How to Make a Girl Scout Patch Bag
Here's some easy instructions on how to make this Pinterest idea a reality!
Step 1:
- Get your old Girl Scout sash or vest from your mom, dad, or person who cares enough about you to hold on to your old stuff from childhood.
- Take care to cut the threads that your beloved person spent hours painstakingly sewing to said sash/vest, while thinking about how much he/she/they love you. Because there are fewer better displays of true love than someone hand=sewing patches on to a piece of synthetic fabric for you.
Step 2:
- Find a suitable bag on which to re-sew the badges. I opted for a canvas messenger bag, because I liked the aesthetic and it provided a great surface to display the patches. If you want something rustic, try your local military surplus. I went with Amazon, and got this one.
Step 3:
- When bag arrives, think, "Oh wow, this is the perfect size, but it is WAY TOO new looking." Ask yourself, "How do I distress it a little?" Google ideas until you land on something cool, like this tea dying how-to.
- Take a couple hours on a Saturday and dye the bag. Leave it to dry in your basement for three weeks, because you have a life, you know.
Step 4:
- Reclaim the bag from the basement, which is now adequately dry, and lay out patches for an hour or so until you find a configuration that works for you. Take a photo with your phone of your masterpiece.
- Remove the patches and grab a bunch of safety pins. Oversized ones are best. One at a time, pin your patches to your vest to match the photo you took of your layout.
Step 5:
- Take 2-5 month to actually sew said patches to your bag. It's a horrible, painstaking, evil process that may or may not involve blood, sweat and tears. Literally. But seriously take your time. If you start hating it and life, stop for a while. You are on your time table here. Screw Pinterest perfection pressure!
- TIP: Take the time to find a really, really, really sharp needle. It's amazing how fast it is when you have the proper tools.
- TIP 2: Also, use a thimble to push the needle through the patch and fabric. Trust me, your fingers will thank you, and you'll finally understand and appreciate what the they were/are used for. Yay history!
- TIP 3: Needle threaders are awesome.
- TIP 4: Let go of any desire to stitch those patches on perfectly. Not going to happen. Remember that no one on earth is going to look at it as closely as you, so they will not see the thread. I promise!
Step 6:
- Crap. Is that patch crooked? Look at it for at least a week, finally decide it is definitely crooked and you can't live with it. Sigh, take a deep breath, cut the threads, remove the patch and re-sew.
Step 7:
- Admire your work! You did it! You didn't take the easy way out and try to iron on your patches. You took the time to hand-sew them all on. You don't have to worry that they'll fall off randomly at the grocery store.
- Share your work with friends and family online! Be proud! But don't try to Martha Stewart it up, like you are some crafting master. I am definitely not. Because it isn't about being perfect. It's about being you. Have fun!