The beading on the yoke of the dress took me eight years to complete! The whole outfit with a bone breast plate weighs about a stone. Don't I know about it after a day of dancing!!
The beading and the design on my dress is interesting in that I was very much guided by dreams. I was given my design and told in which order I should continue the beading. Also the colour of the beading had a significance given to me in my dreams. The red is representative for me of the woman's menstruation cycle (otherwise known as the Moontime). This in hind sight is odd, I developed a severe condition relating to my Ovaries later on. I now can not menstruate. A blessing and a curse.
The dress is made from brain tanned buckskin. The dress top and skirt are separate. If I am attending an outdoor pow wow I tend to wear a smoked brain tanned buckskin skirt. Brain tanned buckskin is the greatest leather in the world. It is unmatched for quality. It is beautiful to work with and produces the best results.
I am very proud of my Eagle feather fan. It was a gift from a friend. I took it apart and rearranged the feathers and gourd stitched the handle. I used sheep hide at the base of the feathers. All my feathers have been gifts.
There are a lot of details that are not visible in the picture. The Moccasins, leggings, belt, belt set, breast plate and hair slides. All the accessories are beaded too. This takes as long as beading the dress... Often an overlooked fact!
In this picture I have used slightly more traditional accessories. I have found that as I have progressed in years I prefer the more traditional style.
The quilled hair ties at the front I borrowed for the day. I made them as gifts for friends. The hair rosette is quilled too. The hand bag is like a very traditional tipi bag with the quilled rows but a much smaller version. Even the breast plate is much plainer than my earlier ones.
I love my hair ties. Lots and lots of dentailia. The belt too is more plain. It is the usual heavy leather with German silver conchos. It has a drop at the back.
Here you can see the very traditional women's belt set. It consists of a Strike a light bag and awl case. I am not wearing the knife sheath. This set I beaded in size 13 Charlotte cut beads and kept the design vary plain. The awl case is a functional one. I lined it with raw hide and the lid slides up and down the hanging thongs. I never really got around to completing a matching beaded knife sheath. I am currently working on one now.
I am always aware that you should only wear a knife traditionally if you know how to use one. That is, you know how to skin, tan a hide and butcher an animal properly. Whereas I helped in skinning a rabbit as a child I only got around to salting the hide. The dogs ended up eating it! I left it in their reach, a mistake.
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