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 breast, 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!