I’ve been preparing to lead a sewing meeting for Guides and the plan is to make sewing kits. While there are plenty of really cute patterns for sewing books and needle books, there aren’t many that a Guide age girl can do without a sewing machine – or that are suitable for me to teach (and that’s key) to a group. I’m also looking for projects that we can do with Brownies in January or February.
UPDATE – see what we actually did in Sewing Books Part 2
The Guide Needlework Badge requires: Sew a button, sew a hem, mend a seam, demonstrate the knit and purl stitch, and embroider three stitches. All by hand. My two inspirations for this are:
- Matchbook Needle Book from Make it Do. As presented it is a good project for Brownies to do, but it could be souped up with a jewelry sized baggie with some buttons, maybe some thread in it.
- Martha Stewart Sewing Book – We did something like this (using this idea as our starting point) two years ago. We’ll do it again.
Here’s the plan for Guides:
6:30 Arrival and regular meeting actvities
7:00 – Needleworker Badge with Brown Owl Cara. Round Robin: 24 Girls split into 4 teams – Rotate through the stations
- 7:00 – Intro our task – Break into 4 teams (Patrols?), demonstrate Active Transition Activity (not sure what that is yet, but an active transition activity is going to help the girls focus – any suggestions?). Distribute pre-made kits (contents TBD)
- 7:05 Station 1 – Sew a button on the cover of the sewing book. Assemble envelope/baggie of spare buttons. Pre-thread a few sewing needles with common colours for your needle book.
- 7:25 Station 2 – Embroider – Blanket stitch to bind the sewing book. Decorate the cover – lazy daisy with a french knot in the middle?? (The last time I embroidered I think I was 8 and I remember sewing my hoop to my skirt). Someone else will be leading this part.
Supplies – Embroidery Floss, embroidery needles, Big Bulldog Clips to keep the fold in place, scissors, and patience. - 7:45 Station 3 – Sew your sewing badge to your badge sash. The badge task is to hem and mend, but this has actual immediate value. We’ll also have some pants on hand to mend.
Supplies: Badges, Easy thread needles, blue thread, thread snips, old pair of pants with fallen hem and maybe a split seam or two, pants hanger with clips that hang from waiste. Maybe some thimbles, hand wipes, and band aids. - 8:05 Station 4 – Demonstrate the knit and purl stitches. I’m either going to suggest using Knitting Forks OR I will pre-cast on 24 small bracelet sized projects. I both LOVE and am TERRIFIED of the prospect of teaching Knitting to Guides. Maybe Crochet will be better. I’m conflicted.
8:25 – Closing
To you Guide Guiders out there, how do you think this will go? We’ll have four Guiders on hand and each station can be done in any order without getting in the way of another task. And how “letter of the law” do Guides get in their meetings? We’ll adapt this meeting for Brownies in January/February. I haven’t forgotten about Brownies.
Your feedback is welcome. I lead the session on November 14. (and I’ll be updating this as we adjust our plans – and after the 14th, I’ll tell you how it actually went).
Hi! Just found your blog while looking for a Brownie promise craft! I love this meeting plan, and totally hear you on the knitting with Guides. I actually skipped that part when my daughter worked on the Needlework badge, and chose a plastic canvas craft instead. Mostly because my daughter is left handed though. You’ll have to let us know how the knitting goes!
I’m very interested in how this meeting goes! I’d love to use it with our girls.
The knitting scares me (I’ve never learned) but I’m sure we can find someone who can help teach it. 🙂
I’ve actually got a different plan in the works now – and a good one for knitting too. I’ll keep you posted.