Do try this at home: leather jacket repair tips

[Marc mndt]

I've washed the jacket, removed the shoulder pads, glued some topcoat nicks, hand sewed the busted seams, replaced the elastic bands holding the gussets in place and reconditioned the leather. Now waiting for the replacement buttons to be delivered.

 

[PeterRocco]

I've washed the jacket, removed the shoulder pads, glued some topcoat nicks, hand sewed the busted seams, replaced the elastic bands holding the gussets in place and reconditioned the leather. Now waiting for the replacement buttons to be delivered.

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Came out Great!

 

[Daniel Veit]

I've washed the jacket, removed the shoulder pads, glued some topcoat nicks, hand sewed the busted seams, replaced the elastic bands holding the gussets in place and reconditioned the leather. Now waiting for the replacement buttons to be delivered.

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Amazing work!

 

[PeterRocco]

I've washed the jacket, removed the shoulder pads, glued some topcoat nicks, hand sewed the busted seams, replaced the elastic bands holding the gussets in place and reconditioned the leather. Now waiting for the replacement buttons to be delivered.

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Hi
I’m still waiting for some member posting how they Reconditioned their Dried Sheepskin B-3 Flight Coat. I picked this 1990’s Willis & Geiger Flight Coat.

 

[Yamahana]

I've washed the jacket, removed the shoulder pads, glued some topcoat nicks, hand sewed the busted seams, replaced the elastic bands holding the gussets in place and reconditioned the leather. Now waiting for the replacement buttons to be delivered.

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Good work there Slayer. I love this jacket, I’m quite partial to vintage button up for some reason. Are you going to tackle the liner yourself?

 

[Marc mndt]

Hi
I’m still waiting for some member posting how they Reconditioned their Dried Sheepskin B-3 Flight Coat. I picked this 1990’s Willis & Geiger Flight Coat.

Nice jacket. It doesn't look like it needs to be reconditioned tbh.

 

[Marc mndt]

Good work there Slayer. I love this jacket, I’m quite partial to vintage button up for some reason. Are you going to tackle the liner yourself?

Thanks. It's very time consuming but I quite enjoy it. Especially with an end result like this.

I've thought about it but I want it to be perfect so I think I'm going to send it over to Aero to have it re-lined. Black moleskin lining would be nice.

 

[Nacho]

I've washed the jacket, removed the shoulder pads, glued some topcoat nicks, hand sewed the busted seams, replaced the elastic bands holding the gussets in place and reconditioned the leather. Now waiting for the replacement buttons to be delivered.

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Solid work, Marc. That saddle stitch is clean, brother! I can’t wait for the full review.

 

[JMax]

Solid work, Narc. That saddle stitch is clean, brother! I can’t wait for the full review.

Narc? What do you know that I don’t.

 

[Nacho]

Narc? What do you know that I don’t.

LOLOLOL. I see what you did there.

Sorry for the typo. Just fixed it! Sometimes, I typed too fast on my phone...

 

[Marc mndt]

Trail and error, not all DIY jobs are a success.

Vintage jackets are great but those #5 cotton tape zippers suck, they will fail sooner or later.

I tried to save this one by gluing a piece of cotton zipper tape onto the failed part and then installing a replacement insertion pin.

DO NOT USE SUPERGLUE!

This is where it went wrong. When dry the superglue made the zipper tape hard and brittle, ultimately it crumpled apart. Also, the replacement insertion pin was of really low quality.

There was no way of saving this zipper, unfortunately. It now has a beefy #8 replacement repro zipper, installed by a professional. When the old one was removed part of the lining fell apart so a leather strip had to be installed on the inside hem.

 

[Marc mndt]

Last week when I dyed a NOS zipper the reinforcements at the base of the tape came loose so I glued them back into place using all purpose glue. To my surprise it worked perfectly (unlike the superglue I used on a previous attempt). It's still flexible when dry which is key.

So now I felt confident to do another zipper tape repair, this time using all purpose glue.

I used a NOS zipper as a donor for the reinforcement piece, it came loose after soaking it in hot water for an hour.

Before gluing the piece onto the zipper I cut away the old reinforcement as much as possible as you don't want the tape to become too thick (when too thick it won't slide into the zipper box anymore).

The end result, a reinforcement piece that's stiff without being hard or brittle.

 

[58panheadfan]

@Marc mndt Prym Fransenstop

 

[Marc mndt]

@Marc mndt Prym Fransenstop

I know but sometimes you need something more robust

 

[58panheadfan]

I know but sometimes you need something more robust

Okay, I see

 

[Leather Walker]

Yes,

DO NOT USE SUPERGLUE!

This is where it went wrong. When dry the superglue made the zipper tape hard and brittle, ultimately it crumpled apart. Also, the replacement insertion pin was of really low quality.

It sucks Superglue crystallizes the fabric and turns it to a "fossil".

But fortunately you made an amazing work with the zipper! You are very skilled, Marc

 

[Marc mndt]

But fortunately you made an amazing work with the zipper! You are very skilled, Marc

For clarification, I didn't do the full zipper replacement, that was done by a professional.

 

[PeterRocco]

For clarification, I didn't do the full zipper replacement, that was done by a professional.

Where you take the jacket for the repair?

 

[Marc mndt]

Where you take the jacket for the repair?

One of the renowned jacket makers in Europe.

 

[PeterRocco]

One of the renowned jacket makers in Europe.

Thank You. Came out Perfect.