How to Make Navajo Indian Clothing
- 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.