UKC

Hi folks,

I have volunteered to help a friend sort expedition kit while he is away.

One of the jobs is attaching the sponsorship badges to all the down clothing jackets. The badges have arrived and they can all either be sewn on or ironed on.

I have no idea what the best thing to do is and any precautions etc I should be aware of.

Anyone help in any way? Don't just want to crack on and ruin the kit!

Thanks in advance,
Den

In reply to Atholl de-Saint-Croix:

Sewing the patches on may have one of two consequences, depending on how you do it:

i) sewing through the patch, then taking the thread outside the patch edge, through the shell fabric, and then back up through the shel fabric and patch (step & repeat) wil hold the edge of the patch in place, and hopefully stop it snagging on things, but is likely to pull holes in the shell fabric.

ii) sewing only through the patch & shell fabric, and never taking the thread outside the boundary of the patch (using a simple up/down running stitch) is less likely to pull holes in the shell (because the patch is likely to be stiff enough to resist any movement of the stitching), but the edges of the patch may snag on things.

The best compromise may be to combine i) and ii), so that, rather than bringing the thread outside the patch and through the shell, sew through the patch and shell as close to the edge of the patch as you can. You should end up with a zig-zag stich, with only the 'zig' visible on the surface of the patch, and 'zag' stitch inside the shell.

If the patches are iron-on, you might use the methods described in my article on repairing waterproofs, either using the hot-melt glue alone, or in conjunction with the sewing. Iron-on is likely to be pretty much permanent; sewing at least allows the patch to be removed.

http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/news/article/mps/uan/6509

In reply to Atholl de-Saint-Croix:

Oh, I assumed the down items weren't waterproof; if they are, and you want to retain the waterproofing, then sewing is out, and iron-on is the only way.

In reply to captain paranoia:

Hi mate,
thanks for the reply, appreciate it.

The down clothing is for high altitude so waterproofing Isn't an issue.
I've had a look at your article, very informative.

I reckon I'm going to attempt to iron them on, put them into place with that hem turn up iron stuff, then, cloth over the top, 45 seconds of high heat and then hope it's all good!

What do you reckon?

In reply to Atholl de-Saint-Croix:

Do a test without the patch somewhere non critical, to check the iron won't melt or damage the shell, first.

In reply to Atholl de-Saint-Croix:


Ah, I'd assumed that the patches already had a hot-melt glue layer on them. Not sure that WundaWeb will be up to the job, but I could be wrong. Not sure how it will cope with a DWR-treated shiny fabric, as opposed to a more conventional cloth.

In reply to captain paranoia:

Hi again,
all the badges have an iron on capability apparently, so I'm presuming they have a glue layer on the back already.

I was just going to use wundaweb to position the badges but that may interfere with the glue so might just crack on with one and see, eek!

I suppose it doesn't matter, but the clothing is a mixture of North Face down suits, RAB suits or combinations of the same material in jackets and salopettes.

In reply to Atholl de-Saint-Croix: What about(and this is only a thought I havent ever tried it) Ironing the patches onto something that they wont stick to,(grease paper?) to heat the glue on the back up to a tacky state and then locating the patches onto the fabric and then a gentle/careful iron to fix them
Possibly its also worth cutting the shape of the patches out on some cardboard so that when you do iron the patch you can have the cardboard around the patch covering the outer fabric so that only the patch is ironed
Disclaimer-If this goes wrong its not my fault if it works then Im a smug genius

In reply to L.A.:

Like the disclaimer!

Sounds like a good plan, better then the wundaweb one and also the cardboard will protect the rest of the jacket, like it.

Will let you know the result or alternately, hear my scream when it goes tits up!

In reply to Atholl de-Saint-Croix:
is double-sided sticky tape too devious? they are paying for advertising after all...