Description
About the pattern you are purchasing…
About Your Plains Indian Buckskin Dress Pattern
The classic apparel of the Plains Indian woman is the buckskin dress and with all its beadwork, fringe and other decorations, it is indeed a beautiful garment. A conservative attitude among these women has caused dress styles to remain basically unchanged between the 19th and 20th centuries and the dresses presented in this pattern most probably were adopted from Apache styles around 1790 by the Kiowa and Comanche and about 1840 by the Cheyenne and Arapaho. Most dresses are straight-cut, rather than being tailored or fitted and are also rather long by today’s standards, reaching from mid-calf to just above the ankle.
Our pattern is a basic, Southern Cheyenne-Arapaho style and includes information to allow adaptation to Comanche or Kiowa type dress by varying the cutting and decoration slightly.
We would like to extend a very special thanks to Janice and Kathy Collins, Emile Hardin and Laura Sanchez for their generous assistance in the development of this pattern.
Notions & Tools
Seed beads and beaded medallions; mescal beans; crow, tile, trade and pony beads; brass sequins; hawk bells; bone hairpipe and tubes; elk teeth (either genuine, bone or plastic); cowrie shells; tin cones; simulated sinew; cotton thread; powder paint (either tempera or natural pigments).
Material Requirements
As buckskin is a natural material, the shape will vary from hide to hide. For this reason, a size range is given for these sizes will be adequate. In the case of the hides for the yoke and sleeve fringe, a blockier, (more square) shaped hide is desirable, if available. Five(5) hides are required for a complete and authentic dress.
Suggested Materials
Ideally, brain-tanned buckskin is the most highly desirable material for a fine dress however, commercially tanned buckskin is available in several different types that are well suited for Indian garments. Generally, a white, off white or smoked color ( light, golden brown) should be selected in a type of hide which is either sueded on both sides or has one sueded side and one dull natural finish on the grain, or slick side. In this case, be sure to use the sueded side out for an authentic appearance that is most like brain-tanned.
