How to Make Native American Dress Up

We are incapable of doing any kind of study without at least attempting to create some dress up.  I did keep it simple though and ordered five cheap t-shirts for just over £1 each.  I chose brown and a large size for all.  The older children could wear them as tops whilst the younger girls could wear them as dresses.  Ultimately I wanted to recreate the following Ojibwe dress I found on the Minnesota Historical Foundation:

We had t-shirts, large sharp scissors and beads:

We cut the hems off each of the t-shirts:

And cut thin strips upwards from the bottom:

We then threaded the beads onto each strip.  One bead per strip and then tied a knot to keep it from falling off.  This was a great activity because even my younger two could join in:

Here is a close up of the beaded hem:

And B3 modelling her half-finished one:

Next we cut off the sleeve hems, cut strips into the remaining hems and threaded beads, knotting each one to secure:

I used a scarf as a make-shift belt until we make one.  Here is the basic costume finished:

Over the next few weeks we will be adding bits and pieces to the costume to give it a more authentically Ojibwe look.  But even without these accessories this dress up has been a hit!