Tale of the Girl Scout Patch that Would Not STICK

Okay I must be somewhat dense, but I had issues with this product! Surely I am not the only one. As this is my first child in Girl Scouts and as far as I knew, all of the labels were to be sewn on. The leaders did tell us that these were different and were to be ironed on. Sounds simple enough, right? It was not simple! They had a little ceremony coming up within days and I could not figure out what in the world I was doing wrong. I ironed and ironed until I thought that I would burn it up. It would not stick! Too embarrassed to call and ask what was wrong or if I had a defective product, finally I did get it ironed on somewhat. Let me tell you what I did wrong and then maybe when your turn comes to iron these patches on, you won't have the issues and have to spend the time I did on it! When we went to the ceremony, I mentioned to the leaders how much trouble I had and how stressful it had been trying to hurry and get the patches on....they said that others had issues at first too until they knew more on how to do it correctly.

These patches are sold in numbers 0-9 and you may have a different number of patches to buy than your friends in the next county. Every troop is designated with a special number. These patches are ironed on either the brown vest or the brown sash that your Girl Scout has. (When you choose, think about the sash falling down and getting in the way of play and activities, I wish we had!) The background of the patch is brown while the numbers are white and stand out well against the dark background. Each one is 1 1/4" tall and not 1" wide. The numbers stand out 3-D from the brown background. They have been sewn on with thick thread. Only Brownies will have these style of patches.

So what do you need to know to prevent pulling-of-the-hair-right-out-of-your-head syndrome? Once you remove each patch from the packaging, there is a backing to it. TAKE OFF THE PAPER on the back of the patch. Yes it is there. You might not be able to see it or remove it easily as it sticks to it. If you have already ironed the patch with the paper in place, you may have to sew the patch on as in the olden days when I was a youngster. As you have now melted the paper backing onto the patch...I am talking from experience! Each new patch, do not forget to pull off the paper backing, each one has it. Make sure your iron is hot before ironing, place a thin material or dishcloth over each patch to iron. Do one at a time so they do not slip out of place. It is difficult to put them where they go and make sure they stay in place while you are covering it with a towel. If you do not cover it with some type of material, the iron could cause melting and smearing of anything else on your child's Brownie vest or sash. It is supposed to take a short time to get the patches to stick, but it always took me a while longer. I could have sewn it on and been done with it already. One other problem that I have had with these patches is that I could get the middle ironed on but the edges were difficult and refused to stay down.

My final say on this product? A must have for your Girl Scout Brownie. Doesn't mean we have to like it. Ironing on should not have been such a headache! At least we don't have to do this again for a while longer.