Georgia Day Costume (sort of tutorial)

Every year, our school has a Georgia Day celebration.  I have made costumes for Robbie before, and they typically last a few years.  I made this one this year, and it should carry him through next year.  I couldn't find a pattern that I wanted.  I was looking for something fairly authentic.  I found one from one of the big 3, but he fell right in between the sizes available. Grrrr....

So I went searching online for pictures of authentic Native American clothing until I found one I thought I could replicate.  You can see it is a little long for him, but he has plenty of growing room.  This was super easy to make.

I had a football jersey pattern, and I used that neckline to draw on my fabric.  I folded the fabric first to get my length right.  The shoulders have no seams.  That is the folded edge.  I traced my neckline and cut it out.  Then I used a shirt Robbie had to measure the arm length, and I marked that.  I wanted extra wide sleeves, so I could cut the fringes without have to sew them in.  I allowed a generous 3 to 4 inches for the fringes.

I stitched my seams with wrong sides together.  Then went back and cut my fringes right up to the seam line.  I did add a piece of fabric at the neckline to cut those fringes.  I found some beads at Joann's and hand stitched those to the neckline to hide the seam.  I also measured up the side seam (from the bottom) and drew in my line to get that angled cut at the bottom.

I found the fabric at Joann's with the embroidery already done and used the same fabric for his headband.

I used a piece of elastic stitched to the back to keep it on his head, then used Velcro to attach a third piece to the back to hide the elastic.  This is what it looks like from the side.  I slid it over just a tad, so you could see the Velcro.  I didn't even think to snap a pic without the flap. :(

The photo is a bit blurry, but you can just see the Velcro.  Those little dark spots are glue spots.  I should have used a different glue or just stitched them down.  I didn't want stitch lines to show so it would appear seamless.  I glued the feathers to the flap.  It allowed them to sit nice and tight against his head and stay put.

The fabric was a knit, so I didn't have to finish any of the edges.  Yay!  Easy, peasy project.  And I tried to stay as close to authentic as possible to be respectful.

Let me know if you have questions.

Thanks for stopping by.
Happy Friday!
Angela