How to Make Real Indian Clothes
There was not a simple style of garment that Indians, or Native Americans, wore throughout history. Each region had a slightly different costume and style of clothing. The clothing styles also varied throughout history, just like clothing today. However, there are simple items of clothing that most Native Americans wore at some point in history. These articles of clothing are easy to make and will add authenticity to any Native American outfit.
Things You'll Need
- Fabric
- Scissors
- Faux leather
- Sewing machine
- Leather needle
- Thick thread
Instructions
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Men
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1
Cut a strip of leather about 1 inch wide. Make the leather strip long enough to wrap around your waist and tie to make a belt.
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2
Cut two rectangles from the leather wide enough to wrap around your legs and long enough to make pants.
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3
Sew the long sides of the rectangles together to make two long tubes. Sew two strings to the top of each legging.
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4
Cut a piece of cloth about 5-by-2 feet. Wrap the cloth between your legs, similar to a diaper, so that the 5-foot length goes from front to back. Place the belt over the cloth. Drape ends of the fabric over the top of the belt, so that only the sides of your leg are not covered by fabric.
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5
Pull the leggings up over your legs. Use the ties on the top of the leggings to tie the leggings to the belt.
Women
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6
Cut a two long rectangles from leather, equaling the length from your shoulders to about halfway down the calf. Make the rectangles about double the width of your body. Sew the two rectangles together at the shoulders, leaving an opening for the head. Sew the sides of the tunic up about two-thirds of the way, leaving openings for the arms. Turn the tunic inside out.
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7
Cut slits in the bottom of the tunic skirt to add fringe to the bottom of the tunic.
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8
Cut two rectangles from leather wide enough to wrap around your legs and long enough to reach from ankle to the knees. Cut two 1-inch thick strips from leather about 24 inches long.
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9
Sew the long side of the rectangles together to make two tube leggings. Tie the leggings in place under the knees with the leather strips.
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1
References
- Photo Credit indian statue image by Joann Cooper from Fotolia.com
