Quite possibly a question that has no answer, but here goes anyway.

[Maj.Nick Danger]

I'm thinking of getting a goatskin A2 jacket that once had unit patches sewn to the ******, but now has only the outline and the stitch marks.
My question is,....How can one safely remove these marks without simply adding new patches over the marks?
I'm thinking maybe a spot hot water treatment to just those areas. Maybe that would cause the marks to sort of shrink a bit, at least making them a little less noticable? Has anyone dealt with this sort of thing before? [huh]

 

[Johnnysan]

Found this website...some of the testimonials on the site seem to indicate that repairs like this can be done. Good luck, Major!

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Hmm,...thanks Johnny!

Interesting site. Not only for leather, but the re-weaving is a much needed service among us vintage clothing lovers. I'll study this and see if I can't figure out how to do it myself,....as I am a do it yourselfer from way back.

 

[bfrench]

Patch hole removal

I'm thinking maybe a spot hot water treatment to just those areas. Maybe that would cause the marks to sort of shrink a bit, at least making them a little less noticable? Has anyone dealt with this sort of thing before? [huh]

Hi, Nick,

One of the things I've read on the other site is to taks a hammer to the holes while wet and slightly tap all around the circle the holes from a patch have made - apparently it shrinks them to the point of almost being invisible.

Do a search on VLJ and see what you come up with.

I know it works on aircraft aluminum for shrinking holes where rivets have been removed and new ones need to be instaled so why not leather.

Bill French

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Good idea, bf.

Thanks for the suggestion, makes sense. Essentially, all I have to do is somehow push the leather fibers back into place that were displaced by the stitching.

 

[Grit]

Hey Nick,

Did you ever find a successful way to fill in the holes? I've been curious about this, myself.

Thanks for sharing what you know--always good to borrow another's experience.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Actually, I had quite forgotten this old issue. I did however figure out how to repair a small area on a leather that had embroidery removed,...if you need to know how to do that some time.

 

[Fletch]

I'm messing with this issue myself - partly as an experiment, partly to save an eBay purchased beater that arrived with a big rectangle of holes (from a bloodchit?) thru the back panel.

So far I've only made the area even more obvious and even put a small rip in the thin and somethat dry skin. It's an experiment, remember.

Some will tell you they've hidden stitch holes in leather. Others will say it's a waste of money and time. Makes you think twice about patching that prized jacket, it does.

 

[Edward]

If it's a jacket you got cheap and there is no damage occasioned to any collector-value by making alterations, I should have thought the only real way to "hide" stitch holes would be to replace the panel. FWIW.... I've removed a patch from a leather jacket I got on eBay before now (I just had to get rid of a Harley Owners Group patch - my midlife crisis is hopefully a long way off yet). It left the little stitch holes, though they weren't that noticeable, and over time have become less so. They won't ever go away fully, I think, but they're much much less obvious than anything I might try to disguise them. Your mileage may vary, but in my opinion if the jacket is good, otherwise fine and a great price, I wouldn't let that put me off. If anything, personally i think that those sort of marking give a jacket a bit of "history", like it's seen military service and now been "converted" for civilian use. Or it belonged to a pilot who is in the process of transfer from one unit to another - I believe I learned from this site that whereas Navy pilots tended to retain insignia from all their assignments on the G1, a USAAF A2 only bore the insignia of the current assignment. Yours is like a jacket that has had the old insignia removed, but the new one hasn't been issued yet, maybe? I'm sure the truth is much les prosaic, but I like the idea of the stitch marks - gives it character!