Commercially made kilt hose flashes can cost $20 to $30 a pair... quite a bit of money considering what they are. Why spend that much coin when you can easily make them yourself at much less cost. For about $10, you can purchase enough materials to make several pairs that work just as well as the commercial ones. The best part is that they can be assembled in minutes and all without having to sew a single stitch. Here’s how to do it.

The required materials can be purchased from most fabric and department stores. You will need approximately 2 yards of 1-½” wide grosgrain ribbon in the color(s) of your choice and a package of ½” or ¾” wide standard 2 part Velcro ribbon. You will also need a sharp pair of scissors, a pencil or sharpie, and a straight edge. A bit of duct (duck) tape or a hot glue gun may be useful but not necessary. The following describes the procedure for one leg but assumes that it will be repeated for the other.

Start by separating the Velcro ribbons. Take a strip of the fuzzy faced ribbon, fuzz out, and wrap it around the calf of the leg at the thickest area. Mark and cut the ribbon so that it will provide about 2inches of overlap. Next, cut a short piece of the hook face Velcro approximately 2 inches long. Lay the soft Velcro strip on a flat surface fuzz up. Now take the short piece of Velcro and press half of it (hooks down) onto the end of the fuzzy strip leaving the other half exposed. With your kilt hose on and rolled up high, wrap this around the leg forming a secure band where the fold of the sock will be. It is preferable to make the overlap on the inside of the leg. Also, you don’t need to pull the Velcro uncomfortably tight. Since this is located above the calf or fat part of the leg, it won’t fall down.

Now cut off a piece of grosgrain ribbon about 9” to 10” long. With a straight edge and pencil, mark an inverted “V” shape notch on both ends. Alternatively, you can make a little pattern out of cereal box cardboard so that all of the notches will be the same shape. Next, cut out all of the notches with the scissors. Make a pencil mark at the lengthwise midpoint of the grosgrain flash and tuck one end of it behind the Velcro band. Now pull the end of the flash down the leg to where the pencil mark meets the top edge of the Velcro band. You can now fold the top of the kilt hose down concealing the Velcro band. This will also cause the grosgrain ribbon lay flat. Leave about 3 inches or so of the grosgrain ribbon exposed. The grosgrain flash should be a bit shorter than the part closest to the leg.

If you want to get creative, try using different combinations of widths and colors of grosgrain ribbon. Also, when you’re satisfied with the fit, you can affix the grosgrain to the Velcro with a bit duck tape or hot glue. Try 2 flashes on each leg instead of one. You could also cut a longer piece of grosgrain, say 14” long, loop this in half, tuck behind the Velcro bands, and adjust so that you have both a loop and notches exposed below the fold of the sock. You might also want to experiment with other fabrics. You might even want to make white flashes and paint on a design.

These flashes are quick and easy to make, cheap, and most of all, they work well. Have fun!