Sewing Badge Research

K has expressed interest in learning to sew more and in potentially sharing that knowledge with others in her troop and maybe even younger girl scouts. As a result I have been looking into various sewing badge requirements, patch programs and project ideas to find things she might want to try. I could't find any official "sewing" badge at the Junior Level in the new post-2011 badge structure. I'm sure I'll rant about how much I dislike the marketing and branding of this new badge structure but not now. I know there are several ways to incorporate sewing projects into the badge requirements of other badges and especially into the Journeys but since her troop is working on those I'm going to stick to independent projects. Who know's, maybe when she feels more confident in her sewing skills she can help introduce the idea of a sewing related project into her troop.

There are several patch programs and some info on the retired badges like sew simple. There are also service focused programs and many great tutorials focus on beginner learning machine and/or hand sewing. Here are a few I've found:

Cupcakes and Lace. One of the local girl scout partner organizations, they offers workshops that individual girls can register for that teach sewing and crafting skills and some also meet badge requirements. This fall they are offering Junior Jeweler and Sew Simple programs. I'll be keeping an eye on the workshop list to see what's coming up.

Juliette Sews. GSNCA has a Council Own patch that helps girls learn more about sewing by hand and by machine. The link has a list of 29 requirements. Each level has to do items 1-4 and Juniors have to complete an additional 7 steps of their choosing. The patch is listed at $1.50 on the their Council Own Shop page.

Sew Simple Badge. I found a copy of the retired Sew Simple badge requirements along with other retired badges here. If I can't get her into a workshop I can always work on it at home but I'd have to track down a badge myself.

Dress a Girl Around the World offers a patch for those who take pillow cases and turn them into dresses. I stumbled across this patch on Pinterest and after some research decided that this could be a great way to combine service with the sewing. It is a program of Hope 4 Women International, an Arizona based ministry organization. "Dress a Girl Around the World provides patterns, ways to be involved and opportunities for you to deliver or to help fund the delivery of dresses to girls around the world. People from all over are forming" They sell patches on their site for $3.50.

Pinterest inspiration:

A hand stitch, cross stitch card idea

This pin is a collection of 7 simple pillowcase dress variations

Link to a Martha Stewart hand stitch felt tissue cover. I'd make changes to the size, embellishments and order of steps.

A cable keeper-A simple stitched band with button hole and button work

Sock Bunnies-up-cycle some socks and practice softie hand sewing

More advanced, a up-cycled t shirt braided rug