Patches

[Charles Heath]

Re: Patches

Bob, those two boys have a long ways to go before making it to ragged rebel status.

[KathyBradford]

Re: Patches

It's a little after our time, but an online 1893 sewing lesson book explains patching and other things very well. It starts with basic stitches and goes on to explain buttonholes and then patching near the bottom of the page. According to this, patches should be as invisible as possible. The lesson goes so far as to recommend a slightly darker shade of silk thread so it will disappear. Stripes, patterns, nap, warp, and weft of the patch should be matched to the garment. Here is an excerpt that describes three methods of patching, but the link offers illustrations, as well.

PATCHING
A patch is a piece of cloth, sewed on to a garment to repair it.

HEMMING ON A PATCH
Materials— No. 9 needle, No. 80 thread, scissors, pins, and a piece of cotton cloth, five inches square; for the patch, a piece of cloth four inches square.

Hemming on a patch—

1. Crease the garment, represented by the large piece of cloth, through, and across the centre (Fig. 74).

2. Mark the centre by a pin-hole, and half-an-inch from the centre on each crease, make a pin-hole.

3. Crease a square on a line with the holes, and by a thread (Fig. 74, a, b, c, and d).

4. Cut out the square on the creasing, being careful about the corners.

5. Cut diagonally one-fourth of an inch at each corner (Fig. 74, 1, 2, 3, and 4).

6. Fold and crease each edge of the hole, by a thread, and baste.

7. Cut off each corner of the patch one-fourth of an inch deep.

8. Holding the right side of the patch towards you, fold towards you, and crease, by a thread, one-fourth of an inch deep, on all four sides.

9. Crease through, and across the centre of the patch.

10. Place the garment on the desk, with the wrong side upwards.

11. Place the folded edges of the patch upon the garment, with the warp of the two pieces parallel.

12. Match the creases, and put in pins.

13. With each edge of the patch even with a thread of the garment, baste; turning the corners neatly, by tucking the extra fold underneath with the point of the needle.

14. Turn the other side towards you, and pin the edges of the hole down at each corner.

15. Baste, keeping each edge on a thread of the patch.

16. Hem the garment to the patch, being careful to firmly sew the corners, keeping them at right angles.

17. On the other side, hem the patch to the garment, allowing the stitches to appear as little as possible on the right side.

18. Take out the basting threads, and press on the wrong side.

OVERHANDING ON A PATCH
Materials— Same as before, with the cloth for the patch three inches square.

Overhanding on a patch—

1. Crease the garment, represented by the large piece of cloth, through, and across the centre (Fig. 75).

2. Cut a small piece out of the centre, to aid later in cutting the hole.

3. Cut across each corner of the patch one-fourth of an inch deep.

4. Holding the wrong side of the patch towards you, make a crease, by a thread, one-fourth of an inch deep, on the four sides.

5. Crease through, and across the centre of the patch.

6. Place the garment on the desk, with the right side upwards.

7. Place the folded edges of the patch upon the garment, with the warp of the two pieces parallel.

8. Match the creases, and put in pins.

9. With the edges of the patch even with the threads of the garment, baste; turning the corners neatly, by tucking in the extra fold underneath.

10. Holding the patch towards you, fold and crease the garment even with one edge of the patch.

11. Holding the two edges securely, overhand them, sewing the corners firmly.

12. Fold and overhand the next side in the same manner, and so continue, till all the sides are overhanded (Fig. 76).

13. Take out the basting threads.

14. Turn the wrong side towards you, and carefully cut a hole in the garment, one-fourth of an inch inside the overhanding stitches.

15. At each corner, cut diagonally to the overhanding stitches.

16. Open the seam and overcast all the edges (Fig. 77), or work them with the blanket-stitch.

17. Dampen the seams, and press on the wrong side.

CATCH-STITCHING ON A FLANNEL PATCH
Materials— No. 9 needle, fine silk to match the flannel, pins, and a piece of flannel five inches square; for the patch, a piece of flannel three inches and a half square.

Catch-stitching on a patch—

1 Crease the garment, represented by the large piece of flannel, through, and across the centre (Fig. 74).

2. Mark the centre by inserting a pin; and one inch from the middle of each crease, insert a pin.

3. Crease a square, by a thread, on a line with the pins.

4. Cut the square out on the creasing, being careful in cutting the corners.

5. Crease through, and across the centre of the patch.

6. Place the garment on the desk, with the wrong side upwards.

7. Place the right side of the patch upon the garment, with the nap of the two pieces running the same way.

8. Match the creases, and put in pins.

9. With each edge of the patch even with a thread of the garment, baste one-fourth of an inch from the edge.

10. Holding the garment towards you, baste one-fourth of an inch from the edge of the hole.

11. Draw the needle through the garment from underneath, one-eighth of an inch from the raw edge.

12. Catch-stitch (see page 117) around the square, taking the inner stitches through the patch, close to the edge of the garment; and the outside stitches one-eighth of an inch from the edge, and through both thicknesses of cloth (Fig. 78).

13. Turning the wrong side towards you, catch-stitch in the same manner, the edges of the patch to the garment (Fig. 79).

14. Take out the basting threads, and press on the wrong side.

Suggestions— In practical mending, judgment and consideration are necessary, and the material should be treated as common sense suggests; the object is to replace the torn or worn part with as little display as possible.

A patch can be put on in various ways : as, hemming on the right side and overcasting the raw edges together on the wrong side; it can also be put on by stitching. A patch can be overhanded on the wrong side, so that the stitches may show less, but the corners are not easily turned. Catch-stitching should be used, when the material does not easily ravel, as on flannel. Thin, woolen materials can be hemmed. When a material is worn, it is better to hem the patch on, for, if it is overhanded, the strain comes on one thread at each side.

Stripes, checks and figures should always match, as otherwise they attract attention. Care must be taken to have the warp and the woof of the patch run the same way as those of the garment, the straightest threads of the cloth generally represent the warp. The nap must also run in the same direction, which can be ascertained by passing the hand lightly over it. A patch can be either square or oblong, according to the shape of the damaged part, but should be large enough to cover the worn place. Fine thread or silk, matching the material, should be used; silk should be chosen a shade darker than the material, as it will work lighter.

What is a patch? What is its use?
In hemming on a patch, on which side of the garment should the patch be placed?
On which side, in overhanding on a patch?
How should the wrong side of an overhanded patch be finished?
What stitch is used in patching flannel?
Which side of the garment is the patch placed upon?
What is the object of patching?
What care should be taken concerning the warp and the woof?

http://www.vintagesewing.info/19th/1892-sn/sn-02.html#patch

[toptimlrd]

Re: Patches

Kathy,

Thank you for the informative link. I've been looking for something like this and now it's in my favorites folder.:D

[Randy]

Re: Patches

Some excellent feedback from everyone, and excellent pictures! And some things I never considered. I'll take it all in, and thanks!

Posted by Justin Runyon: "Whether it was intended or not, it sounded like the orignal poster wanted to turn his pants into something akin to a Sanitary Commission quilt just for giggles."[/QUOTE

...Did it really sound like that?

[HOG.EYE.MAN]

Re: Patches

Posted by Justin Runyon: "Whether it was intended or not, it sounded like the orignal poster wanted to turn his pants into something akin to a Sanitary Commission quilt just for giggles."[/QUOTE

...Did it really sound like that?

Yes it did. It sounded like you wanted to add patches to your uniform just for the hell of it.

[unclefrank]

Re: Patches

Those "hillbilly" hats would be verboten at most quality events! :teeth_smi

[Bill]

Re: Patches

If this was already mentioned, I'm sorry, but have we considered post war repairs being done on uniforms, especially trousers? Most soldiers, especially enlisted men, didn't store their uniforms away for posterity. This really holds true for Confederates, who, in some cases, had nothing else to wear.

Also, have we considered uniforms that may have been patched or repaired at home: while soldiers were on leave, or recovering from wounds? I was thinking of the repairs, where the better part of a panel was replaced. A minie ball or shell fragment could make a real mess out of a jacket or pair of trousers.

No answers, just thinking.

[tsgalloway]

Re: Patches

Here's info I just came upon regarding the source of patches: "In the interim, articles of clothing and homespun cloth from the 'hand-looms of the [local] farmers' helped to patch britches and jackets."

This is from Tom Arkiskas' Cadet Gray and Butternut Brown page 77.

[BobRoeder]

Re: Patches

Hello,

Just finished perusing the on-line diary of Elias Moore, 114th O.V.I. (probably already known by many here) and found quite a few interesting (to me anyway) references that he took the time to record referring to the amount of time he spent sewing/repairing his clothing. Of course, he does not go into his exact methods, which would definitely add more to this particular discussion, but they are intersting just the same.

Sunday, Jan 17th/ 64 Indianola, Texas
In the forenoon I helped fix our tent and changed the pockets in my pants. In the afternoon went up to town and got some cistern water as the well is too salty to use for drinking.
Also:

Saturday, Feb 6th/64
Wrote a letter home this forenoon. Cut and made a vest out of an old blouse. The Regts. sent out to Lavaca returned with a wagon train of lumber. No drill to day.

Wasn't sure if the last wouldn't have been better off under the "Altered Blouse?" thread.

Cheers,

[vamick]

Re: Patches

In an earlier post someone mentioned/wrote, where would the soldiers get matching fabric for a patch. I roll my trousers because of their length being to long. Whenever I've had to make a small patch (only been once or twice), I removed some fabric from the bottom of the trouser, patched the hole (same fabric), and then rolled the trousers back again. Has anyone found this to be the case?

Thats what I did just last year Robert, tho what I did differed in that I trimed excess wool from the bottom/hemmed then saved that wool in my housewife for a 'hole-y day' ended up with two three inch wide er so patches which last year fit the bill exactly for my two multiported 'cheek wear areas' in the 'seat of war':D