Consider cotton calico for modern-traditional Cherokee clothing.
Despite being nearly decimated by smallpox and land-greedy settlers in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Cherokee people and their rich heritage continue to thrive. According to Census 2000, more than 700,000 Native Americans identify themselves as Cherokee. Likewise, Cherokee-inspired clothing and accessories have established an enduring presence in the fickle trends of contemporary fashion. Whether you're looking to make a woman's Cherokee Tear dress or a man's ribbon shirt, a few simple guidelines are all you need to pay homage to the Cherokee people and their culture and past.
Instructions
Women
1. Choose your fabric. Appropriate choices include calico, both solid and printed, along with chiffon and crepe. Select a cloth that can easily be ripped along the grain, as Cherokee seamstresses and tailors traditionally tear fabric rather than cutting it. The "Tear dress" derives its name from this practice, not from The Trail of Tears, as some believe.
2. Choose your pattern. The Cherokee Tear Dress resembles the shirt-waist style of contemporary Western culture. Other Cherokee dresses feature peasant, A-line and shift styles.
3. Modify your dress. Using your pattern as a model, make alterations based on Cherokee tradition. According to Wendell Cochran, Cherokee Master Craftsman, panels of Cherokee clothing consist of either squares or rectangles. Women's bodices gather on shoulder yokes, with square gussets where the sleeves are attached. Dresses typically feature three-quarter length sleeves rather than wrist-length, to allow for the many duties of an agricultural society. Hemlines range from just below the knee to floor length.
4. Embellish accordingly. Dresses often feature a ruffle where the bodice and sleeve are attached to the yoke. Ruffles appear on the skirt flounce as well. Decorative bands of fabric run above the flounce, around each sleeve and around each shoulder.
Men
5. Select your fabric. Like women, men often wore cotton calico, in floral prints as well as solids. Broadcloth makes a good choice too. Avoid synthetic fabrics such as polyester and rayon.
6. Find your pattern. Ribbon shirts traditionally feature loose, boxy shapes, due to the hot and humid climate of the Southeastern United States, the region to which the Cherokee people are indigenous. A tunic pattern with a straight hem would serve as a good choice.
7. Decorate your shirt. Cut diamond-shaped swatches of fabric in complementary colors and slip-stitch them to the front or back. Sew grosgrain ribbon in vertical lines, running from shoulder to mid-chest. Bands of ribbon often circle the wrists as well. Avoid satin ribbon.
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