Sewing on Girl Guide badges, aaargh!!

You can buy sticky velcro but whether it would work, I don't know.

At the bottom of my sewing box are some badges, probably gymnastics and swimming badges, which never got sewn on; they must be 40 years old

Isn't there a Sewing Expert badge which can be earned by sewing on badges?

I had this problem a little while ago sewing on Beavers badges - which seem to be designed to be as awkward to sew as possible. I resorted to fabric glue which is sold by The Scout Store online - as far as I know, the badges are still in place

eddiecat78

I had this problem a little while ago sewing on Beavers badges - which seem to be designed to be as awkward to sew as possible. I resorted to fabric glue which is sold by The Scout Store online - as far as I know, the badges are still in place

Fabric glue sounds good! Will investigate. Younger Gdd has recently started Beavers, so I dare say there will be more badge-sewing wanted soon.

Allira

Isn't there a Sewing Expert badge which can be earned by sewing on badges?

I dare say, but honestly, the thickness of the fabric made it a major effort even for a seasoned sewer like me. 🙁

Yes, the embroidered badges are quite robust when it comes to sewing them on! From experience, any iron-on badges don’t stay put very long and still require stitching. Also, fabric glue doesn’t always wash well and for any scouting associated activities I would not advocate using it.
Perhaps I should start a business……..sewing on badges……..err NO!

Oh don't - I am useless at sewing anyway, but I always get landed with sewing on my GS's badges, first for Beavers and now Cubs. I know just what you mean - some are really thick and hard to sew.

Try using a needle designed for handsewing leather or suede if the jacket is that thick.

And the whole idea of those badges was the girl guides and boy scouts should LEARN to sew them on themselves!

AuntieE

Try using a needle designed for handsewing leather or suede if the jacket is that thick.

And the whole idea of those badges was the girl guides and boy scouts should LEARN to sew them on themselves!

Yes, but the fabrics used to be just cotton or similar, and now there are two layers - at least on Gdd’s jacket - a fleecy synthetic under-layer, with with a smooth, rubbery-feeling one on top.

AuntieE

Try using a needle designed for handsewing leather or suede if the jacket is that thick.

And the whole idea of those badges was the girl guides and boy scouts should LEARN to sew them on themselves!

Be mindful with leather needles……..some have an elongated triangular shank with sharpened edges……..just right for making unintentional holes on fabric or even cutting finger!

It’s my job to sew on my GD’s cub badges, I use a needle designed for leather, the badges are so thick nothing else goes through without too much effort.

Sounds like your granddaughter takes after her mother.😂
I take after my father, his family were tailors, he wasn’t but it must have been there in the genes! I sewed mine on myself, no use asking mum!

The Beavers badges are dreadful - different shapes, some of which have to interlock. And they all have different coloured borders so you can't use the same thread for all of them. I suspect they were designed by someone who had never tried sewing one on.
The sweatshirts aren't often washed and the glue works well

Surely the first badge you can get should be the sewing on badge badge.

I used a very strong thimble on my granddaughter's badges. Also found it easier if I sewed just inside the edging rim in a coordinating colour. Also found a large glass of wine helped!!

At the risk of sounding extremely negative, these precious little badges which seem so important when you’re young, are just tossed aside when the child grows up.

How many of us grans on the DeCluttering thread speak sadly about cub and brownie jumpers, badges lovingly sewn on and preserved, and our AC are just not interested in keeping them.

When our son started boarding school, I sewed about 100 tapes on his uniform, home clothes, sports kit etc.

It was not my favourite task.

Witzend

Allira

Isn't there a Sewing Expert badge which can be earned by sewing on badges?

I dare say, but honestly, the thickness of the fabric made it a major effort even for a seasoned sewer like me. 🙁

Thimble?!

Sago

When our son started boarding school, I sewed about 100 tapes on his uniform, home clothes, sports kit etc.

It was not my favourite task.

Oh, those Cash's name tapes.

I still have little bundles of them for the DC and DGC.
I used to order them with one child's name at the beginning, then surname, then other DD' name at the end, fold under as appropriate. Same for the DGD.
DS had his own in blue. 😁

I couldn’t get away with that as there was a school number too😬.
So even when son 1’s stuff was handed down I had to put a new tag in.

Sago

When our son started boarding school, I sewed about 100 tapes on his uniform, home clothes, sports kit etc.

It was not my favourite task.

I had to do this recently when my mother went into a care home. Absolutely everything needed to be labelled.

Then I discovered that if I hadn't bothered, they would simply have put numbered 'tags' on everything (button-sized disks). In fact, I discovered that just before I dealt with her socks ,so those all have the tags on instead. That saved me a good few hours' work!

I have had a lot of experienced of hand sewing over the years, but even I found the woven labels a nightmare to sew through, even though they don't feel particularly thick.

I have sewn those beavers badges on my grandson’s top and it’s a terrible job trying to get them straight down the arm, my son in law does a better job than me, but he works away a lot and my daughter would just give up.