Description
Collar tabs with white stripes (mod. 1935) — for field uniform of the Wehrmacht (Heer) infantry. 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 price is for a couple of collar tabs (kit for one jacket).
These BeVo collar tabs (woven) are the total copy of the originals. 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.
Shades of color in the photo may differ slightly from the color on the product. The original tabs also differed in shades. Collar tabs are sold as a textile tape in one or two pieces (as seen in the product photo). Dark-green cloth base, if needed, can be purchased separately in our store. Tucking, settling and sewing the 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.
