How to Make Navajo Indian Clothing

Look at photos of Navajo Indian clothing for ideas on designs.

The Navajos Indians are a large Native American tribe with members in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. At many pow wows (Native American gatherings) they come as other tribes do, to celebrate and teach information about their tribe. It is hard for many people to tell the difference between certain tribes, especially if they are closely related or come from an area near them, so they are often recognized by their style of dress or hair styles. If you'd like to make Navajo Indian clothing, make sure you do not copy a particular design or color without obtaining information about it from the tribe. You do not want to disrespect any family traditions or spiritual meanings that may be incorporated into the clothing.

Things You'll Need

• Material
• Clothing patterns

Instructions

1. Read about the Navajo Indian style of dress online or in a book to obtain a specific meaning behind the style of clothing. Also, keep in mind which time period you want the clothes to be from. Navajo Indians in the pre-1800s wore only deerskin ponchos, breechcloths (men) and skirts (women). Shirts were not introduced until the late 1800s.

2. Buy the clothes' patterns. You can find Navajo Indian clothing patterns online for purchase. Although you can see pictures of the clothing or videos of people wearing them, you have to have the pattern to sew the clothes (See References). The patterns come in all sizes to fit any size person.

3. Buy the material for the clothing. For Navajo Indian clothing post-1800s, you will need velvet (largely for female clothing) or deerskin and cotton fabric for male clothing. The velvet for Navajo clothing must be a solid dark color, but not black.

4. Choose the accessories. Navajo women wore silver squash blossom necklaces to accessorize their clothing. You should buy these ready-made since they are very hard to duplicate unless you are an expert jewelry maker. You will also need to purchase a concho belt for the skirt and moccasins. For the Navajo men's clothing, you will need to obtain the accessories outlined in the pattern. You can order the jewelry and accessories online from sites such as Amazon and Ebay.

References

• Bigorrin.org: Navajo Indian Information
• Crazycrow.com: Native American Patterns and Material