Making a battle vest can be hard work, but it’s also an awful lot of fun. It can feel a bit overwhelming at first, but if you follow these tips, you’ll have an excellent battle jacket in no time.
Choosing the Right Base Jacket for You
The first step is choosing a good base jacket. This is a personal decision, but here are a few tips to help you find the right one for you.
First, you need to decide if you want sleeves or no sleeves — essentially, do you want a battle vest or a battle jacket?
- No sleeves: Best for summer, though you can wear it over a hoodie during spring or autumn.
- With sleeves: Great for year-round wear, and you can patch the sleeves too, which can look absolutely awesome.
Finding a good base jacket can take time. You might have to be patient while you wait for the right one. I've had a lot of luck looking on sites like Vinted, which have been both fruitful and wallet-friendly.
If you can only find jackets with sleeves but want a vest, you can always cut the sleeves off yourself. Just be careful — it’s better to cut off too little than too much. You can always trim more later, but you can't put it back on. Cutting them yourself also gives that nice frayed look.
One thing to watch out for: if the jacket is a bit stretchy or contains elastane, you might end up with wispy, plasticky threads hanging out where you've made the cut.
If you don’t like that frayed edge look — which is common in a lot of women’s jackets — then sites like EMP have some decent base jackets that might suit you. I’ve had a few from there. I do like the quality — they’re nice and thick, and usually don’t contain elastane. Of course, it’s all down to personal preference, but I find elastane can make a jacket feel a bit cheap.
Finding the Right Patches for Your Band Jacket
Next up is finding the right patches. This will vary depending on your goals, but first and foremost, I’m going to assume you want a typical band jacket.
Now, the first thing you’ll have to get over is shipping prices. If you want a full jacket with the exact bands you love, you will spend as much on shipping as you do on patches — at least, I did on my first jacket.
- If you want band logos, you’re looking for embroidered patches — these are the classic black and white logos you see on most battle jackets.
- If you want album covers, you’re looking for woven patches. This is where the price really starts adding up. I ended up buying from about 12 different distros all over the world — the Netherlands, Germany, even Honduras — and the shipping costs stacked up fast. But the end result? More than worth it, in my opinion.
If you're sticking to band logos only, it’s much easier and cheaper. There are loads of sites with huge collections of logo patches, and buying a bunch from one or two shops can save a lot on postage. This is typically the most cost-effective way to fill a jacket.
While woven patches can be expensive, printed patches are a more affordable option. They often look similar in photos, but they don’t last as long and don’t have quite the same quality. Still, they’re a good budget-friendly way to fill out gaps — especially if you want album covers.
And if you’re after something really obscure that just doesn’t exist? Sites like Etsy have custom patch makers who can do pretty much anything.
Planning Your Layout
Once you’ve got your patches, the next thing to think about is your layout.
If you’re buying all your patches at once and doing the whole jacket in one go, this part’s easy — just lay them out in different ways until you find something you like.
But if your jacket is going to be a work in progress, you’ll want to be smart about leaving the right spaces to add new patches later — and doing it in a way that doesn’t always look half-done.
You can do this by testing the gaps — lay out other patches in the spaces to get a feel for what sizes will fit. It really helps with planning.
Some size tips:
- For woven patches, leave around 10x10cm of space.
- For band logos, aim for 10–15cm in width and around 6–7cm in height.
Make sure you take photos of all the layouts that you're considering because these have been really crucial to be able to go back to and remember what I was doing with each different project.
Sewing Your Patches On
Next, let’s talk about sewing your patches on.
First, you’ll need some tools, I’ve listed a bunch at the bottom that I use or have used. You may not need much other than a needle and thread, but there are lots of little knick-knacks and tools that can make things easier for you.
If you’re ironing them on, just keep in mind that results really vary depending on the material of your jacket. Iron-on patches can be handy, but they’re not perfect — and they’re never going to last as long as patches that are sewn on.
If you want a battle jacket that holds up long-term, it’s definitely worth learning how to sew. So here are a few sewing techniques I’ve used for my own jackets:
The Running Stitch
This is the one most people know. It’s where you come up from underneath, through both the patch and the jacket, then back down again about two to three millimetres along, just inside the border of the patch.
It’s super secure — but I’ll be honest, it’s a lot of work and takes more time.
The Overcast Stitch (My Favourite) / Whip Stitch
This is the one I use most often. You come up through just the jacket, just to the side of the patch, and then go back down through both the patch and the jacket. It’s much quicker and has the added bonus of sealing up any loose threads. If you’ve got a damaged patch edge, this stitch helps protect it and stops it from getting worse.
I can sew on a regular woven patch in about 10 minutes using this method.
If you do this stitch at a 20-35(ish) degree angle coming down across the patch, it becomes a
whip stitch, which can look pretty great in white or red onto black patches.
A Quick Tip
When using the overcast or whip stitch, I recommend starting with one or two running stitches first. That way, the knot on the back gets pulled against both the jacket and the patch — it helps keep things more secure at the start.
After that, just continue your overcast stitch. You’ll find it way easier than pushing your needle through both the jacket and the patch on every single stitch, especially on the upward motion. It’s less effort and just as sturdy.
Adding Studs
Studs and chains are a great addition to any battle jacket, but keep them for the end. There is nothing more tedious that attempting to sew around them, and if you ever lay your jacket on a desk when working on it, then the studs and chains can damage the wood (yeah, learned that one the hard way).
Toolkit:
Hand Sewing Needles - you can pick up cheap needle assortments easily.
Thread - I personally use Gutterman for all my projects these days.
Pliers - for pulling the needle through thick parts like seams or for leather jackets.
Scissors - Not only for trimming the thread but useful for tidying up loose threads on patches before application.
Tailors Tape Measure - The soft kinds that bend with clothing. Use this to make sure your back patch is central and other placements are symmetrical (if that’s what you’re going for!).
Thimble - Can be useful for long stitching sessions or for stitching through thick bits that don’t quite need pliers, but a bit too much for bare fingers. You can also get rubber thimble’s instead of the traditional metal ones. Though the protection isn’t as good, they’re far more flexible and comfortable to sew with.
Safety pins - Absolutely essential for holding patches in place before sewing.
Clothes Clips - Think of bigger washing pegs/clips. They're excellent for bunching up parts of the jacket to keep out of your way when sewing, or for keeping it secured onto a clothes hanger if you like to sew standing up (we all have our preferences!)
