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Shortening A-2 jacket arm length

bfrench

Administrator
Hi, Folks,

I know on one of our former sites we had a pictorial tutorial on shortening the arms of an A-2 jacket.

Could one of you fine jacket experimenters/ repairers please post this again.

Bill French
 

Jason

Active Member
That was Mark (fishmeok) with his Goodwear - copied from here for reference: http://cornellsurgery.com/phpBB3/viewto ... =14&t=2098


Thought I'd share some of the procedures I've made up for aging and fitting a jacket- What do you guys think?

1) Wetting a jacket to stretch it:
This works well with almost any leather- I've used this method on an Avirex goatskin, Generic "pilot" ANJ-3 type goatskin jacket, a Sporty's Pilot Shop ANJ-3A goatskin , An Aero Cowhide A-2, a goatskin US Wings Indy jacket, and one of my motorcycle jackets. Wet the jacket through, either by running it through the rinse cycle or by hand with hot water. I get the jacket totally soaked then wring it out. If more arm length is needed twist the whole arm up tight into a tube and then pull, being careful to hold it after the shoulder seam and before the knit cuff, so none of the threads pop out or stretch the stitch holes. This also means you will get more length the tighter you twist. I use similar methods on the body, again being very careful not to stress any of the seams, pulling either just leather panels or the whole body rolled up. make sure you pull only the leather, if you catch the lining and try to stretch it it WILL tear. For the absolute perfect glove fit, wear it until it drys (but only if you're really into it...). Keep moving around and working the tight spots until they loosen up. I learned early on to be careful doing this, it's not so much that the stitches in the leather will pull out but the lining will- it doesn't have as much give as the leather.
This will give 1-3 inches depending on the quality of the jacket, and will make the grain on most of them pop like speedy alka-seltzer. I also scalloped the pockets, pointed the collar flaps, etc. You can do a lot of re-shaping when the jacket is wet. After a good soaking a couple of the jackets (Avirex, US Wings) stiffened up and needed a coat or two of Pecards to soften again. Other than a torn lining in the Avirex there have been no problems with any of my jackets after doing this.

2) Using heat to shrink a jacket:
Several of the jackets I have are 46's, which is good for me in length, but not in the torso and shoulders. I've had very good success with simply throwing soaking wet jackets in the dryer on medium to hot (with a pair of jeans or similar) and checking the fit every fifteen minutes. I've been able to shrink several jackets down to a prefect fit, without any damage. Again, it really makes the grain pop.
On the US Wings Indy in particular I was able to shrink the body down to a passable size then stretch the arms out to what I needed by re-wetting and twisting. Horrible cut on that damn thing.

Note that I wouldn't do any of this to an original...

I just had a very good experience with my Goodwear Dubow. It's a 48 and was just too big, but by some strategic soaking and throwing it in the dryer I shaped it down to a perfect fit. Chapman's jacket came through the best of all of my jackets, no stiffening or any other noticeable difference afterward, other than some more amazing grain pop. Also no dye loss when wet- you can really tell the difference between the high and low end jackets when you start to play with them.
Cheers
Mark

Dubow
Before
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After
DSCN2058.jpg


Before
DSCN2034.jpg

After
DSCN2060.jpg


Outside After:
DSCN2168.jpg
 

deeb7

Gone, but not forgotten.
bfrench said:
Hi, Folks,

I know on one of our former sites we had a pictorial tutorial on shortening the arms of an A-2 jacket.

Could one of you fine jacket experimenters/ repairers please post this again.

Bill French

Most of those helpful guides were posted by Brooks, of Bgbdesign, on the original Cornell forum.

Perhaps you could buy him a drink, and have a chat, Bill ....
 

syringmt

New Member
I finally got up enough courage to try and shrink my jacket by using the method above. I have a US Authentic in seal brown horsehide sz. 44. I have always been displeased with the fit. The sleeves were too long and the body was not very fitted. After washing and drying in the dryer (with frequent checking) I was extremely pleased with the fit. It now fits close to my Cooper sz. 42. I was amazed at how much I got it to shrink. The grain previously was very smooth. It almost looked like vinyl. After washing the grain really stood up and looks great.
Will the jacket stay that size or will it return to it's original size with wear?
 

T-Bolt

New Member
syringmt said:
I finally got up enough courage to try and shrink my jacket by using the method above. I have a US Authentic in seal brown horsehide sz. 44. I have always been displeased with the fit. The sleeves were too long and the body was not very fitted. After washing and drying in the dryer (with frequent checking) I was extremely pleased with the fit. It now fits close to my Cooper sz. 42. I was amazed at how much I got it to shrink. The grain previously was very smooth. It almost looked like vinyl. After washing the grain really stood up and looks great.
Will the jacket stay that size or will it return to it's original size with wear?

Good information.......do you have any before and after photos......or at least after??? :cool:


Ted
 

syringmt

New Member
Here are some photos. I only have after pics. It didn't occur to me to take some before. The sleeves used to tunnel all the way to my hands. I still need some pecards as it did stiffen somewhat. Not enough to make it uncomfortable. It feels like it is brand new again. It will probably loosen up with wear, but I was curious to see if leather dressing will help the look.
I only wish I could switch out the name tag and the eighth AAF patch without leaving the holes. They were not what I expected when I ordered the jacket.

100_0704.jpg


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Is it okay to resurrect threads like this? If so, has anyone had any Luck with just wetting the sleeves and shoulders (my main areas of focus) and shrinking those? (Chrome tanned goat A2)
 
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Micawber

Well-Known Member
Wetting and wear may well make the sleeves ride up a touch due to creasing etc but it won't be much. Depends how much you want to shorten them?
 
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