Not long ago when my husband and I were out walking, we saw a Girl Scout meeting in a neighbor’s yard. The sight brought back many pleasant memories to me of my days as a scout leader. My daughter has recently finished college and married. She is in her early twenties, so it has been quite a few years since a friend and I lead her Girl Scout troop through the Brownie and then Junior levels of scouting. My co-leader had many wonderful project ideas, but it is not surprising that my own most successful unit was work on the sewing badge. We did an embroidery cross stitch project and then stuffed a little flat cat doll and sewed clothes for it. The girls enjoyed all of the activities, but I think they showed most enthusiasm for tearing cotton fabric across the width of the piece to help us find the straight of the fabric grain. I am not certain if they just loved the loud sound the ripping made, or if they felt that they were participating in some sort of approved destruction. For what ever reasons, preparing the fabric for sewing was a very happy time. Several of the girls’ mothers told me later that their daughters continued their sewing projects at home. Sewing can be an enjoyable and relaxing hobby for children as well as adults.

sherralyn learning to sew memories