Sewing on Scout Patches

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I picked up a new centennial uniform shirt this summer and have only just now put together all the patches and started sewing them on.

The new unit numbers and square knots have a slick plastic backing that looks a lot like it could be ironed on. I emailed the folks at our National Supply Division:

I have recently purchased unit numeral and square knot patches - they appear to have an iron on backing. Is this correct? If so how does one iron them on? Are there other patches that have iron-on backing?

They replied

Our emblems are not iron on - the plastic backing is to keep the emblem from rolling up. You will need to sew them on or us badge magic adhesive.

Badge Magic has been around for a few years now and seems to work just fine for most folks. It seems sort of pricey to me ($8.99 for a 8 1/2 x 12 sheet).  TackyFuse looks like a promising alternative.

Hand sewing isn't all that difficult. I use masking tape to hold the patch in place, turn the uniform inside out and sew the patch on by stitching through the raised border not the patch itself.  Unit numbers and square knots don't have raised borders so I'll stitch through them or use a fabric adhesive of some kind.

BSA Insignia guide online

Scout Leader Uniform inspection PDF (shows placement of badges on the centennial uniform)

Other Uniform Inspection forms are here

My updated Square Knot Resume

Comments

[CA Scouter]

Hello Clarke,
I staple my patches on, then sew them on by hand, for the most part. After the sewing is completed, I carefully remove the staple. I never knew how to sew until I started as a Scouter and felt guilty about asking my wife to do it. I get immense pleasure out of knowing I did it myself.

A future area of growth is to get my wife to teach me how to use the machine.

The sewing came in handy when we had to replace a pack belt buckle in the Philmont backcountry and had no clip to secure the end of the waist belt. I sewed it then covered it in duct tape. Everything held the remaining 40 miles of the trip.

I encouraged my older boys to sew on their own patches. They did; the patches weren't perfect, but they did it.

[Walter Underwood]

I grew up sewing on my own scout patches, so I split that task with my wife now (she's better on the machine than I am).

The plastic-backed patches are hard to sew by hand and feel like armor plate on your uniform. I wish we had Jacquard patches like Scouts in many countries. Those are lighter and more flexible.

Time for me to get sewing -- replace that SM patch with ASM, and add a couple of knots.

[Craig Corson]

A further suggestion on unit numerals. Use very sharp scissors to trim numeral borders 'just' to the embroidered edge before using a zigzag stitch (matching thread color) on the sewing machine to "assemble" the overall numeral before applying to the shirt. Also, the numerals are sometimes not exactly the same size, and it can benefit by carefully selecting a set that are well-matched for the numeral edge height dimension.

My wife taught me how to use 'the machine' after our cubmaster, a guy who loved any/all technologies, showed up with a faultless "patch" job on his uniform.

[Laura M]

Hi,
Right after you are talking about doing this yourself, here comes a wife (me) wanting to know where to sew the scoutmaster badge for my husband...

[teresa]

Finally a site that suggests using a sewing machine! I am a Tiger Cub's Mom and I have no desire to hand sew badges. That is what my fancy sewing machine is for. Thanks for the tips, especially for sewing together the numerals to make them one

[Lib]

Thank you other Tiger Cub mom....now if only my 1947 Singer could zig-zag.