How to Make a Native American Indian Shirt

Here's the directions for a low-cost Native American Indian Shirt for my granddaughter's Pre-K Pow-Wow. I used decaf tea bags to dye the shirt and added Native American Indian symbols and colorful beads. 

I was so excited to make another Native American Indian Shirt for a Pow-wow! I made one for my grandson a few years ago, and it was fun. I dyed his shirt with traditional fabric dye, but this time I am trying decaf tea. I used an Adult Small t-shirt for this project to fit a girl's size 5.

First, I rinsed the shirt in water with a little dish washing liquid poured in to remove the sizing so the fabric would more readily accept the tea dye.

Next, I boiled 8 decaf tea bags in 1-1/2 quarts of water for 30 minutes. I let the tea cool for 10 minutes and removed the tea bags.

I added the shirt and let it soak in the tea for 30 minutes, turning the shirt occasionally with a spoon.

I really liked the color at this point, so I removed the shirt, carefully wrung it out by hand, and put it in the dryer for 30 minutes to set the color.

I hung the shirt to complete drying. I love the way the tea dyed the fabric with light and dark areas resembling animal skin.

Now, for the fun part. For fringe, I removed the hems from the sleeves and cut strips about 5/8" wide from the sleeve edge to the seam line.

I removed the hem from the bottom of the shirt and cut strips about 5/8" wide and 3 inches long. It is the natural tendency of t-shirt fabric to "curl" and create its own fringe!

Mia and I used Crayola Bright Fabric Markers to add Native American Indian Symbols. Follow the directions on the marker box to heat-set the color.

Last, I added pony beads to the sleeves. Starting at the top of the sleeve, I twisted a fringe strip, added 2-3 beads, and tied a knot in the end of the strip.  I used the same method to add beads to the top 12 strips of each sleeve.  

Mia's brother Noah used vinyl cord and pony beads to create this beautiful beaded necklace for her to wear to the Pow-wow.

Mia had a great time singing and dancing at the Pow-Wow with the Pre-K and Kindergarten classes. She made her Indian headdress at school.

Ready to sing & dance in her Pow-wow
headdress and shirt

Posing in front of the tepee

Princess Moonbeam

Nancy's Notes:

• Here's the site that we used for the Native American symbols: http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/media/downloads/8160-Symbols-and-Descriptions.pdf
• For this shirt, I used an adult size small t-shirt from CVS Pharmacy, cost $2.50.
• You may also dye with coffee as well as traditional dyes.
• See also, "Let's Paint a T-Shirt"!