49 pattern bd jacket

Yes, they can be converted to look very similar, but there's not enough fabric on the collar to do it totally correctly. I wear a '49patt blouse as I too cannot afford a repro', but with the collar buttoned-up to the neck, it doesn't look too bad at all. Also, don't pay over £10 for a '49patt blouse, any more is too much for one. Average price is about £8, but FnG supplies (South West Outer-London) sell them for £6.

Its possible to make one into a passable 40 pattern officers with minimum fuss.

You need to remove the pockets, iron the flat, trim them to the original size and restitch them on.

The you need to remove the fly back off the front and put in new exposed button holes and keyhole stitch them.

To be honest its a total false economy. Spearheads 40 pattern jackets are fine and around £40.

Equally a *good* repro BD will last you bloody ages and a real one as long for around £50 second hand.

I got mine nearly ten years ago for £80 s/h for jacket and trousers, perfect repros and in great nick still.

Thats about £5 a year for that jacket.

Here's a 49 pat i converted a while back but really neednet have bothered as i wore it under a leather jerkin all battle.

And worn under a jerkin (see you simply cant tell)

By all means get one but the time you'll spend converting it you'd be better employed offloading some old stuff you dont want on ebay to raise funds for one of barry lyndons £40 ones.

Worth getting one but probably more worthwhile keeping it as is.

thanks everyone,but if you bought two 49 bd jackets, and took the excess material of one, is a 37 pattern bd jacket possible?

thanks everyone,but if you bought two 49 bd jackets, and took the excess material of one, is a 37 pattern bd jacket possible?

Easily, yes. If you are doing it, make sure to get two that 'match', though. There's quite a variance in colour, depending on batch, age, how they've been stored, etc.

but again its so much hassle its not worth it.

I asked several friends who work in making clothes and have overlockers etc and they said it was a total ballache given the open cut of the 49 pat blouse.

Again, two 49 pattern blouses in anything larger than size 13 (they are quite common) is going to be about £20, hacking em about and making sure the serge weave tyoe thing is right and makng a stand and fall collar is going to take so long you'd be better off using your time to earn £40 for a repro.

Trust me, I've four of five 49 pat at home, ones mint, ones converted as above and two are used to repair other serge items as patchs

If it was an easy option i'd have done it as i'm not made of money either (in fact my one BD jacket is constantly being rebadged rather than by another)

You're also making work for yourself trying to get it to look like 37 pattern, its easier to cut holes in stuff than stitch them up seamlessly.
To make a 49 pat into a 37 (regardless of the really really difficult collar issue) you have to reface the pocket flaps and the cuffs as the 49 pat has exposed buttons on these but a concealed front fly.

Seriously use it as is as a 'counts as' cos you're *never* going to make it look correct cutting it about unless you're a tailor and in whihc case you'd probably be better off starting from scratch. BTW I have some shrunk down scans of the patterns if it helps.

Here you go £45 from Spearhead.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WW2-British-Army- ... 2|294%3A30

A lot less than the £95 you've been quoted, while these are a little softer, and thinner in the serge (arguably a good thing for many folks) they look the business and perfect for skirmishing.

could I have a look at the scans please, Its just I think I can get a 49 pattern jacket for £9.99 (sabre sales ebay account )
so its probably worth it, and if I got one of the small sizes(the ones military vendors are always trying to get rid of) then it should be ok...

Sabre aren't on ebay, are they?

well, the shop name is sabresales1944, and the seller information says:

Sabre Sales
NickHall
85 /87 Castle Road
Southsea, Hampshire
PO53AY
United Kingdom
Phone: 02392|833394
Email: sabre.sales@tiscali.co.uk

the ebay link is:

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/sabresales1944/

i talked to a friend of the wifes ,who is a seemstress, she said she could convert 49 patt, but it would be a real nightmare, time consuming and would never look 100%, it would always be a hybrid, and it would be about 35-40 quid ,even for a mate.add to that, the tenner for the 49 jacket,tenner for a donor jacket, and your more than half way to a repro..... you might aswell save the other 40 quid. ( you will end up buying a good repro anyway in the long run).

Here you go but *honestly* ask yourself, if it were that easy and looked good once done dont you think we'd advise folk to do it for jackets to skirmish in rather than saying 'just skirmish in 49 pat'?

Your funeral but scans here.

I've had a converted 49 pattern jacket in my possession, I wasn't impressed and sold it on as quick as I could. I think dieselmonkey has it now.

The way to go is repro. Simple. Converting 49 pattern is what used to be done. Now people can get repros that's what they use. They're better and make more sense economically and historically.

wow that is pretty complicated, so, I guess I should: get a 49 pat as is, and save up until I can afford a repro...

are there any 37 patten repros under £95???

Joss

Yep, again check Spearhead barry lyndon.
£45 for a repro 37 or 40 pattern jacket.

(as to complicates... thats why i said *everyone* i know who makes clothing and on the goth industrial arty scene thats quite a few said.. just buy one... as said i have several 49 pats and if it was an easy job i'd have several war pattern ones by now. The only easy convincing job you can do is a 40 pattern officers cut and even thats dodgy as 50s lapels are much smaller than 30s ones..)