skirt -w

skirt -w

skirt -w

3: PERSONAL ARTIFACTS

CLOTHING—Outerwear:

Seminole

Multicolored cloth women’s skirt with banded design and patchwork.

Multicolored cloth women’s skirt with banded design and patchwork. Garment is constructed of strips of fabric machine sewn together to form a pattern of horizontal bands. The bottom edge is folded in half and sewn to the next band, finishing the garment. The top of the main body of the skirt is gathered and sewn into a folded-over strip of purple cloth to finish the edge and form a waistband. The waistband bottom edge is folded over and topstitched on both the interior and exterior leaving no visible raw edge. The main body of the skirt is stitched close up the back, stopping at 5” from the top. The waistband is also open at this point, with the left end extending 3” beyond the body of the skirt to form a hemmed tab and the right side ending in a hemmed edge at the edge of the body of the skirt. This tab could be folded over and attached in some way to the other side of the waistband, but no fastener is present. All waistband stitching is machine sewn with purple thread. The bands that compose the body are machine sewn with a variety of colors of thread, with visible raw edges on the inside. From the bottom, the design is: a medium light yellow strip, a wide purple strip with two rows of orange ric rac appliquéd near the bottom and three rows of light pink ric rac appliquéd near the top, a medium red strip with a row of green ric rac appliquéd near the center, a narrow white strip, a wide band of black, pink, and light yellow pieced patchwork in a checkerboard type pattern set at a slant, a narrow white strip, a wide purple strip with three rows of pink ric rac appliquéd near the bottom and three rows of white ric rac appliquéd near the top, a medium pink strip with black ric rac appliquéd near the center, a narrow bright green strip, a wide band of white,blue, tan,and red pieced patchwork in a triangle and diamond pattern set at a slant, a narrow bright green strip, a medium pink strip with black ric rac appliquéd near the center, a wide purple strip with three rows of white ric rac appliquéd near the bottom and three rows of lime green ric rac appliquéd near the top, a medium orange strip with a row of black ric rac appliquéd near the center, a narrow strip of white, a wide band of white and blue pieced patchwork in a ‘fire’ pattern, a narrow strip of blue, a medium strip of orange with a row of black ric rac appliquéd near the center, a wide strip of purple with three rows of lime green ric rac appliquéd near the bottom and two rows of orange ric rac appliquéd near the top, a medium strip of white, and a wide band of purple with two rows of bright pink ric rac appliquéd near the bottom. The ric rac is machine sewn on with matching thread. Some strips have been lengthened by attaching new sections, leaving vertical seams here and there. The bottom hem is stained with light brown and grayish black, which appears to be consistent with soiling from wearing the long skirt and having it touch the ground.

created for sale to tourists, outsiders /
garment

51.25” W

43” L

cloth(cotton or cotton blend) ric rac(commercial) thread(cotton or cotton blend)

sewn(machine) woven(commercial) dyed(commercial) pieced(patchwork)

applique

Seminole

very good: stain(bottom hem)

1973-21-0001

2110sk/019

object

FL

USA

NA

2010 RECAT: Jodine Perkins

Cotton blends would be available in the 1970’s.

2010 RECAT: Downs, Dorothy. 1995. Art of the Florida Seminole and Miccosukee Indians’. P.92 (on ‘fire’ pattern) Gainesville: University Press of Florida.

Synthetic fiber: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/synthetic_fiber

Indiana University/Mathers Museum