I love that my son Buddy enjoys scouting.  He learns so many great skills, spends quality time with his Dad, and gets a chance to observe and model his behavior after some really great teenage boys.

What I don’t like, have always dreaded in fact, was sewing on the patches when he went up a rank or received an award. The patches are thick and awkward, difficult to pin, and if you aren’t careful they can shift around when you are sewing them.  You don’t want to have your kid the only one with crooked, off center patches!  Embarrassing.  And don’t even talk to me about sewing patches on pockets–what a pain!  If you aren’t careful you just wind up sewing the pocket closed when you attach the patch. . .

Of course I could just pay someone else to sew them on. . . if I wanted to spend $4-$10 per patch at a tailor or seamstresses.  Nope, that’s not happening.

Two things completely changed my attitude about sewing on patches.

First was when a friend’s daughter gave me a tip.  A brilliant, brilliant tip!  I was talking about putting patches on jeans, and how difficult it was to pin them on, and Titi told me that she just uses a kids washable glue stick to attach the patch.

BINGO!

I could use a glue stick to attach the patches, then they’d stay in place easily.  No more shifting patches or attempts at pinning through the thick layers.

The second was when I was grumbling about the whole patch on a pocket issue at a scout event.  One of the other moms, Jill, said she just puts a lid inside the pocket.  She pointed out that it not only keeps you from sewing the pocket together, but it gives you something to “bounce” the needle off of and bring it back up through the fabric so that you don’t have to try to fit your hand inside there.

So here we go:

How to sew on patches the easy way.

1. Assemble your tools. You will need a seam ripper (to remove the old patch), a glue stick, needle, thimble, and thread to match the border of your patch.

2.  Use your seam ripper to remove the old patch.  Cuss extensively a fluently if someone has used that horrible glue to stick patches on the uniform previously.

3. Put a nice thick layer of washable glue onto the back of the patch.  Remember–this will wash out the first time you launder the shirt.

4.  Firmly press the patch in place for a few moments, and then leave to dry for 20 minutes or so.

5.  If sewing onto a pocket, slip a lid inside that fills the pocket.

6.  Thread your needle and tie a knot on the end.  Pull back the edge of your patch and take a small stitch underneath it.

7. The small stitch hides your knot  under the patch.

8.  Stitch around the patch, using the lid inside the pocket to ensure you are only sewing through the top layer of the pocket.  Use the thimble to help push the needle through the thick patch.

See, that was easy!  Of course it is much easier to do small projects like this if you have either made your own basic mending kit, or picked up a premade sewing kit.

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