Dance Skirts

Cherokee women look for a couple of things when they make a skirt to wear to traditional dances.  For one thing, a skirt should have the ruffle beginning at the knee.  That's so you have room to move around and you're not constrained by the size of the skirt.  The main part of the skirt should be loose enough to sit in comfortably, with an elastic waist for bending, twisting and moving-- snug enough to hold up the dress and loose enough to breath and stretch in.  The ruffle can be short or long.  If it is short, it is more likely to get caught on your legs if they have something on them.    A deep or long ruffle gives a better fit.  In choosing the best skirt length, I tend to prefer a skirt that hits at about mid-calf.  Shorter skirts are found among Mvskoke and Natchez dancers, and longer skirts are more characteristically Cherokee or Loyal Band Shawnee.   Shorter skirts are better for carrying the sounds of shells and cans.  Longer skirts look better and are warmer.  The dust ruffle can be sewn-in, or it can be sewn on top.  Dust ruffle gathers can be regular or 'chunky' and irregular.

I sometimes make skirts for dancers and guests.  I like to keep a couple of  extra skirts on hand, to give to friends who come to dances.  I just enjoy making them.  Sometimes, a bolt of fabric just "jumps out at me" and I think, "That would make a pretty skirt."

One skirt in this picture is black, grey, blue and white with circles and hearts that make lines.  In first grade, my grandmother made me a dress from some of  the same fabric that her grandmother had.  And this reminded me of that old black, gray and white machine-printed bolt cloth.  Its 28 inches long.  The waist fits 28" to 38".  It is modest and rather short.

The second skirt is dusty rose with dime-sized roses, a maroon border and flounce dust ruffle.   It is about 29 to 30 inches in finished length.  It can be almost any waist size from womens' Medium to Plus, because the elastic will be added when it is gifted or sold.

I have been asked to make skirts like these for Cherokee tribal citizens, and usually charge $50.  If you find them for sale in retail establishments, they will be more like $75 due to retail markup.  There is a certain time of year when all women get a new skirt... either by gift, purchase or making a new one.