Serious leather tears - YouLookFab Forum

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Serious leather tears

Kari

Veteran

I’ve torn a horrible hole through the sleeve of this gorgeous jacket. (I’ve felt sick over it all day.) Nordstrom didn’t sound super optimistic or knowledgeable about repairing it. I have a couple of leather repair places recommended to me locally that I’m trying to contact.

Has anyone had bad tears repaired?
What worries me is this isn’t a clean tear (edges are frayed) and it’s a thin leather-the alterations person I spoke with sounded pessimistic. Another leather specialist asked me to send it across the country before they could say whether they can do anything or not.

It’s a medium gray, not black, so not possible to match to another leather-basically, anything is going to show, it’s just a degree of how much and whether I’d be comfortable wearing it with noticeable damage.

I am so sad; I loved this jacket.

My style is not at all rough around the edges, and I don’t want a maximalist take on the jacket (I.e. I wouldn’t want to wear it with contrasting patches or anything if such a thing were possible.) I might be ok with totally replacing both sleeves in black, but that sounds expensive. I’m not sure how eager I am to wear it with a big circular tear unless they can get the edges to be very clean/minimal.

Is it worth pursuing a repair? Ideas/advice?

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38 replies

Latest reply was from Sveta

Elizabeth P

Veteran

No suggestions, just cyber sympathy. This totally sucks. Good luck! But my gut feeling isn’t a good one...

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

My only thought is turn it into a vest. I'm sorry!

SarahD8

Veteran

Oh I'm so sorry! It's such a beautiful jacket on you too, what a perfect fit.

Would you be open to a visible repair that was something short of contrasting patches? Maybe something inspired by Japanese boro or the like? I think there's a lot of interesting visible mending happening these days and it doesn't have to look "crafty."

I think the vest suggestion is a good one.

Kari

Veteran

I am kind of iffy about whether I’d like it as a vest, but I’ll thihk about it if nothing can be done. It has a very pronounced peplum in the back and I think that could look a bit odd without sleeves.

I like the look of visible mending on others, but whenever I’ve ever tried to wear garments with that style, it doesn’t feel right and they end up orphans. It’s too rough around the edges or bohemian, and I’ve always felt like I was dressing in someone else’s clothes and not very comfortable when wearing them.
Any repair would have to be relatively low-contrast for me to want to wear it. (Fancy stitching in a design? Sure. Visible patches? Probably not.)

If a repair isn’t possible, I’ll call it a loss and a very expensive mistake. I know at least one person who would take it as a craft project. I’m just hoping I don’t have to resort to a total loss.

Joyce B

Veteran

Can it be sewn and then embroidered over in a same color yarn? You would need someone who can embroider in leather though.

rachylou

Veteran

Oh no! Heartbreaking! Like when my best friend spilled his motorcycle and the first thing we both cried was ‘not the jacket!’ (Forget scrapes and bruises! Gads. Horrible children we were/are.)

I don’t think you’ll be happy with any repair that could be made, TBH...

bella

(website)

Veteran

Oh, I am very sorry to see this. It truly is a beautiful jacket.I completely understand your concern, since I, too, like my outfits polished and something of this nature would truly bother me. I can't do patches or anything of the kind.
I don't know much about this, but to me, the best possible option seems to glue it down on flat background and hope that it comes out clean. But you will probably always be able to tell that there was a tear.
How far up in the sleeve is it?
Can it be altered to a bracelet sleeve? Short sleeve?

Sal

Veteran

Oh how annoying and frustrating!!

No advice here sorry - it does sound tricky.

My only idea is sewing on a band on both arms over the top (a horizontal stripe) - in a complimentary but different colour - maybe black? But this is a wildcard suggestion and might not look right?

Sisi

Veteran

Oh, no! I know how heart-breaking it is (I ripped my favourite and very expensive Moncler puffer jacket years ago). I second Joyce B. Maybe look for a saddlery. They are generally able to work on leather.

kkards

Veteran

kari---i hate it when things like this happen....
i'm sure Seattle has specialist who create, design and repair leather clothing (even my small city does)...i'd bring it there...

Deb

Veteran

We have leather 'doctors' here in Australia who can restore all manner of leather trauma, with extremely good results. I'm sure, with some research, you can find similar repairers in the U.S.. With the right skills, I feel there is a way to meld this tear back together. Good luck!

Bijou

Veteran

I have no suggestions, but I am really sad to hear that this happened, especially to such a new jacket. Hoping that Nordstrom can come to the rescue.

Aquamarine

Veteran

Oh no! It’s a lovely jacket.

I kind of like Sal’s suggestion, adding a coordinating strip of leather to both arms. It wouldn’t even have to be that different a color. It could be subtle.

Anonymous

Can you’d srategically drape a pashmina over the hole?
Oh, I feel SO bad for you! It is such a gorgeous jacket. How did it happen?

Mary Beth (formerly LBD)

(website)

Veteran

What about salvaging embroidery from another piece, and putting it in multiple places on the jacket? I see beautiful tops at Goodwill all the time, where the top itself is faded, or the wrong size, but the embroidery is beautiful and bright and intact. If the embroidery is against a strong fabric background, a seamstress may be able to cut it out, and patch it on the jacket in a way that looks deliberate, like you purchased it that way.

Rambling Ann

(website)

Veteran

Might be able to swap the sleeves for knitted sleeves in a matching color. It would take some strategic surgery, but the mixed media thing can look polished.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Kari, I’m so sorry — I would be heartsick over this too. Same thing happened to my husband years ago with a new leather jacket. He gave it to his son, who embraced the RATE aesthetic and roughed it up further.

If you can’t have the tear mended in a very clean way somehow, the only suggestion here that really speaks to me as far as your aesthetic goes, is to see if the entire sleeves can be replaced with perhaps black or knit sleeves.

Good luck!

Joy

Veteran

I feel sick for you over this. I like Janet's solution. If your tear is fixed, it is in a position that could rip out again.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

*SOBBING*

I'm sad with you. Ask Nordies to do the best they can to fix it, and see what happens.

JAileen

Veteran

I'm so sorry. The jacket is beautiful and looked great on you. I hope one of the ideas above works.

Kari

Veteran

Nordstrom did not seem to be very knowledgeable or confident that they could do anything-It sounds like they don’t really do leather repairs. They said “we’d try our best, but...” a repair wasn’t likely to be a good one. To be frank, I didn’t feel comfortable handing the jacket over to them unless I had little other choice, because they didn’t seem to be very experienced or know much about how to repair/work with leather. That is disappointing, as I know they used to do repairs on leather boots/shoes, but perhaps they no longer do.
I’m trying to contact some recommend leather repair specialists locally to see if they have any ideas. Not feeling good about it.

Gaylene

Veteran

I think the sources you’ve consulted are being honest about what can be done from a repair perspective. Even in very skilled hands a repair like this in thin leather is going to be quite visible.

If it was my jacket and I wasn’t willing to part with it, , I’d be inclined to seek out an independent designer who works with leather whose work I admire. Working with him/her could lead to a creative solution which could incorporate the damaged area into a design feature that fits the overall aesthetic of the jacket.

I re-designed the pockets on a older leather jacket a few years ago using leather strips and piped seaming to conceal some obvious wear marks. I bought a leather needle for my sewing machine, practiced on a few leather scraps my husband had lying around, picked out the pockets from the jacket, and went to work. My DIL project turned out well.

Kari

Veteran

I agree, they are being honest based on their knowledge, but also didn’t seem to know much about working with leather or very clear on what they would do-they mentioned taping/gluing from above, which would show a lot. I’d rather see first if someone who knows leather repairs well can advise on best options (if glue from below, is that likely to hold and how badly would it show? Is that’s not a good idea, are there alternatives with same-color stitching to camouflage the damage, or outright replacing both sleeves?)
I don’t know what’s possible, but I’d prefer to consult someone who does (and can give realistic expectations about what could be done and what it would cost.)

Aida

Veteran

Kari if you can get a hold of Ann (dashielle), she's got good leatherworker contacts. Let me know if you aren't able to and I'll try to help you get in touch.

SW Ann

Veteran

Oh, Kari--so sorry to hear about your jacket. It is beautiful. I tore a sleeve on a black leather jacket many years ago, and could find no one to fix it. I finally got a glue repair job done on it (did it myself) just to get some wear out of it and because I could not find a replacement. I think many YLF ladies had great ideas (designers of custom leatherwear; knit sleeve replacement etc). I agree that gray leather may make it show more than the black on mine--it was pretty invisible and I loved the jacket so much I ignored it to wear it longer.....Good luck!

Anonymous

I hate this for you Kari. This happened to a jacket of mine several years ago - one of my cats got her claw stuck in it and ripped a tiny little triangle into the front panel of the jacket. I tried and researched everything and the only solution seemed to be gluing it to a piece of some backing cloth or another inserted between the leather and the lining. It was just "ok " . I knew it was there, and never felt good wearing the jacket again. I feel your pain.

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

Aw, Kari, I feel for you. What Lisa describes would be my guess about how it could be repaired. I imagine it might be fairly discreet, if it's not in a prominent place (e.g., if it's on the back of the sleeve, where it won't get as much notice, as say, on the front of the jacket!). Otherwise, I might go with replacing the sleeves in a matching or coordinating fabric--wool, perhaps.

K. Period.

Veteran

Ugh! I wonder if you would have any luck with a really good seamstress and a painter? I would think a seamstress could help you find a good backing fabric (maybe a light interfacing designed for leather?) to hold the pieces together and then an excellent painter could help touch up the edges with a properly matched acrylic paint. It will probably be the type of repair that only you will notice...but the tough thing is that those type of repairs sometimes feel super visible, even when they aren't.

Marilyn

Veteran

Oh, no! I feel terrible for you, Kari. Something like this would wreck me. I know.....first world problems...but still.

I have no idea what sort of "fix" can be expected but I would look for someone who specializes in leather work.

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