Making a Wrap Skirt
These instructions are gathered from personal experience and other resources.

Materials:
Wool – Lightweight to medium wool. Colors for traditional skirts would be red, black or blue. If you are allergic to wool, you can line the inside of the skirt.
Linen – Medium weight is better. Traditional colors would be red, black or blue.
Trim – Ribbon (silk) that is 1 inch to 1.25 inch wide. Colors would be yellow, green, red and blue. Metal cones with colored deer hair can be attached to the edge, thimbles and silver/copper brooches can be attached as well. If using beadwork, sew it to the ribbon or can be sewn on to the edge as well.
Twill tape – used for draw stings in skirt.

How to measure:
Using a tape measure placed the end of the tape measure on the outside of your left hip, wrap it around both of your hips until it comes back around to the outside of your right hip. Add an inch to the measurement for hemming.
Or
Length around for skirt – Measure around your hips and multiply it by 1.5. (Example hips measure 36 inches x 1.5 = 54 inches.
Length downward – measure from waist to knee or below knee and add an inch for hemming.
Skirt should look like a long rectangle when finished.

Making a drawstring: (You can use a leather belt around the waist area of the skirt to hold it in place.)
Cut the twill tape 3 quarters of an inch wide.The length should be your waist size x’s 2. And add 12 inches to that measurement. (Example: waist measures 28 inches x 2 = 56 + 12= 68 inches.)
When ready, fold over one inch at the top of the skirt with drawstring inside and sew down. Make sure when you sew, not to sew the drawstring to the skirt. It should move freely in the fold.

Decorating with Ribbon, Trim and/or Beadwork:
If using metal cones with dyed deer tail, attach or sew the cone to the hem on the inside of the skirt allowing it to hang under the hem. You can also use small shells in the same way.

If using ribbon, sew the ribbon around the bottom of the skirt. You can sew several rows of ribbon. You might also want to sew the ribbon running up the skirt to the waist on the front flap. You may also want to sew on beadwork to the ribbon. A straight line of 3 beads, skip a space and 3 beads continuously is a favorite.

Creating geometric shapes can be used for edging of the skirt. Lines of single beads as well. White beads or waupum are a favorite to bead with.

Wearing the skirt:
According to how you made the skirt will be how you wrap it. For me I place the edge of the skirt on the outside of my right leg, wrapping it around my left leg behind me and coming over my right leg with the flap falling over my left leg. You can pull the drawstrings and tie or you can use a leather belt to hold the waist in place. You can also use more modern means of fastening.

If you have comments, questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at weeyacalif@gmail.com.

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Documentation:
Wrap Skirt/Skirts-
The women have some of them a short petticoat reaching the knee; few of them have any shirts… (By Patrick M’Robert 1774 & 1775)

Many Cherokee women came here today, clad very decently in half-linen or cotton skirts. (By Samuel Cole Williams 1799)

…the women, is a petticoat, made of a piece of cloth about two yards long, fastened tight about the hips, and hanging down a little below the knees. (By George Henry Loskiel 1794)

They wear a skirt of deerskin or cloth instead of a loincloth. This goes around the body, and is folded double over a belt or cord around the hips.

This skirt reaches only to the knees and often has ribbons for decoration or ornament around the bottom, as well as porcupine quills and little bells.  (By J.C.B., French Soldier between 1751 – 1761)

They have a short blue petticoat which reaches to their knees, the edge of which is bordered with red or other-colored ribbons. (By Peter Kalm travels in 1750 and 1751)

Girls of an early age wear their dresses shorter than those more advanced. (By Alexander Henry, Esq. 1760-1776)

The dress which particularly distinguishes the women is a petticoat or strowd, blue, red or black, made of a piece of cloth about two yards long, adorned with red, blue, or yellow bands laid double and bound about the body. (By David Zeisberger 1779 and 1780)

…petticoats for the women, made of cloth, generally red, blue, or black. (By Rev. John Heckewelder 1788)

…a stroud or petticoat, simply a yard and a half of six quarter blue clothe with white selvidge, wrapped around her waist and confined with a girdle, and extending a little below the knee…(By Rev. O. M. Spencer 1792)

…they wear a piece of cloth folded closely round their middle, which reaches from the waist to the knees. Dark blue or green cloths in general are preferred to those of any other colour…(By Isaac Weld, Jun. 1795 -1797)

​Their petticoats are made either of leather or cloth, and reach from the waist to the knee. (By J. Carver, Esq. 1767 and 1768)

…appreciated well-made linen for its body and durability. (Barbara R. Duncan, Cherokee Clothing – In the 1700s pg. 13)

…used linen, particularly in the summer, but they mainly used red or blue stroud cloth. (Barbara R. Duncan, Cherokee Clothing – In the 1700s pg. 45)

Hernando de Soto recorded…the women were clothed…of homespun linen. (Swanton 1946, 451)