Attaching Morale Patches On Leather Flight Jackets

[SteveZ]

Im nearly finished collecting reproductions of many of my dads morale patches that he had on his original NAVY issue flight jacket and added a few more that are relevant to his 46 to 72 Navy pilot career. I pretty much have planed as to where all the patches will be placed on the coat. ( Pop flew the P2V-7 Lockheed Neptune Submarine Hunter & Destroyer )

Now my key question is when I go over all this with a good leather tailor as to where all these patches will be placed on a new G1 goatskin to replace his dried out original coat, is it absolutely critical that the inside liner be removed for this sewing operation or can I save some time and alot of money and have the tailor simple sew on the patches by stitching through the liner. Personally, I dont care if theres some stitching visible on the inside of the jacket because the inside is pretty much never seen.

This will be an extensive operation involving large patches on the back of the jacket and medium to small patches on the front and both sleeves. Im not a tailor but common sense says that it will be a chore to remove the inner liner and re attach it again just to avoid sewing through it.

Any of you flight jacket gurus or custom jacket tailors have an opinion ? Should I worry about the inner liner ?

Many thanks as usual.

 

[JimWagner]

This isn't going to save you any money, but when I was on flight crew in the 60's the squadron parachute riggers would hand sew on patches for us. That way they didn't sew through the lining. The going rate was $5/patch - enough for a case of beer back then. I believe they used hooked needles.

 

[ButteMT61]

I had one sewed on by a local tailor and he did it without touching the lining. $15. Looked amazing.
But that said, I've seen some originals where the stitching goes through the liner, so I don't know if either way is "authentic" or not. Probably both. I'm sure some of the knowledgable guys know.

 

[SteveZ]

I dont think that anyone today has the time to hand sew on patches. Most likely will be a sewing machine. We have a few local tailors that do motorcycle club patches for vests and jackets. I would assume they use a machine and some heavy duty thread. Im guessing that my patch work will set me back at least a couple of hundred bucks ( 200 ) but its being done all at once. Probably easier for a tailor that way. Is there a new method to sew on morale patches quickly that this rank amateur doesnt know about ? Personally, I think a sewing machine appearance looks much neater than a hand sewn look.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Every original WW2 A2 that I've seen with patches have had them sewn through the lining. I think patches not sewn through the lining is a relative new practice.
HD

 

[SteveZ]

Thanks HD. Im breathing easier that this is an option. I have a US WINGS goatskin G2 with a NAVY PILOT CREED printed inside that Im not afraid of sewing through. Not that big a deal for me. I only want to show off the outside of the jacket.

 

[Stand By]

As HD says, and to the best of my knowledge, theatre patches were just sewn on through the lining. I think they were just looking to get the job done back then. It's how mine have all been done on my jackets and I don't mind a bit.

 

[Steve S.]

you wouldn't have to remove the complete lining, it could be done with one side along a zipper opened up. would take a little situating of the liner to move it out of the way when sewing patches on, but wouldn't be that big of an issue to do. I recently put shoulder & chest patches on a repro A-2 & did it this way.

 

[SteveZ]

But its done with a sewing machine. Right ? Would take forever doing it with a needle by hand.

 

[ButteMT61]

you wouldn't have to remove the complete lining, it could be done with one side along a zipper opened up. would take a little situating of the liner to move it out of the way when sewing patches on, but wouldn't be that big of an issue to do. I recently put shoulder & chest patches on a repro A-2 & did it this way.

that's how the guy did mine...could not see any of his work. But I guess if I were looking to be "authentic" based on other posts, I'd sew it through.

 

[JimWagner]

Ultimately it really doesn't matter whether the patches are sewn through the lining or not as far as authenticity goes. It was done both ways. But keep in mind that this particular jacket reflects post WWII service and patches as I understand the original post. Not WWII theater patches. How they were sewn on depended as much on who did it as anything else. Could have been done by the parachute riggers, a tailor off base, your wife if you were married, a steward's mate if you were an officer living in the BOQ or yourself, just to show a few possibilites. As far as I remember there were no relevent regulations concerning how it was done as flight jackets and flight suits were not "uniforms" and therefore fell outside of regulations (but not the squadron CO's rules).

In theory flight jackets were only issued to flght crews and were turned back in if you left the squadron or were no longer assigned to a flight crew for any reason. Then they were reissued to the next person. They tended to only have the squadron patch (officially), but people added others. That was the rule. In practice, after a certain amount of wear they were supposed to be surplused but depending on timing, who you were and who you knew you just might end up keeping yours. When I was issued mine it was brand new. When I was discharged I had to turn it back in.

That's why there were always places off base you could buy either a surplused jacket or a custom made one. One of the signs of which type of jacket you had was whether the squadron designation (e.g. VP-24) was stenciled on the back in fairly large white letters. A surplused jacket would have the stencil painted over. A purchased jacket would not have a stencil at all.

A privately owned jacket tended to have more patches, however that jacket was acquired.

 

[Steve S.]

But its done with a sewing machine. Right ? Would take forever doing it with a needle by hand.

yes, with a machine. you just need enough room to get the leather & patch in the machine with the liner out of the way. not hard at all. I'll see if I have any pics that might help explain better & shoot you a PM.

 

[Deacon211]

Overwhelmingly the guys of my time period had theirs sewn on by the para-rigger, so just right through the lining. You could get any color stitching you wanted...as long as it was sage green.

I think though that an experienced tailor could cut through a seam and get under the lining without disassembling the whole thing.

If you plan on doing it once and getting the best result, have you considered contacting US Wings or maybe Gibson and Barnes to see if they can do it? G+B offers patch work, but maybe only on their jackets these days.

Jim, that's interesting about turning your jacket in. Except for guys who washed out of flight school, we were allowed to keep ours. Maybe that's why you really begin to see patched up jackets in the '60s. Guys mostly only DRMOed their jackets when they became unserviceable.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Treetopflyer]

Yep, can be done through the lining or not. No regulation either way. However, if you have a lot of patches that are being sewn on and you stitch through the lining, I don't know if that will do anything to how the jacket feels when wearing it, as far as movement.

 

[JimWagner]

Jim, that's interesting about turning your jacket in. Except for guys who washed out of flight school, we were allowed to keep ours. Maybe that's why you really begin to see patched up jackets in the '60s. Guys mostly only DRMOed their jackets when they became unserviceable.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Ah, the difference between being an officer and enlisted. I guess what I was describing only applied to us enlisted crew I would have like to have been able to keep my jacket, but it wouldn't have continued to fit for long after I got out anyway.

 

[Treetopflyer]

Ah, the difference between being an officer and enlisted. I guess what I was describing only applied to us enlisted crew I would have like to have been able to keep my jacket, but it wouldn't have continued to fit for long after I got out anyway.

When I went through flight school even the Officers had to turn their jackets back in. A friend of mine was never issued a leather jacket because they ran out of them for awhile. A few years later after being a fleet aviator, he went back to Pensacola to see if he could finally get his leather jacket. They gave him one that was a turn in from someone that washed out of flight school. It had an American flagged sewn on it. He took it because it was the only one in his size and he figured he didn't want to wait another five years for a jacket.

 

[ButteMT61]

Yep, can be done through the lining or not. No regulation either way. However, if you have a lot of patches that are being sewn on and you stitch through the lining, I don't know if that will do anything to how the jacket feels when wearing it, as far as movement.

That was the main reason I opted for not going through the lining. Figured if there was any resistance, it might stress/rip the lining. Likely not a worry though...

 

[Deacon211]

When I went through flight school even the Officers had to turn their jackets back in. A friend of mine was never issued a leather jacket because they ran out of them for awhile. A few years later after being a fleet aviator, he went back to Pensacola to see if he could finally get his leather jacket. They gave him one that was a turn in from someone that washed out of flight school. It had an American flagged sewn on it. He took it because it was the only one in his size and he figured he didn't want to wait another five years for a jacket.

Hey TTF,

Are you saying that officers had to turn their jackets back in if they washed out or had to turn them back in, period? I think Jim was saying that the enlisted guys in the fleet had to turn their jackets back in when they separated or rotated out of the squadron.

You got to keep your G-1 didn't you?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[SteveZ]

 

[SteveZ]

I finnaly found a decent decal to take to a patch and emblem maker and have hime produce a one of patch about a foot tall to sew on back of jacket. should look pretty cool. This was the main patch I was concentrating on.
I think this will be a slick addition to the back of the G1
I bought as a tribute jacket in honor of my dad.