The Native American costumes were quite easy to make.  For all of our costumes, I think I purchased ultra-suede.  The positives are that it looks like actual Native American clothing and it was extremely comfortable to wear.      

     This time, my son's costume was the only one with a pattern.  I followed the pattern for the pants, except for the waistband. Instead of using elastic, I thought it would be more "authentic" if I used rawhide string for a drawstring.  Inspired by a picture I saw, I added the loin cloth, using a rust colored ultra-suede. I cut out rectangles and made a casing at the top to thread more rawhide string to tie it on.   I did not make any seams in the sides.  I doubt that any of the Native Americans made finishing seams, so I didn't either.

My son made the leather pouch from a kit he got at Hobby Lobby. He also made the bear claw necklace with items he got at Hobby Lobby.

     The dresses I made for my daughter and myself had no pattern. She wanted to be Pocahontas, so I googled images of Pocahontas.  I styled our dresses based on ideas I got from the search. I got ultra-suede fabric for our costumes. The fabric comes from the store like this:

I refolded the fabric to look like this:

Then I had my daughter lay down on the fabric. I basically marked lines like this with pins around her body, making sure I would have about 5/8" seam allowance.  I wanted the dress to be slender on her, so I marked the seams with pins near her body.

      I sewed the seams on the sides. I cut fringe on the bottom.  I did not finish off the seams at the armhole.

      For the neckline, I cut a rectangular piece of the ultra-suede, fringed one side of it, then sewed it into the neckline. Then we went to Hobby Lobby to find embellishments.  Pocahontas might have embellished her dresses with seashells. My daughter chose this green shell which already had holes drilled into the end. I took some twine and strung it through, knotting the end.  Next I sewed it into the neckline, varying the length to match the fringe...

 and knotted the other end on the underneath side of the fabric.  

      I made my dress in a similar manner, choosing pink shells and sewing the fringe in a bit differently.

     These shells had holes drilled into them, from end to end.

I sewed them on like this...

      Since the Native Americans used a purple shell for money (called Wampung in Plymouth), I found a purple necklace seashell necklace at Hobby Lobby. My daughter, made one for a craft project, but I don't recall if she wore it.

     Finally, my son made each of us a pair of moccasins from kits I got at Hobby Lobby (I miss Hobby Lobby! There are none around here!)