# Gloverall duffle wood/jute toggle help



## hardline_42 (Jan 20, 2010)

Does anyone have an example of a Gloverall Duffle with wood and jute toggles? Preferably an "original Monty." I'm planning on switching from leather/horn toggles to wood/jute but I can't tell how the wood toggles are held on. There are no holes, just a groove around the diameter of the toggle that the jute wraps around. Pictures seem to show a simple half-hitch tied around the toggle, and the tail ends stitched down at regular intervals. This doesn't seem very secure to me. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.


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## firedancer (Jan 11, 2011)

That second picture seems to also suggest that the rope is actually going through a small hole near the Dado. That makes sense and would
Make the fastener very secure.


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## sbdivemaster (Nov 13, 2011)

The first pic looks like it just wraps around the toggle in the groove; second pic looks like a half-hitch tied in the groove.

Seeing as Gloverall sells replacements, they should be able to tell you how they are to be attached.

If there's no hole, I'm thinking the jute is stitched up close to the toggle, or the half hitch is locked in place with stitching. Using fine thread, you can make the stitches near invisible.


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## hardline_42 (Jan 20, 2010)

Well, I decided to just dive right in to this project and wing it as best I could. I haven't seen anyone document it anywhere on the web, so I took a few pics. Here's what I started with:









It's a standard Gloverall 512, except it's 100% wool. Oh, and it's a woman's model :redface:. It fits my size 38S frame perfectly, but the toggles are on the wrong side!

I decided to do one set of loop and toggle first, and then refine my method for the remainder. There is no hole in the wood toggles through which to pass the jute. I tried several types of secure knots to attach the toggles but all were too bulky. So, I tried the half hitch. Sure enough, the friction of the jute held very tightly, and the canted knot allowed the tail ends to sit flush against the coat but kept the toggles in a vertical orientation.

The original toggles were centered over the placket, but I wanted the wood toggles off to one side. I used the placket seam to line up the toggle and bar tacked the tail end of the jute to the coat, making sure to backstitch several times. My wife's household sewing machine did surprisingly well despite the thickness of the material. The second bar tack on the jute, closest to the toggle, was difficult because the needle screw would bind against the toggle. I had to turn the jacket the other way and squeeze ten pounds of wool under the arm of the machine.

The loop side took a little trial and error to get it to line up exactly where I needed it so the front and rear placket would line up the way I wanted. This is time to tweak the fit by altering the placement of the loops if necessary. Once I made the first bar tack, closest to the loop, (and checked to make sure it fit around the toggle) I twisted the jute a half-twist and sewed wherever the tail ends were flat/parallel again. I repeated until I got the end of the reinforced area of the placket and trimmed the ends. Voila:










Now that I knew what I was in for, I sewed all the toggles on in one shot:










Then I attached the rest of the loops, one by one. Here's a pic of the first bar tack on the loop. Make sure each loop and toggle actually close before sewing the twists.










Here's the finished product:










The job was fairly simple for anyone with baseline knowledge of sewing. A typical household sewing machine can do the job, but it's not ideal. The thickness of the wool and jute were no problem for the needle to pass through, but the feed dogs kept tangling up the bobbin thread so the top stitching looks good, but the underside is a tangled mess. I made sure to go slow and do the extra thick areas (the shoulder cape at the top toggle) by hand-turning the wheel, taking care not to let the needle bind.

This is definitely an easy upgrade to my duffle and the jute and toggles only cost about $11 shipped from Gloverall.


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## sbdivemaster (Nov 13, 2011)

Excellent! Always love the DIY photos!

I'm into the overkill, so I would probably add a couple of small stitches to each of the half hitches just to lock them down... but that's me.


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## firedancer (Jan 11, 2011)

Thanks for posting! 

When I saw your post I was thinking to myself why in the world would someone want to replace the horn toggles. I personally love them. 

But after realizing it was a Woman's coat along with seeing the finished product I am converted! 

It looks awesome!


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## hardline_42 (Jan 20, 2010)

firedancer said:


> Thanks for posting!
> 
> When I saw your post I was thinking to myself why in the world would someone want to replace the horn toggles. I personally love them.
> 
> ...


FD, the horn and leather toggles are handsome in their own way, but the wood and jute is more traditional (original naval models had toggles made from stuff found in the ships rigging boxes: tacking line and wood peg cones).



















I usually don't buy women's versions of clothes (even if it is a unisex style) because the details are always wrong but, in this case, the coat fit perfectly and the 100% wool coats are hard to find (most are a wool/polyamide blend nowadays).

As you can see in my photos, there is a button on the inside placket that corresponds to a button hole on the inside face of the outside placket. Since I had to reverse the closure (from right-over-left to left-over-right) the button had to go. I found it an odd detail for a toggle coat since the button is harder to fasten than the toggles.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Very nicely done! Count me as impressed with the personal industry you exhibited throughout each phase (the initial purchase, the design research and the recrafting) of your sartorial undertaking. :thumbs-up:


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## Doctor Damage (Feb 18, 2005)

This is outstanding stuff and I'm really proud of the original poster for making this effort and for his obviously stunning result - thanks for posting the photos!


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## hardline_42 (Jan 20, 2010)

eagle2250 said:


> Very nicely done! Count me as impressed with the personal industry you exhibited throughout each phase (the initial purchase, the design research and the recrafting) of your sartorial undertaking. :thumbs-up:





Doctor Damage said:


> This is outstanding stuff and I'm really proud of the original poster for making this effort and for his obviously stunning result - thanks for posting the photos!


Thanks, fellas. I'm no stranger to doing my own alterations, but this was a bit daunting because the toggles are front-and-center, and any mistakes would be noticeable. The next step in bringing this duffle back to its roots is getting rid of the flaps over the pockets. Should be easy enough.


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## Taken Aback (Aug 3, 2009)

Damn. This was a thread I had hoped to start myself one day (I had daydreamed about doing this to that LLB Blackwatch one, if not a Gloverall). 

42 beats me to the punch again.


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## hardline_42 (Jan 20, 2010)

Taken Aback said:


> Damn. This was a thread I had hoped to start myself one day (*I had daydreamed about doing this to that LLB Blackwatch one*, if not a Gloverall).
> 
> 42 beats me to the punch again.


Now that's something I'd like to see! Give it a shot, the wood toggles and jute are only $10.99 shipped from Gloverall, or you could source some locally, I'm sure.


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## weejunfan (Oct 7, 2012)

*Gloverall duffle coat toggles*

I have owned duffle coats with the jute toggle arrangement, and I can tell you that they do NOT hold up as well as relying on the leather counterpart. The look is appealing, but then this is a service-oriented garment -- meant to be somewhat utilitarian and rugged -- and I think the leather strapping is more useful in this regard. Just one person's thinking. I am now getting ready to buy a Gloverall on eBay, and I AGREE with the one contributor that measurements of the actual coat are more important than the size label. There does seem to be some variation in the making of these garments ... which used to boast being "hand made." Just a thought -- edward , chicago


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## hardline_42 (Jan 20, 2010)

weejunfan said:


> I have owned duffle coats with the jute toggle arrangement, and I can tell you that they do NOT hold up as well as relying on the leather counterpart. The look is appealing, but then this is a service-oriented garment -- meant to be somewhat utilitarian and rugged -- and I think the leather strapping is more useful in this regard.


Care to elaborate? The leather on the toggles felt flimsy and thin. It certainly didn't feel like it would hold up to the repetitive wear of buttoning and unbuttoning as well as its jute counterpart.


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## oxford cloth button down (Jan 1, 2012)

Hardline - This is just excellent my friend. My LE coat has black base covers where your attachment bases are not attached and are blue. I may just have to give this a try. Other than being more true to the original. The contrast is by far superior in appearance.


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## hardline_42 (Jan 20, 2010)

oxford cloth button down said:


> Hardline - This is just excellent my friend. My LE coat has black base covers where your attachment bases are not attached and are blue. I may just have to give this a try. Other than being more true to the original. The contrast is by far superior in appearance.


Thanks, Ox. I think I know what you mean about the base covers. The Gloverall actually has wool covers on the INSIDE of the placket to hide the underside of the stitching for the original leather hardware. The semi-circle stitch you see on the outside of the placket is what holds them on.

If you wanted to try it, you could probably remove the leather covers and either run a decorative stitch where the old holes are, or try to brush out the wool (the latter worked only moderately well where I removed the pocket flaps on my coat). If you try it, post some pics.

It was cold enough today for me to break it out for the season and I've gotten compliments on it already.


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## Semper Jeep (Oct 11, 2011)

Hardline - Any plans for the old leather and horn pieces you've removed? My Gloverall is many years old and could use some freshening up (and I'm actually missing a horn toggle). Let me know if you have any interest in letting them go (for a reasonable price of course).


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## hardline_42 (Jan 20, 2010)

Semper Jeep said:


> Hardline - Any plans for the old leather and horn pieces you've removed? My Gloverall is many years old and could use some freshening up (and I'm actually missing a horn toggle). Let me know if you have any interest in letting them go (for a reasonable price of course).


Aww man, I would've sent them to you for free if I had thought enough to keep them! The only ones I have are the cuff toggles because I haven't gotten around to replacing them with buttons. Would those help you at all?


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## Semper Jeep (Oct 11, 2011)

hardline_42 said:


> Aww man, I would've sent them to you for free if I had thought enough to keep them! The only ones I have are the cuff toggles because I haven't gotten around to replacing them with buttons. Would those help you at all?


Let me check the coat this evening and get back to you. I believe it is actually one of the cuff toggles that I am missing.


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## oxford cloth button down (Jan 1, 2012)

hardline_42 said:


> Thanks, Ox. I think I know what you mean about the base covers. The Gloverall actually has wool covers on the INSIDE of the placket to hide the underside of the stitching for the original leather hardware. The semi-circle stitch you see on the outside of the placket is what holds them on.
> 
> If you wanted to try it, you could probably remove the leather covers and either run a decorative stitch where the old holes are, or try to brush out the wool (the latter worked only moderately well where I removed the pocket flaps on my coat). If you try it, post some pics.
> 
> It was cold enough today for me to break it out for the season and I've gotten compliments on it already.


I am glad that you understood my confusing comment. I have been thinking more and more about attempting this. I might even replace the black with tan leather. I just love the combo of tan and navy on this jacket.


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