Uniform & Badge Placement Guide
An overview of the official uniform requirements and practical methods for securely attaching your earned award badges.
👕 Required Uniform Outfit
The standard uniform consists of an official blue short-sleeve shirt, paired with clean black trousers and a black tie.
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Important Pre-Wash Requirement
Always **wash brand-new shirts before sewing any badges on**. New fabric material can shrink slightly during its first wash cycle, which will warp, pull, and permanently distort your flat badges if attached beforehand.
🧵 Badge Attachment Instructions
⚙️ Method One: Using a Sewing Machine
- Pin the badge into its correct alignment location using at least two pins.
- Double check the uniform guide layout sheet to guarantee it is in the right place.
- Work directly from the top side of the shirt, stitching through the face of the badge.
- Load your machine’s lower bobbin with **grey thread** that blends cleanly with the shirt color.
- Use **clear nylon thread** on top. Because it is invisible, you won’t need to swap out spools for different colored badge borders!
- Travel a small distance at a time. Leave the needle down in the fabric and lift the presser foot to pivot around curves, keeping everything completely flat.
- When working down narrow sleeves, **turn the shirt inside out**. This allows you to work flat inside the sleeve directly on top of the badge without bunching fabric around the arm of the machine.
🪡 Method Two: Hand Sewing
To hand sew, select a thread that tightly matches the outer border color of the badge. If a close color match is unavailable, utilize clear or invisible nylon thread.
- Pin the badge securely into the proper layout position with at least two pins.
- Use small, neat **overhand stitches** through the outer border, catching just the structural edge of the badge.
- Keep your thread length **no longer than your forearm** to significantly reduce knots and tangles.
- Work with a single thickness of thread so that the stitching line stays hidden.
- Consider using a thimble; uniform shirt canvas is tough and resistant to hand needles.
