Description
Collar tabs with white stripes (mod. 1935) — for field uniform of the Wehrmacht (Heer) Panzerwaffe (tank units). Very often were sewn not onto the collar, but on a rectangular piece of collar cloth (dark green), which then was attached to the collar with direct machine stiching. The base is beige, the central stripe is dark green, the thin stripes (the color of the military branch, Waffenfarbe) are light green.
The color of thin stripes is a subject of controversy among reenactors. Therefore, we have divided them into shades and offer you to choose in the photo below.
Choose a color option (shade) that is available in stock next to the Add to cart button. If some option is not there, then it is sold out. Price for a pair of collar tabs (set for one jacket). The color shades in the photo may differ slightly from the color on the product, since the photo can not fully convey the shades. The original buttonholes also varied in shades.
These BeVo collar tabs (woven) copy the original ones not only externally, but also according to the production method. Original "Litzen" were made in the form of a tape, and before sewing they were cut and bent in a special way to get "reels". The market offers collar tabs made on modern equipment from a thin thread and already cut in the form of reels. Although it is easier to sew such, but they will never give an authentic look like our collar tabs! They will look like paper, with minor errors in the pattern of weaving and eventually spoil the whole jacket.
Collar tabs are sold in the form of a textile ribbon in one or two pieces (as can be seen in the product photo). The substrate, if you need it, can be purchased separately in our store. Turning up, laying and sewing collar tabs is on the buyer.
How to sew the collar tabs?
1. Form the reels. Use chalk, a sharp piece of soap (or eventually, a pencil) to draw the lines along which the edges of the collar tabs will be bent. Cut the excess at the edges with a margin of 5 mm from the fold line. The threads along the tabs also need to be cut, but not completely, so not to let them become loose. Use PVA glue and iron to form the reels. Coat the reverse sides with the PVA (try to pour the glue as little as possible, so it did't leak on the front side or edges), and use iron for bending.
Don't forget that the tabs are mirror-image! Their edges are bent in different directions. Colored strips serve as a guide for bending.
2. When the tabs ares formed, they are to be sewn. First, apply them to the collar and place evenly. Approximately 1 cm from the edges of the collar and parallel to these edges. After that fix the tabs with a bright thread (which is then removed) or glue. After that start to sew them straight machine stitching on the long sides, using grey or beige thread. Sew the remaining parts with tiny stitches over the edge. The thread is placed along the strips on the buttonhole, so the stitches will be invisible and neat.
In the pre-war years the tabs were folded into "coils" by professionals in factories and, most likely, by templates, so their shape and accurate stiching was simply amazing. When they began to sew the collar tabs directly to collars (approximately from 1939), the quality of sewing fell slightly. And when they started to do it using a machine (somewhen in 1941), it seems, they did not alreiady think about the beauty, just put them straight.
Historical reference.
Collar tabs on a dark green background with stripes in a branch colour (Waffenfarbe - "color of weapon") introduced by order of September 10, 1935 (from 1935 to 1939 the collars were dark green).
It was common for the German army and military industry to use already produced parts completely out, even after the official replacement was issued. This rule could be traced in everything, it did't pass the collar tabs too. After the introduction of common collar tabs they kept sewing previous model of tabs with colored stripes, and this lasted mass until 1940 (judging by photos and original uniform pieces, that we can study today).
Inexperienced reenactors often don't know this historical fact and are guided by a simplified scheme: jacket 1940 means eagle and tabs 1940. That's is correct in general, but not typical for the selected period.
The branch color for the Jäger was officially called Hellgrün or light green. It is a normal green color. The study of the original samples shows that the Jäger insignia (including all kinds of embroidery on the shoulder straps) produced in different shades of green (from normal to light green). At times, insignia of the different shades of green was present in the same uniform.
New branch color appeared in 1943 for the motorized infantry (Panzergrenadiere), and this color was just light green (under the official name of Wiesengrün — meadow green). Disputes, what shade is right for Jäger, still keeps nowdays...
