Any helpful hints for sewing on Federal shoulder boards? Besides the obvious, "get someone to do it for you."

Do you want them afixed "permanently", or easily removed for different rank impressions?

Grump,

Catch the edge of the board and sew it on the shoulder of your jacket/frock coat using a whip stitch. The hard part is getting it correctly located at exact right place. I put on my Federal Sack Coat and my wife marked the correct location of the boards with chalk.

So, how did you screw up and get an officer's slot? I always thought you had more sense.  

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flattop32355 wrote : Do you want them afixed "permanently", or easily removed for different rank impressions?

Interchangeable. As much as posssible.

After the first couple of adventures in officerhood, I removed the interior stiffeners from mine (pasteboard in the S&S capt's, plastic in the Jarnie lt's)and that made it a little easier.  A friend of mine has done the same, and actually folds out the fabric covering from the bottom, trims it, and runs the stitches through that rather than the edge of the straps themselves.

For location, my wife marks the right spots with pins and then I baste them on.  I tried to get her to do the sewing but we've been together 33 years and there's nothing I can offer her that she couldn't get from me anyway.  

Generally I align the rear edge with the seam across the shoulders and try to have them a uniform distance in at the start.

Looking at the LOC photos you see some interesting variations in how close they were to the shoulders.

You also see a certain percentage of officers with subdued or missing straps.  Apparently this practice came in well before the General Order allowing it, which I think dates to '64.  Anyway, it makes the job a lot easier.

The Word IS Velcro

Just kidding..I do know a couple people who have their shoulder straps put on with little hook and eyes. These are the more experienced fellows who go from a Lt at one event to a Colonel at the next.

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Marc wrote : These are the more experienced fellows who go from a Lt at one event to a Colonel at the next.

Marc,

The really experienced fellows figure out how to go from Colonel to Private from one event to the next and in two weeks time!  

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Bill wrote :   Marc, The really experienced fellows figure out how to go from Colonel to Private from one event to the next and in two weeks time!

I have a hard enough time going from sgt to private and back to cpl   The only time I am an officer is when I am an asst surgeon

I've seen more than a couple pictures of original federal officer garments in private collections that utilized hooks on the boards that fastened into  "eyes" formed by sewing two grommets on each end of the material the board was to be fastened to.  The grommets were less than 1/8 inch wide (tiny circles sewed with buttonhole stiches).  

I'm trying to remember where I saw it but I remember seeing some original shoulder boards with a string run through either end and small holes sewn buttonhole style in the shoulders of the coats where they would be tied on. Of course the hook and eye is also quite popular but there is always the risk of loss.