Nationwide Link to YMCA's Y-guides, YMCA
Adventure Guide
Indian Guide  - Indian Princess Programs

Use the our already designed Yguide and Adventure guide craft kits
or ask us to help you with you Indian crafts
Great stuff that you can make with your group.

WE SHIP NATIONWIDE
Due to the rising cost of gas across the nation, we know coming down to the store can cause a burden.
For your convenience we ship nationwide.
No matter how near or far, we will get it to you
Please do not hesitate to e-mail or call in your order and have us ship the items to you.

Programs with an Family and Native American Theme
Y-Guides (Father & Son) - Y-Princesses (Father & Daughter)
Y-Braves (Mother & Son) - Y-Maidens (Mother & Daughter)
YMCA Adventure Guides                             Y-Adventure Guides
The Purpose of the Father and son Y-Guides is to Foster Companionship of Father and Son.
The Y-Princess Program is patterned after the highly successful father and son Y-Guides.
The Purpose of the Y-Princesses is to promote friendship and understanding between father and daughter.
Some of these programs have changed their names to Y-Adventure Guides

Whether it is YMCA Guide Program (Indian Guides, Indian Princess, or Adventure Guide Program), Camps or other YMCA programs,
Let us know what we can do to assist your program.

We are authorized distributors for many different suppliers
Items listed on the website are items we can get from these suppliers and
may not be stocked in our store at all times.

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What is the YMCA Guide Program -
Papoose, Indian Guides, Indian Princess,  Adventure Guide Program About?

The YMCA Y-Indian Guides, Y-Indian Princesses, Y-Indian Braves and Y-Indian Maidens,
now also known as the Adventure Guide program, are year-round programs designed to build strong relationships
between parents and their children.  It is open to families with children in kindergarten to third grade.

The YMCA guide program was started 
by Harold S. Keltner, St. Louis YMCA Director and Joe Friday, an Ojibway Indian.

The participants in the YMCA Family Programs learn about American Indian people
their culture, their customs, crafts and games, and seek to bring new understanding and appreciation of the
Native American Heritage and the contributions Native Americans have made to our nation.
They strive to share the qualities of the American Indian culture and life: 
Dignity, Patience, Endurance, Spirituality, Feeling for the earth, and Concern for the family.
Some YMCA y-guide programs are now called YMCA Adventure guides 
but have strived to keep the Native American theme. 
The reason the YMCA uses the Native American theme is to help focus the groups, 
and to bring traditional values and organizational structure to the program.
The YMCA you join will assign you to a group called a circle or tribe,
that will meet on a regular basis in each others’ homes, weekly, biweekly or monthly. 
YMCA guides tribes/groups will get together for campouts and family outings, throughout the year 
to go on campouts, and other field trips.

The yguides aims are listed as:
1. To be clean in body and pure in heart.
2. To be pals forever with my father/son.
3. To love the sacred circle of my family.
4. To listen while others speak.
5. To love my neighbor as myself.
6. To seek and preserve the beauty of the Great Spirit's work in forest, field, and stream

To quote Joe Friday:
“The Indian father raises his son. He teaches his son to hunt, to track, to fish, to walk softly and silently in the forest, 
to know the meaning and purpose of life and all he must know, while the white man allows the mother to raise his son.”

For more information on the
YMCA Adventure Guide Program, Y-Indian Guides, Y-Indian Princesses, Y-Indian Braves and Y-Indian Maidens 
Click here for links to the YMCA's that have these programs.

Use the our already designed Yguide and Adventure guide craft kits or ask us to help you with you Indian crafts.
Great stuff that you can make with your group.

VESTS - Suede Leather Vest Kits
Leather Vest Kits, Suede Vest kits for Guide Program
Y-guide Vests, Vests for Adventure Guides
Suede Leather Vest Kits For Your Patches

Adventure Guides, YMCA, Yguides Vest Sizing Assistance

VESTS - Suede Leather Vest Kits
Leather Vest Kits, Suede Vest kits for Guide Program
Y-guide Vests, Vests for Adventure Guides
Suede Leather Vest Kits For Your Patches

Y-guide Vest Assembly and Patch Gluing Instructions

Child's Kit
Measure 4X the distance you are going to sew and cut off the sinew.
Thread needle with waxed sinew and twist to secure thread onto needle.
Overlap and align shoulder holes at left back (top) panel over front panel.
Leave 2" of thread at first hole, sew along seam "in and out" running stitch to the end.
Turn and sew back to starting point filling in between previous stitches.
Double stitch through the last hole and tie ends of thread together in a square knot. Trim off the excess thread.
Melt knot into itself to secure the knot and stitching from unraveling.
Overlap and align holes of the left front  (side) panel over left back panel.
Leave 2" of thread at first hole, sew along seam "in and out" running stitch to the end.
Turn and sew back to starting point filling in between previous stitches.
Double stitch through the last hole and tie ends of thread together in a square knot. Trim off the excess thread.
Melt knot into itself to secure the knot and stitching from unraveling.
Repeat overlap steps on right side of the vest.

**NOTE**
You can overlap the seams in any way that you would like to as far as back over front, or front over back.
You can add 2 different color pony beads in the stitching to add decoration to the vest.
You would just add the beads as you are sewing...it is suggested that you only add beads to the top and side stitching.
Adding beads to the back of the adult vests will cause the beads to rub on chairs etc and make it uncomfortable.

Adult Kit
Begin by construction the back of your adult vest kit
Begin stitching at the bottom center of the vest.
Measure 4X the distance you are going to sew and cut off sinew.
(You will use 1 piece of sinew for the full back...
so measure 4X across the back and from the bottom to center of V-shape if vest)
Thread needle with waxed sinew and twist to secure thread onto needle.
Place 2 bottom back panels together, overlapping left over right.
The top panel is overlapped over BOTH bottom panels.
Leave 2" of thread at first hole, sew along seam "in and out" running stitch to the end.
Starting at bottom, go up to venter, over to the right, back to center, stitch to the left and then back to center.
Then stitch back to your starting point at the bottom center of the vest.
Double stitch the last hole and tie ends of thread together in a square knot. Trim off part of excess thread
Melt knot into itself to secure the knot and stitching from unraveling.
Follow instructions above (under Child's kit) to sew shoulders and sides of vests.

Hopefully the instructions we have created for construction of your y-guide vests using artificial sinew,
will be helpful in making your vests a project you can do with your child.

VESTS - Suede Leather Vest Kits
Leather Vest Kits, Suede Vest kits for Guide Program
Y-guide Vests, Vests for Adventure Guides
Suede Leather Vest Kits For Your Patches

Leathercraft Cement Glue Notes: Gluing your patches to your suede vest.

If the back of your patch is shiny (which many of them are now),
scuff up the back of the patch so that the glue will adhere.
Place the patch on the vest in the position where it will be glued.
Mark around the patch lightly with a pencil.
Put a thin coat of glue on the back of the patch and in the space you have marked out for the patch.
Allow glue to become tacky. Put patch on vest in position.
Set a book on top of the patch when the patch is on the vest to hold them together while the glue dries.
MAKE SURE that you only apply a THIN coat of glue...
If you put too much glue on the patch or vest it will seep over the sides of the patch and stain the vest.

Try to get the glue all the way to the bottom edges of the patch so that they will be fully adhered to the vest.
If the edges are not glued down this tends to cause the edges to lift and the patch to "pop off"

VESTS - Suede Leather Vest Kits
Leather Vest Kits, Suede Vest kits for Guide Program
Y-guide Vests, Vests for Adventure Guides
Suede Leather Vest Kits For Your Patches

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