Patches
"Nobody prays more for peace than the wife or mother of a soldier." Author Unknown
I've been sewing patches on vests for all of the girls in my daughter's brownie troop. It has been fun to put their accomplishments on their vests and know that the next time they wear them, they will be proud of what they have done. I have to admit that sewing brownie patches has made me incredibly aware of the lack of color in my sewing box. I have needed pinks and blues for the girls patches, and all I have is browns, greens, black and tans.
My sewing box is full of camouflage colors because the patches that I've sewn up until now have been Army patches. Every time we moved we would have to take all of Vic's uniforms and new unit patches to a seamstress for changing. This became very expensive and time consuming. As I watched the seamstress sewing I knew I could do the same thing and save a little money. The first patch I put on Vic's uniform terrified me. I was afraid of sewing the patch wrong and making his uniform look horrible. When I'm afraid, I pray, and this time was no exception. I prayed to put the patch on correctly, and then I sewed slowly. Once I realized that I could sew patches I began to enjoy it. Changing the unit patches was a way of connecting with our new organization. Changing rank patches was a way of celebrating Vic's promotion. It has been tradition for family to be involved in the promotion of their Soldier. The Commanding Officer stands on one side of the Soldier and the family member (typically the wife) stands on the other. If the rank is a pin, they ceremoniously take the old rank out and place the new rank in it's place. The last several promotions for Vic, he has been in BDU's (battle dress uniform) or DCU's (desert camouflage uniform). The rank on these uniforms has been sewn on, so we have had to tear it off and then pin on the new rank. I've have had real enjoyment of tearing off the old rank and knowing that it would be by my hand that Vic's new rank would be sewn on.
For the first deployment, all of the Soldiers had to change from BDU's to DCU's. This required all of the 3000+ deploying Soldiers on our post to have all of their patches redone. In order to expedite this, a team of volunteers came together to sew on patches. I remember bringing home piles of uniforms for young Soldiers in the Battalion and sewing their patches late into the night. I prayed over every stitch, in some crazy way hoping that my prayers would keep them safe. Thank God, they all came back from the war zone.
My sewing box will probably forever be full of the thread that matches the many patches that I've sewn for Vic's career. My patch sewing days are far from over, in fact it's gotten rather busy lately. Today I have to expand my repertoire to include pinks and blues, a little bit of color, to celebrate with my daughter as she earns her badges for Brownies. As I stitch her patches on, I will celebrate the girl she is becoming and I may just pray a little. It's a tradition.
I've been sewing patches on vests for all of the girls in my daughter's brownie troop. It has been fun to put their accomplishments on their vests and know that the next time they wear them, they will be proud of what they have done. I have to admit that sewing brownie patches has made me incredibly aware of the lack of color in my sewing box. I have needed pinks and blues for the girls patches, and all I have is browns, greens, black and tans.
My sewing box is full of camouflage colors because the patches that I've sewn up until now have been Army patches. Every time we moved we would have to take all of Vic's uniforms and new unit patches to a seamstress for changing. This became very expensive and time consuming. As I watched the seamstress sewing I knew I could do the same thing and save a little money. The first patch I put on Vic's uniform terrified me. I was afraid of sewing the patch wrong and making his uniform look horrible. When I'm afraid, I pray, and this time was no exception. I prayed to put the patch on correctly, and then I sewed slowly. Once I realized that I could sew patches I began to enjoy it. Changing the unit patches was a way of connecting with our new organization. Changing rank patches was a way of celebrating Vic's promotion. It has been tradition for family to be involved in the promotion of their Soldier. The Commanding Officer stands on one side of the Soldier and the family member (typically the wife) stands on the other. If the rank is a pin, they ceremoniously take the old rank out and place the new rank in it's place. The last several promotions for Vic, he has been in BDU's (battle dress uniform) or DCU's (desert camouflage uniform). The rank on these uniforms has been sewn on, so we have had to tear it off and then pin on the new rank. I've have had real enjoyment of tearing off the old rank and knowing that it would be by my hand that Vic's new rank would be sewn on.
For the first deployment, all of the Soldiers had to change from BDU's to DCU's. This required all of the 3000+ deploying Soldiers on our post to have all of their patches redone. In order to expedite this, a team of volunteers came together to sew on patches. I remember bringing home piles of uniforms for young Soldiers in the Battalion and sewing their patches late into the night. I prayed over every stitch, in some crazy way hoping that my prayers would keep them safe. Thank God, they all came back from the war zone.
My sewing box will probably forever be full of the thread that matches the many patches that I've sewn for Vic's career. My patch sewing days are far from over, in fact it's gotten rather busy lately. Today I have to expand my repertoire to include pinks and blues, a little bit of color, to celebrate with my daughter as she earns her badges for Brownies. As I stitch her patches on, I will celebrate the girl she is becoming and I may just pray a little. It's a tradition.
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