I am honored to be a guest blogger on my mom's blog today. I must admit that I do not sew very often or very well. I have a lot to learn!
My older son is in Cub Scouts and has a lot of badges that he has earned over the last three years. He wanted them on a blanket instead of a vest. A few weeks ago I finally got motivated to attempt this project. My first step was to consult the web, which did have some good ideas about sewing badges (which have a plastic backing to hold the badge thread in place) onto fleece (which likes to stretch). One site recommended lowering the feed dogs (I had to learn what a feed dog was!) and sewing free hand to avoid turning the blanket around and around. I also read that I should use clear thread on the top so that it does not show and a bobbin color to match the blanket.
So I bought clear thread, blue thread and a few new needles. My first attempt, with the feed dogs down, on scrap material, was a mess. Jumbled thread everywhere. I decided to see if I could just get my machine to sew normally with the feed dogs up. That was a mess too. So I called my mom! We thought it could be that the bobbin wasn't wound evenly or that it was a tension problem. So I took all of the thread out of the machine, wound a new bobbin and started over. After adjusting the tension and working through a few more problems, I finally got a simple stitch! I was thrilled and I had not even started sewing the blanket yet. I decided to sew 'normally' with the feed dogs in place. I couldn't get a feel for the other way.
Unfortunately for my son, I learned a lot sewing his badges. This means you can see all of my learning experiences on his blanket. I learned that badges and fleece like to move. There is one patch that turned 90 degrees from where I thought I was sewing it. I didn't realize it until I was done with that badge. I started pinning the larger badges in multiple places in multiple directions in an attempt to keep everything still. The patches were so stiff that I bent many straight pins in an attempt to pin the badge in place. I also learned that even though I was using clear thread, I would (inconsistently) see the bobbin thread on the patch.
The most challenging part of the blanket was sewing the 20 or so tiny badges around a circular badge in the middle of the blanket. There were so many of them and they needed to be lined up properly so that they would all fit in the circle. But as I got going, I found it easy to hold the little badges in place and see instantly if I need to shift anything. It was a lot of starting and stopping since I was spinning the blanket around and around, but it worked!
I think that the Boy Scouts of America should have a badge for the parent who sews all of these badges onto uniforms, blankets, vests and sashes! We all deserve it! Thanks Mom for your help!
