My field mods to an A-1

[Fletch]

Just finished modifying my "old pattern" Eastman A-1 - the one made from steerhide and photographs. (They now do a capeskin model patterned on an original 31-800P contract jacket.)

This was a very oversize 46, possibly MTM for a somewhat apple-bodied gentleman.
The waistline had several inches of slop and crept up constantly thanks to ELC's period-accurate no-elastic knitting.
Here it is on me before the mods, with only one row of elastic sewn into the waistband (not enough!) - and after the mods, which included putting in a second row of elastic.

The mods consisted of:
-unstitching the pen slot (I now store pens in between the hide and lining of the pocket)
-sewing a 2nd row of elastic thread into waist knit
-relocating the right-hand (female) snap panel to create a windflap (hardest part! - see below)
-relocating the buttons in line with the snaps
-smaller collar and pocket buttons (large collar buttons tended to crash into each other)
I handsewed everything!

Front of jacket Before

Front of jacket After.
Yes, the buttons left holes. I'm all right with that because now the fit is better and I have a windflap allowance.
I layer under this jacket in the cold, so it's nice to have it not gap so much between the buttons.
I always close at least the waist snaps when wearing it, so the funny corner isn't a big deal to me. Form follows function!
I may move the top body button back. I was concerned it would make the neck fit tight, but it actually throws a slight U shaped crease under the neck.

Here's how I moved the snap panel. This was a many-step process:
-undo snap panel from jacket front
-undo waist knit from panel, plus some slack from jacket front
-trim back and resew knit to panel with 1 line of stitching, inside out
-fold that seam in, then sew 2nd line, right side out
-reattach panel to jacket front with 1 line of stitching
-reinforce with 2nd line
I tried to use the existing stitch holes, but that is a hit and miss process - especially when working from the inside, where the holes are a lot smaller and hard to see.
I did every other stitch, then retraced my steps, filling in the gaps on the way back.

The result looks like what it is - handsewing by a rookie leathercrafter - but it should hold till the knits need replacement one day.

 

[Papa M]

Full credit for having the courage to start dismantling your jacket.

The end result looks fine - even with the slightly scruffy stitching.

 

[kampkatz]

Fletch, from the outside it looks tailor made, so if anyone comments negatively about the alterations, let's see what kind of a job they would offer.
Keep up the good efforts!

 

[fishmeok]

Looks really good - when you do finally have to replace the waistknit you could try taking 1/2 off each side and lining everything back up at the center- I have done that to a couple of jackets, but it requires some fairly intense disassembly. You WOULD lose the windflap though. A way to keep the flap and still line everything up would be to make a larger tab- just have to find some halfway matching hide...
Cheers
Mark

 

[Fletch]

Fletch, from the outside it looks tailor made, so if anyone comments negatively about the alterations, let's see what kind of a job they would offer.
Keep up the good efforts!

I did have one comment over on VLJ that I should have considered the resale value of the jacket, and instead waited for another example that fit me better. Repro jackets have to be free of obvious alterations to keep their value.

If selling, I might just cut back the windflap when the knits were redone, taking away the old button holes and making it look stock, just smaller.