Get someone else to do it 
Seriously - I had all the insignia for my British Airlanding BD (9 badges in all) done by the little Georgian tailor in my local high street for the princely sum of £12. Apart from the fact that he did it WAY better that I could ever do, it meant that I didn't spend a whole bad-tempered day stabbing my fingers with a sewing needle.
(by little, I mean it's a very small setup and by Georgian I mean he comes from a former Soviet state, not that he wears a frock coat and a powdered wig).
He also did the cuff titles on my FJ Fliegerbluse and didn't bat an eyelid about it being festooned with swastikas.
Pictures please!
Then we can tell you he's done it all wrong... 
Wow - that's proper stitch counting 
I pinned them on for him so if it's wrong then I'm to blame. Seriously though, he did things like tuck the cuff titles into the seam on the arm on the Fliegerbluse so it matched the cut...that sort of attention to detail I like very much.
(by little, I mean it's a very small setup and by Georgian I mean he comes from a former Soviet state, not that he wears a frock coat and a powdered wig).
Your posts always make me laugh!
Now if he was wearing a frock coat and wig, 
(by little, I mean it's a very small setup and by Georgian I mean he comes from a former Soviet state, not that he wears a frock coat and a powdered wig).
I just try to second-guess the advanced level of banter on this site 
And being Georgian, did he welcome you as a liberator or treat you as an invader....?
Actually, Georgia was never reached by the Germans in WWII.
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
He welcomed me as a valued customer 
Until they closed down I used to get re-enactment uniforms (which have to be bang on) stitched at the tailors round the corner for me (very cheap too). Now i do it myself or Sian does it for me as she actually likes sewing.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
As with so much in life, it's a case of "know your limitations". I'm cack at sewing and so is the missus - plus I can feel good about contributing to the local economy and supporting small businesses all at the same time.
Out of interest, if someone like a non-com had a battlefield promotion, presumably they would sew on the new rank insignia themselves - so crappy needlework might be a good thing sometimes, no?
As with so much in life, it's a case of "know your limitations". I'm cack at sewing and so is the missus - plus I can feel good about contributing to the local economy and supporting small businesses all at the same time.
Out of interest, if someone like a non-com had a battlefield promotion, presumably they would sew on the new rank insignia themselves - so crappy needlework might be a good thing sometimes, no?
Exactly that's my way of looking at it!
It's a wonder some of them were not sown on the right way up never mind straight anyway that's my excuse 
Free speech is expensive these days!
In my pricey-but-surprisingly-uninformative Osprey book on British battle insignia, about a quarter of the period pictures show "wrong" insignia placement.
Quite often the unit tailor would do it.
Its a soldiers responsibility to keep his own kit well maintained and repaired but ever unit had a tailor who would do it for you when possible, if he couldn't do it then you'd do it yourself or get someone who could sew to do it...
Insignia sewed on badly would be ripped off by the RSM and shoved where the sun doesn't shine!
Thats in *any* army not just the brits.
As for Osprey, their British Battledress have more than half a dozen glaring 'schoolboy errors' but it is an old text.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
I'm talking about the period photos though, not the artists impressions. Higher ranks too (although maybe the RSM didn't give them such a hard time).
No but I've seen period photos incorrectly captioned (real howlers too...).
An officer would have his batman sew them on for him.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
just a slightly interesting post, all the pics of my dad during the war showed no rank on his sleeves, but i know he made acting sgt right at the very end of the war, when i asked about this he told me a lot of front line troops took there rank off and kept it in there pockets to avoid snipers. his corporal stripes got shown when needed.
Fabic glue works for me
Paul
On Line in store and in your face
www.ai-mag.com
Now with added WWII Airsoft Appeal
A bit late but here we go:
Sergeant with arm-of-service stripe in the wrong place (should be in the middle)
Corporal with a badge that seems to be half hanging off the sleeve
Officer wearing 2 "righties" instead of a pair (look at the guy next to him).
Corporal with a badge that seems to be half hanging off the sleeve
That's probably because its on JGs/KDs and hence will be poppered on.
Sergeant with arm-of-service stripe in the wrong place (should be in the middle)
Not sure whether you're right there... it depends what the two badges above it are for...
Poppered on??? Never even heard of that. So the JG had a popper sewn into the shoulder then?
