Make or buy your own Girl Sprout Vest for your tagalongs to participate

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It’s easier than you think, I promise!

You CAN make this cute and easy girl sprout vest.

Do you have a preschooler that is eager to join your older troop?

Join our Girl Sprouts group on facebook – it’s unofficial and anyone from anywhere can join, no matter what your council does or doesn’t offer.

In just a few hours, you can put this adorable mini-vest together for your little one. There’s only a few things you need.

Or, I can make a girl sprout vest for you. Order here:

Girl Sprout Vest

This vest that comes in 3T, 4T, and 5T is the perfect solution for your tagalong future scouts. Note – this item is NOT GSUSA official. It is not sold by, or sponsored by any council. Any child who lives anywhere is allowed to wear this however and wherever they want.

Please see the full description below for more info.

$39.00

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A sewing machine. If you already have one that’s great. If not, brother machines (like this one) are a GREAT first option for anyone new to sewing. Today’s machines are highly automated and easy to use
Whatever kind of fabric you want to use. I recommend a lightweight canvas like this
A strong pair of sewing shears. These are my favorite.
Coordinating thread to match your fabric
Any kind of patches or pins you want (check the shop!)
Clear thread for sewing on badges
Any kind of tape and white printer paper

And you’ll need a pattern. This was created by Jess Rabbit at mesewcrazy.com. You can download the pattern for free at her site. Thanks Jess!

But it does need some altering. We don’t need the pocket for this, and the cute pointy bit doesn’t really match the official uniforms, so I trimmed the bottom edge off. I also cut a curve into the neckline to mimic the official look. Her directions also allow for lining pieces, but we don’t need them for this. (but you could!)

Here’s what the altered pieces look like – a perfect girl sprout vest! This is shown in a 4T but the pattern is 12 months to 6, so you can totally customize your own. Like all things in sewing, you get to decide.

Then, cut out two front pieces and a back piece in your chosen fabric. Look – it looks good already!

The rest of the construction is easy, and can be done in several ways. I find that it’s easiest to sew the shoulder seams first, then iron out all the foldover edges, then sew those down, then do the side seam last. Jessica’s pattern has easy to follow instructions all the way through.

This one I ironed out the edges before attaching the shoulders – but either way works

Sew those fold over edges outward, like the official uniforms have

Bonus – for a clean finish, you can do french seams in the sides and shoulders, or else use pinking shears to trim

Or,

Another way to handle finishing seams is to use bias tape. This inexpensive solution can also be a time-saver, because you don’t need to iron anything. In this pink vest, I used a half-inch double fold bias tape to wrap around all the inside seams, and around the trim. It looks great and is a quick and easy way to finish.

Once it’s all put together, you can decorate it however you like!

Add a troop number (get used ones in the shop!)

Some fun patches

A council ID or council patch – use clear thread and my sewing tips!

You could even add a pocket on the inside! I used iron-on fusible interfacing and a square of Riley Blake girl scout fabric (similar)

And join the grouP!

Please join other leaders in the Girl Sprouts facebook group. Lots of people have made their own vests, and you can too! You can also connect with others about activities your sprouts are doing and get ideas you can use too.