Quilting for kids

No experience with girl scout sewing, but as a Scouter and someone who always loved camping myself I have a suggestion anyway:

How about little kit bags? Handsewn and with a drawstring closure, they can hold bits and pieces (hair bands, spare battery for flash light/torch, etc) at camp or at home. "The back pack is the bag for the bags" - sounds better in Danish, but bottom line is that you can (just about) never have too many kit bags :-)

Except for sewing on patches, I think everything else I've ever done with my Cub Scouts (or similar depending on country!) are bigger projects and less suitable for hand work.

Hanne in London

How about some themed bookmarks? A book cozy to keep a paperback clean and tidy at camp? You could get them to cross-stitch the badge design on the item. :)

They needn't just be hand stitched items... Take a hand crank or two along for them to sew on! :D

[snip]

This is a bit more boring, but what about taking some colorful squares of cotton fabric large enough to be bandanas, and hemming them? (bandanas are all kinds of useful) :)

HTH, //Mary/mgl

I did just that same thing many years ago with Girl Guides. I wasn't a quilter then, or maybe I was and didn't know it yet!! We had this fantastic camp cook that cooked for all our camps. I appliqued a pillow cover with an egg on it and the date of the camp crossstitched in it. I sandwiched it and then put it on a hoop. The Girl Guides had a "hand-quilting" centre set up at camp where they could go and hand quilt (after a little training and quidance) this pillow . It was like a little quilting bee. There were ofter girls around doing the hand stitching and often the leaders also did some work on it late at night when the campers were asleep. The quilting stitches were not perfect but I think that the pillow has a special place in the camp cooks house even to this day, 20 years later.

Woody's Girl

I was active as a GS leader for 15 years when my girls were of the age. I'm still a Life Time member! Great organization!

One of the many things we did was make our own dunk bags - the bags our mess kits went into to hang on the line and dry after washing. We took 2 loosely woven dish cloths, some yarn, a large darning needle and sewed up three sides. Knot off the beginning and the end. Then do a running stitch around the top edge (to enable gathering) and make the yarn long enough to use as a tie over a line. Overhand knot the ends! They learn lots of skills just making a simple bag. Change the type of fabric and yarn and they can make a ditty bag........

Have fun and remember - even the biggest needle can get lost in the grass!!!!!!

Laurie G. in CA

I remember that!!! we made really fast and easy, useful "Ditty Bags". Supplies: for each person

1 bandanna. (square of pre hemmed fabric app. 14-16" on a side) Needle pair of shoe laces to coordinate with bandanna 2 or 3 straight pins Optional: thimble

for group: scissors to cut thread Thread chalk or other removable fabric marker

Mark sides of bandanna into thirds. About. there is nothing critical here, just roughly mark each side about 1/3 of the way from each corner. Fold corner back at the marks. sew about 1/2" from the folded edge. (Pin the corner back and mark a line to sew on. The stitching can be a running stitch, back stitch or ??? just needs to be reasonably secure. Repeat on each corner. Now you have an octagon with "flaps" on the outside at alternate sides. Run one shoelace through all the channels formed by the stitching and back to the start. tie ends together. Run second shoelace through starting opposite where you started for first shoelace. When both laces are knotted, pull on them to gather top of bag. Use for lunch, an orange etc. Loop ends around belt or whatever to carry along on a short hike. Great little, quick bag to carry stuff in.

Hope this helps, Pati, in Phx

Apest wrote:

Girls thanks a lot!

I'll pass these ideas on, I like very much the idea of making crossstitched kit bags with name and cubs on :D

Apest