Sewing

[scoutmom 10]

ExperiencedUniforms,

 

I take exception to your statement that I haven't been taught proper scouting. Do you know how many shirts my son has already out-grown that I have donated to my Pack? No, you don't. Not that it's any of your business, but, I intend to take this shirt and frame it as a momento of his Cub Scout career. You have no idea how much or how little I have contributed to both my local Pack and to my Council. So please, keep your judgement calls to yourself.

 

BTW, it was my den (at my suggestion)that built a "Uniform box" for the Pack, and my son's too small shirt was the first one in it.

[ExperiencedUniforms 10]

Dear Scoutmom:

 

I apologize if I offended you. It definitely was not my intent. The last statement was intended as humor. Please remember that as Scouters, we are here for the fun of it. It is difficult to read the intonation in messages on posting boards. It is impossible to see that I was smiling when I wrote it. The 8) is an emoticon that indicates I am smiling.

 

When I read E-mail or Internet bulletin board postings, I try to follow a bit of advice I was given years ago; Always look for the best intent. I try to focus on the positive aspect of the message, and read the negative as mis-communication.

 

You are absolutely right. I don't know anything about you. All I had to go by was "I don't really care what it does to the shirt." Can you see how I might mis-interpret that statement? I tried to Do My Best to communicate that the first boy to wear a uniform is not always the last. I guess that I missed the mark. I was taught that as a Scout, we are all friends. I overstepped my bounds to think that you would read my message as humor.

 

Thank you for donating your out-grown uniforms to your unit. I appreciate it very much. Personally, I have repaired, mended, cut the sleeves off of, replaced front pockets, and spent hours trying to remove glue residue from shirts that would be perfect otherwise. My intent is to inform that glue and/or iron-on patches ruin the material underneath. If it is used on patches that will be on the shirt forever; no problem. If it is used for rank or temporary patches, it leaves residue.

 

Thank you for your service to youth.

 

Keep on Scoutin' -ora

[scoutmom 10]

Experienced Uniforms,

 

I apologize for being overly sensitive to your remarks, but I just came off a disaster of a Family Camping Weekend and I've been feeling very un-appreciated. (But that's another post - please check it out under General Topics - I's appreciate your comments)

 

You are right that you can not gain a person's inflection from the written word. I often hear condesention and superiority in some of the posts I read, although that may not be the intention. And I do know what an emoticon is, but I took yours as being smug. Not your intention, my interpretation.

[harv 10]

Like many men, I have never learned to sew. And even though my wife took a sewing class in high school, I don't think she's touched a needle and thread since then. My son was awarded the Bobcat rank in cub scouts a couple of months ago and we still haven't mangaged to get that patch on his shirt.

 

So here's my question: If I wanted to try sewing the patch on his shirt, how would I go about it? What stitch should I use? Are there any web sites for people like me who need a step-by-step to learn to sew a patch onto a shirt?

 

Thanks

[OldGreyEagle 5]

Ask at your scout store if there is a seamstress who does uniforms for a fee. I found one who is committee chair of another troop. She can put on patches in the twinkle of an eye and they are always perfect. Look for these professional patchers, they are worth it

[ExperiencedUniforms 10]

Hi Harv:

 

Congratulations on your son's achievement. Sewing is not as hard as it is made out to be. The quickest way is to use a machine. They are fairly easy to use, you might register for a class at your local adult-ed training school. You can pick one up at a garage sale for under 30 bucks sometimes.

 

If you don't have the time or don't want a machine, the whip stitch is the easiest way I've found to apply patches to cloth. You will need a medium sewing needle, thread, scissors, and a thimble is helpful. Begin by threading the needle with about 24 inches of thread. This will give you 12 inches on either side of the needle. Tie an overhand knot in the loose ends of the thread opposite the needle. Place the patch on the cloth and pin (or staple) it in place. Push the needle from the back of the shirt through the cloth and the patch. Gently pull the thread through the cloth until the knot is touching the cloth. Bring the needle around the edge of the patch and back through the cloth. Gently pull the thread tight. Place the point of the needle about 1/8 of an inch away from the first stitch along the edge of the patch, and repeat the process until you have circled the patch once. Be very careful to avoid knoting the thread as you sew; try to keep the thread taught. If you run out of thread before you are finished, tie an overhand knot in the thread as close to the material as possible, and then cut the thread. Cut an additional 24 inches of thread, rethread the needle, and continue until you have circled the patch. Tie off, and then cut the thread. I've created a crude drawing and posted it at http://www.geocities.com/o_sheffler/eux/sewing.gif

 

Remove your pins (or staples) and you are set.

 

You don't need many stitches to hold the patch on the uniform. as little as six stitches per inch will keep the patch in place for the amount of time your son will be wearing the blue shirt. I have seen bobcat badges last four years with only the four corners tacked down. I am sure that the shirt never saw the inside of a washing machine, however .

 

It would be double-good if you can teach your son to do his own patch-sewing. Good luck.

 

Keep on Scoutin ora

[yaworski 10]

Experienced Uniforms gives some good advice. I tried looking at his picture but I all I got was a notice that the page was unavailable.

 

I was taught to sew patches on uniforms by my mother who learned to do it during the Big One. :-) She was also the only person that I knew who could sew a baseball cover back on.

 

Experienced Uniforms is right when he says that sewing is not as hard as it is made out to be. Tailoring is difficult but sewing isn't. Once I have a patch in place, it only takes about five minutes to sew it down. Sometimes getting a patch placed properly takes longer than that (t-squares, ruleres, etc. :-)

 

 

I think that you can get by with even fewer than six stiches per inch depending on the patch and application. When I'm in a big hurry (like when I was putting a zillion patches on my daughter's Girl Scout uniform the night before a ceremony) I might only put three or four stitches per inch. I have yet to have a patch fall off or come loose.

 

When you "Bring the needle around the edge of the patch and back through the cloth" be sure to put the needle into the cloth under the patch. You don't have to go very far, just a few threads. Why? If you don't, it looks like a gian spider is holding your patch to the shirt.

 

Also, where the thread crosses the border of the patch, make sure that the sewing thread and the border thread go in the same direction. If they do, the stitches almost disappear. If you go diagonally across the border, the stitch will show.

 

One last thing. Trim the patch! Many patches, such as custom unit numbers come with a border of fabric outside the stitched border. (I used to think that was called "selvage" but I was informed that "selvage" only refers to the edge of a bolt of cloth that is made to prevent raveling). Trim that extra fabric. It makes the uniform look much nicer.

 

 

[harv 10]

Thank you to ExperiencedUniforms and Yaworski for your replies. I think I feel confident enough to give it a try now.

 

By the way, I was also unable to view ExperiencedUniforms's picture at first, until I tried just going to http://www.geocities.com/o_sheffler/eux/ and then picking sewing.gif out of the file list. That worked. Good picture! I think I've got the idea now.

 

Thanks again.

[ExperiencedUniforms 10]

Hi Harv and yaworski:

 

Yaworski has some great tips about sewing. I apologize about the bad link; Yahoo has restricted the direct linking of images from their web pages. I created a sewing page with the image and the text on how to sew the patch. It can be found at:

http://www.geocities.com/o_sheffler/eux/sewing.htm

 

I've also compiled a page on how to shorten long sleeve shirts to look like the BSA style of short sleeve cuff. This info can be found at http://www.geocities.com/o_sheffler/experien3.html#shorten

 

Keep on Scoutin -- ora

[SCOUTMASTER72 10]

IN OUR TROOP WE REQUIRE THE BOYS TO SEW ALL ADVANCEMENT RANK PATCHES ON THEMSELVES. IT'S QUITE AMUSING TO SEE SO OF THE JOBS DONE. I HAVE NOTICED THAT AS THE BOY ADVANCES THE QUALITY OF THE SEWING IMPROVES. WE ALSO CHECK FOR GLUED ON PATCHES, WE MAKE A GAME OF IT.