Elbow patches!

jrtfan

Last year, when my son was about to start Senior School, I had to buy him all new school uniform including a blazer. The blazer is woollen with braiding all around the edge, tops of pockets and around the cuffs, and the school badge is embroidered onto the breast pocket. It cost £98 new! But I bought a generous size in order that it would last him at least a couple of years.

For reasons best known to himself, my son tended to wear his blazer throughout the day last year and it's suffered some damage as a result. The braiding around both cuffs has frayed in places, but I think I might be able to salvage it with judicious use of a needle and thread.

The real problem is the elbows. The fabric here has worn very thin and has actually become threadbare in one small place. I've been quoted £40 to apply patches to the elbows; this is because the patches would have to be bought in specially by the person doing the repairs. They've said they will be happy to apply patches which I have sourced myself, for around £15 which is far more reasonable.

Only trouble is, I don't know where to go to buy elbow patches. Ideally I'd like something with a matt finish and in a similar colour (chestnut brown) to the blazer. Does anyone know if such things are available please and where to get them, if so?

Thanks very much.

Gigervamp

A search on Google brings up loads of links for elbow patches. John Lewis and Ebay were two of the sites that came up.

FairyPrincessk

They have imitation leather at John Lewis for about £5.25/pair. You can find real leather on ebay cheaper in a variety of colours. If you have access to offcuts of leather you could also easily make your own. Leather will be more durable than the imitation leather, but if you can find a heavy and durable cloth in the right colour that will also work.


Is your son required to wear his blazer during school? My OH is a teacher and the boys at his school have to keep their blazer on unless it is summer dress. If he has the option, is he keeping it on because he is cold? Perhaps some vests might help.

littlepinkbiscuits

Is it possible to get hold of another school blazer that is being thrown out and using the fabric to make your own elbow patches to match? Or sourcing a similar fabric garment from a charity shop and using that? I believe you can use copydex type latex glue to put patches on so that would save on dressmaking fees too.

dandy-candy

I would ask the school about secondhand uniform first. Often the items are in very good condition still and also very cheap!

jrtfan

Gigervamp wrote: »

A search on Google brings up loads of links for elbow patches. John Lewis and Ebay were two of the sites that came up.

Thank you for the tip. What I'm after is an actual retailer so that I can take the garment along with me to compare to any patches they have in stock, try to get a really good match if possible. I didn't know that John Lewis would have this sort of thing and there is one not too far from me I could try - thanks again!

jrtfan

FairyPrincessk wrote: »

They have imitation leather at John Lewis for about £5.25/pair. You can find real leather on ebay cheaper in a variety of colours. If you have access to offcuts of leather you could also easily make your own. Leather will be more durable than the imitation leather, but if you can find a heavy and durable cloth in the right colour that will also work.


Is your son required to wear his blazer during school? My OH is a teacher and the boys at his school have to keep their blazer on unless it is summer dress. If he has the option, is he keeping it on because he is cold? Perhaps some vests might help.

Again, thank you for the suggestion of John Lewis. I will certainly have a look at the imitation leather patches (£5 give or take for a pair sounds much more reasonable to me!) and will also take a look around there for other materials, because I believe they sell rolls of fabrics as well (?). Worth trying, at least.

My son has to wear his blazer at all times outside of the classroom, but he's allowed to take it off during lessons. Last year, his teacher mentioned to me at parents' evening that he was reluctant to take it off, even after he'd been given permission to. The teacher wondered if I knew why this might be, but I didn't for certain. It's not because he's cold; if anything, I suspect it might have been to do with starting a new school with all new classmates, and the fact he was carrying some extra weight at the beginning of the last academic year. Maybe he was feeling a bit unsure of himself anyway and a bit embarrassed about his appearance. We'll soon see anyway because he's had a definite growth spurt during this holiday and is looking svelte now by comparison, hopefully he will realise it and dispense with the blazer during class!

jrtfan

littlepinkbiscuits wrote: »

Is it possible to get hold of another school blazer that is being thrown out and using the fabric to make your own elbow patches to match? Or sourcing a similar fabric garment from a charity shop and using that? I believe you can use copydex type latex glue to put patches on so that would save on dressmaking fees too.

Thank you for the suggestion, it's certainly worth me asking around once school resumes. They do have a second-hand uniform shop there but it might be better if I can find one amongst last year's leavers, as these blazers will probably be a few years old and too tatty to go into the second-hand sale - great idea, thanks!

Copydex would be very handy and quick to do too, good tip!

jackyann

Not all John Lewis shops have a good haberdashery department.
Try the big haby sites: Kleins, myfabric.co.uk, sewing on-line.com (put elbow patches into the site search engine)

Just a warning on the copydex - it tends to pull away after awhile. I would sew them on

jrtfan

dandy-candy wrote: »

I would ask the school about secondhand uniform first. Often the items are in very good condition still and also very cheap!

Aren't they just?!! Wish I had known about the school's second-hand uniform shop a year ago, before getting him kitted out with all new things. I'll definitely be sourcing as much of his uniform as possible from there in the future - and another bonus is that all profits will get ploughed back into the school. (As it is, the uniform items are only available new from one small shop in the middle of the town centre, maybe it's just me but I find these kinds of establishments quite often come with an unspoken set of rules for customers to follow and a patronising attitude... If I can get away without adding too much to their profits, all the better!).

Thank you for your suggestion.

jrtfan

jackyann wrote: »

Not all John Lewis shops have a good haberdashery department.
Try the big haby sites: Kleins, myfabric.co.uk, sewing on-line.com (put elbow patches into the site search engine)

Just a warning on the copydex - it tends to pull away after awhile. I would sew them on

Another useful suggestion, thank you!

As it's quite important to get as close a colour match as possible, I don't suppose you'd know offhand would you please, if sites such as these can send out fabric samples before a customer commits to buying? Just wondering if any sites would come with particular recommendation for this particular service? Thanks again.