit on a elastic garter are usually made of the wool tartan or some solid color wool material. Im sure there are polyviscos ones too. You may have to use some stiff interface to get some decent lay to the exposed ends. Give it a try, you may be on to something new...

I was thinking of leaving the ends exposed like flashes. That's the part I was curious about, honestly. I guess I could have been more clear. My apologies.

It doesn't seem like they would appear much different from the commercially available flashes, but I could be wrong.

[Father Bill]

If you can afford a kilt, you can afford nice garters. Don't cheapen it with something as a quickie.

[Gor]

You misunderstand me, Father. It's not that I cannot afford woven garters, it's the idea of paying almost as much for two strips of woven cloth with knots in the ends as I would pay for a pair of wool hose that I don't like.

[Father Bill]

Yeah. I still shudder a bit at the idea of a strip of cloth rather than proper ties; I think it would cheapen the look, but then maybe my imagination is seeing something different than yours.

[McElmurry]

Greetings, Rabble! I was just wondering if anyone had tried using strips cut from old t-shirts as cheap hose garters. I have a few that are ready for the rag pile and thought that might be a better use for them. As always, thanks for the input.

If you can get the home-made ties to stretch similar to purchased ties you could try different lengths to see what length you might want to eventually purchase or knit. It takes some practice to get the tension correct and the ties to come out without a bulge at the knot and at the right length (not windsocks).

Good luck, I have yet to master the garter tie. I wear lightweight hose here in California and use a pair of HOE garters with flashes I purchased at the Pleasanton Games. They are fast, consistent, and my hose stay put.

[piperdbh]

Any decent fabric shop will have woven ribbon/tape for sale by the yard. I'd suggest buying 2 1/2 yards, cut it in half, tie knots in each end, fringe a couple of inches past the knots, and have yourself some perfectly acceptable garter ties.

[TheOfficialBren]

Agreed. Garter ties are my personal preference. I use Matt Newsome's easy - tie method. It never fails and leaves no bulge. They are very traditional, too. When I first started kilting up I went straight for ties rather than flashes specifically because they are an older but timeless traditional article. Just my two pence. Your mileage may vary.