Looking for a worksheet for the Junior Girl Scouts Sew Simple badge? This worksheet is designed to help guide leaders and girls in completing the Sew Simple badge by sewing a simple project that the girls may keep and wear. The girls will also sew one-yard quilts as a service project, which can be donated to a shelter, Project Linus, or Humane Society.

Materials Needed:

• Cloth tape measures ( use the kind that are over 40" in length)
• Easy patterns to sew a poncho or pj bottoms (Simplicity 3577, McCall's 5160, for example)
• Fabric and notions to make one-yard quilts, enough for each girl
• Fabric and notions to make poncho or pj bottoms, enough for each girl
• Hand sewing needles
• Coordinating thread
• Pins or large safety pins to hold fabric together while stitching
• Good sewing scissors
• Sewing machines, one machine per 2 or 3 girls
• Adult or older girl helpers who know how to sew
• Iron and ironing board

Tips:

• It will take one full meeting to do activities 1-3; one full meeting to do most of 4-6; most of a final meeting to finish fitting and hemming pj bottoms.
• To save time, sew the poncho and do a no-sew service project (fleece blanket with tied edges.) This option allows you to complete the activities in 2 meetings.
• To save money, sew shortie pj bottoms, which uses less fabric.
• Demonstrate how to pin a pattern piece to fabric, and how to cut, but it takes too long for the girls to do this activity.
• Pre-cut all fabric for the service project sewing and for the ponchos or pj bottoms. For 10 girls, it took about 2 hours to cut all the pieces, using a rotary cutter. Mark all the pieces with the appropriate piece numbers.
• Use the girls' sizes from their worksheets to figure out how much material to buy for the ponchos or pj bottoms.
• Have the girls sew on the machines for the pj bottoms, but sew the waistband casing for the girls if they are young or have never sewn before. What I did was to have them sew up to the casing step. They measured and marked the elastic for their waistband and attached it to their pj bottoms with a safety pin. During the week, before their next meeting, I sewed the casings and inserted the elastic for all the pjs but left the casings open, elastic safety-pinned and not sewn. At the next meeting the girls adjusted the elastic if necessary. Adults sewed elastics together and sewed casings closed. Girls marked their hems and sewed them.
• Girls will need assistance measuring each other. Make sure they measure straight across (parallel to the floor) at each measurement point, and that they hold the tape measure snugly but not too tight.
• PJ bottoms and ponchos have a forgiving fit and are a good first sewing project for juniors
• It helps to display poster-sized directions around the room. I hand-copied the directions onto large poster board, simplifying the language as necessary.
• Explain in advance that pattern size charts are DIFFERENT than clothing sizes that the girls are used to. They will be a much larger pattern size, most likely, because the size charts have not been updated in decades; and simply because pattern sizing does not coincide with modern dress sizing. Girls can be sensitive to this, so spend some time explaining to avoid hurt feelings.
• The "Girls Preteen" label in the size charts is normally seen on pattern backs as "Girls Plus" or "Girls Husky" sizing. I changed it here because the girls refused to consider "husky" sizes as possibly being their size.

Worksheet:

Name_____________________________________ Completed _____________

1. A Perfect Fit - What's your size? Following Diagram 1, have a buddy measure you and record your measurements:

a. Height: Standing against a flat wall without shoes, from floor to top of your head. __________

b. Chest: around the fullest part of the chest and straight across the back. __________

c. Under arm: directly under the arms, straight across the back and above the chest. _________

d. Waist: Around the belly button. __________

e. Back Waist Length: from the bone at the base of neck to the natural waistline. ________

f. Hip: around the body at fullest part, usually 7" - 9" below waist. _________

From the Pattern Charts , what is your pattern size? (Hint: for tops, chest and waist measurements are the most important. For bottoms, waist and hip measurements are the most important. )

My pattern size is: ____________

2. Pick a Pattern - From the pattern information:

How much fabric is needed for your size? _________________ (hint: look at yardage)

What type of fabric is recommended? _____________________

What extras are needed? _________________________________________________

____________________________________________________(hint: look for notions)

3. Sew for Service - Sew one-yard quilts for service. Quilts or comforters are always needed at shelters, hospitals or humane societies.

4. Sew a project - follow the instruction for your project. You will:

• Follow the sewing instructions to sew the pieces together
• Fit and finish

5. Hands Down - Try your hand at hand sewing. Some stitches to try are in Diagram 2:

• Running stitch
• Hemming stitch
• Slip stitch

6. A Stitch in Time - Using written instructions or someone to guide you, explore machine stitching on a sewing machine. Try your hand at one or more of the following:

• Basting stitch
• Zig-zag stitch
• Seam stitching