Club Obi Wan

I saw this topic mentioned briefly in some other threads and wanted to touch on it again. I own a horsehide Wested on which the sleeve seams do not match up to the seems that come up on the sides.

I read that a number of Westeds do not have matching sleeve and side seams.

Now is this the general case with Westeds, or are some sewn better than others? I hadn't really noticed on mine till I read about it here and checked. I'd prefer if they met, like on other leather jacket makes.

Any known reason why they are put together like this?

Garzo, I just checked on the Lasmbskin Wested that I have now, it's from about 1999.. the sleeves seems do not match up with the sides either, but my opinion is that that is not some kind of defect at all, I believe it's just the way the jackets were originally made. There has been some mention of this lately and I think it's inaccurate for that seem to line up. I noticed just today that and old Expedition jacket from Gibson & Barnes was the same way (seems did not match up) and we know that those patterns were copied from a screen used stunt jacket. Some complain that it causes the seem to lay high on the forearm, That may be true to some extent but certainly has never bothered me personally, just adds character to the look IMHO.

Doug C

Oh, I just thought of something else - I believe that the jackets that have those seems lined up are probably the US Wings jackets that everyone has been buying lately (myself included). Because if you look at their jackets back panel, you'll notice that the seem on the back of the sleeve consistantly line up with the yolk seem, where as the Wested are either above it or below it (most the time). I think it's a manufacturing short-cut that they do.."just make the sleeve seems line up to the back yolk seem and torso side seem." This is just my opinion and heck it may be harder to make that happen for all I know.

Doug C

Looking back down the threads here I noticed the fashion swings from one way to another. Sometimes asking for the sleeve seams align with the yoke other times for to be just under. In theory a "high" Raiders yoke should be above the arm seam.

On the Raiders screen jackets it has beens shown that, at least on some of them, the arm seam is about an inch below the yoke. On the TOD it's debatable.

On recent Westeds they have made a concerted effort to line up all the seams: the yoke, the sleeves the back panel and the armholes (as requested by members here). On thicker leathers like the cowhide, this was a difficult proposition as you ended up with a very thick join with all those layers of leather on top of one another (ref: Gerry circa early 2006) so those heavier leather jackets may not have them all lined up.

Now the trend has moved to requesting the arm seams below the yoke and the yoke higher... they have not yet moved back to doing this as standard. Probably still confused as to why we want to change it again!

Doug,

I agree with you. I was curious after reading comments on the boards but after checking out my jacket, I see that it's not at all a defect but just the way it's made.

On my jacket, the back sleeve seam does line up perfeclty with the yoke seam on the back. The sleeves are made of two parts of leather and it looks like they are sewn together on both sides of the sleeve at the half-way points, which makes sense.

So while the back seam lines up with the back yoke, directly on the opposite side of the sleeve, the seam does not line up with the side seam of the jacket. If it did, the two sleeve parts would have to be of different sizes, and they are not, they are equal halves.

I guess if the seams lined up on the inside, they would have to be off on the back.

The back sleeve seam on my U.S. Wings lines up perfectly with the yoke on the back... The other seam lines up perfectly with the side seam... It can be done...

If you look closely at the pics that Rundquist posted of the Expedition, you will see that while the seams are offset like the Wested, they do not ride the forearms... viewtopic.php?t=21284

I looked through all of my jackets, and did find a couple with offset seams like the Wested... Unlike the Wested, the seams manage to remain hidden on those jackets while wearing.

If many people do not mind seams that ride almost on the tops of their forearms.... Hey... Whatever floats their boat...

Personally, I don't care for it.... My wife even said it looks like a 2nds to her when I have it on because of those seams...

Yea, but Indy is supposed to look like a Factory Second himself..which is why this works for me

Doug C

The offset sleeve seams are the original design. It is more difficult to assemble. Most mass-produced clothing aligns the seams so that the sleeve seam and side seam are sewn all at once. It's much easier that way.

The offset sleeve seams provide a better fitting sleeve, as it provides the sleeve with a natural curve.

[quote="Technonut"]The back sleeve seam on my U.S. Wings lines up perfectly with the yoke on the back... The other seam lines up perfectly with the side seam.

As I mentioned on another thread, my USW Indy inner sleeve seams are offset about 4 inches in front of the jacket's side seam The outer seam is adjacent to the yoke,or top of the back panel's seam as seen on most manufacturers coats. Apparently there are two styles of sleeve construction to the USW Indy's. I bought mine in 1/07 and is a USA manufactured jacket, not the clearance import.

raider 57