Cub/Boy Scout "Mom's Pin" Necklace Tutorial

Besides being a cub scout mom myself, this project is for all of you out there who happen to be Den Mothers or Scout Chairs. May the heavens smile brightly on each of you, since clearly you are SPECIAL people!! Anyone who volunteers one way or another to deal with young, rowdy boys deserves more than they will ever get! Thank you, THANK YOU to ALL you WONDERFUL scout leaders!

The inspiration for this project came by way of my friend Kathy, who is working her way through her third cub scout (out of 4) and her second boy scout (one eagle already)! At a recent pack meeting she was wearing this ribbon necklace that had all her boys' pins attached to it. Me being a "newbie," I had to get to the bottom of this cool piece of jewelry. Here is what hers looks like:

Isn't she cute?! And check out all those pins her boys have earned! (Not sure about her son's goofy face. Probably had to do with the fact that this was his 50th picture of the day and he was getting tired of them...)

Evidently someone had made these necklaces for all the moms in the pack long before we ever got here from an idea they'd seen before. (I did some digging, and this is the only place I could find that sells them -- starting around $7.00/each.) I can't bear to spend that kind of money on things that I can clearly make myself, so here is my tutorial as I make one for myself.

My supply list (from my local JoAnn's store)

1 Prepackaged Grosgrain ribbon spool, measuring 18 feet or 6 yards long (5.4 meters) of the following colors:
7/8 inch (22mm) wide Centennial Blue

5/8 inch (15mm) wide Maize Yellow

7/8 inch (22mm) wide Olive Drab

5/8 inch (15mm) wide Red

1. Cut 18 inches of each of the 4 colors of ribbon (to prevent fraying use fray check on the ends or slightly burn each end with a match)

2. Sew the Yellow ribbon on top of the Blue, down both sides. Remember to use coordinating thread for the top and the bottom ribbons (different colors for each!)

3. Sandwich and pin the blue/yellow side in between the red and green for the back of the necklace. Don't sew yet...

4. Cut an angle on the front of each side making them match up in the middle. (You only need to trim a small triangle at the bottom, but cut them at opposite sides--see picture--cut one starting from the left and one starting from the right--then they will match up in the middle) Remember to burn the newly cut ends again.

5. Pin the fronts together matching up the angles and making sure that red ribbon will lay flat on green ribbon, since you haven't sewn them yet. Remember to again switch your threads to match the red and green ribbons.

6. Starting at the back (with it sandwiched), sew the red onto the green. Make a continuous loop around the red ribbon until you get to the back again. Sew a square in the back to reinforce the stitching.

Here are pictures of the back portion, with the underneath side showing the reinforcing square.

Here is the front, showing how they line up on both sides. You can see that my stitching continues on all 3 sides of the red as I work my way back to the top (neck) portion.

The finished product! I am very happy with how it turned out. I think it took me about 20 minutes to finish. Well worth my time and money.

I started out just buying ribbon so that I could make one for myself, but after searching for the right color and width of olive drab, I could NOT find anything that would work in the 'cut by the yard' or 'prepackaged' section of multiple fabric stores. It was both the wrong color green and not the right width for what I had already purchased of the blue, red, and yellow. So, when I finally came across the right color, I jumped for joy! Who knew that olive drab would be so hard to find! Maybe, you'll have better luck than me...

Total cost of 4 spools of ribbon: $12.00. Which will make 12 necklaces ($1.00 a piece). Clearly I don't need all 12 of them, so I am going to make the rest for the other new scout moms in our pack.