Flightsuit Repair Advice Needed

[wan2doit 6]

My Vertical suit had 10" long grippers oriented vertically in the area of my shoulder blades.

I was using a seam ripper to remove them. I'm not a seamstress and was using ripper for 1st time. Man does Vertical sew the hell out of these things.

Near the upper end of one in the backstitch (and I mean heavily reinforced :))reinforced area I caused a slice thru the suit material,

The cut looks like a "V" 3/4 inch X 3/4 inch with an included angle of maybe 80 degrees - kind of looks like an arrow point pointing up near the lower end of the reinforced area at the top of the right shoulder gripper.

Question - could a average seamstress that isn't a skydiving equipment specialist be capable of repairing this properly using standard sewing techniques?

Question - Would special thread be in order?

Question - Would special material be required on the inside to sew the repair material to so as to close the remaining flap from the damage?

I'm in Miami/Hialeah if anyone can recommend a repair person on this. Just as soon keep the repair in the community even if I'm only a wannabe tunnel rat. :)

[wolfriverjoe 1,353]

Yes. I'd personally do a double sided patch. One patch on the inside, one on the outside, sewing the hole between them. Probably overkill, but that wind has some power to it.

Not really. I would suggest E-thread, which translates to #69 Upholstery thread for "normal" tailors.

Again, not really. You want something as close as possible to what you are patching. One idea is to get in touch with Vertical and see if they could send you a small piece or two to use as a patch. Then you'd know it was the same stuff.

The one issue you might face is that a normal tailor/seamstress may not understand how strong you need it to be.
You commented on how well it was sewn ('sews the hell out of these things"). There's a reason for that.

If you are in Miami, you probably have a lot of sailboat places nearby. Those guys know how to sew strong stuff. You might try one of them.

Otherwise, ask around at the tunnel. See who repairs their stuff.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[wan2doit 6]

Thanks wolfriverjoe (nice name) for that thorough detailed advise.

Yep Vertical builds battleship quality into their product - the stitches pulled so tight and below the surface of the heavy grip reinforcement fabric made it surprisingly difficult for a newb to deal with - wish I left it alone now - but Oh Well.

Another issue I noticed is that now all the ?thousands? of needle holes are noticeable - so I ask - Would a large patch covering the entire area between the shoulder blades12X12 would probably suffice so as to prevent all the tiny holes from facilitating unwanted entry of air from prematurely deteriorating the suit?