Dress Ruffles
Chahta Elder Stories: Eveline SteelePublished January 27, 2026
This story is about dress ruffles. The Choctaw women (pl) wear dress ruffles as an embellishment. It’s sort of difficult to make. Not hard but just takes a long time to make it. The width of the ruffles are varied, too. Seamstress/dress makers (pl) do use different [widths]. Some use equal widths of ruffles on a dress. Then, some use and sew ones different from the other.
First of all, you have to think through the width. And then, you tear, join and finish sewing it together. Then fold the edge and finish sewing it. Then make the dress ruffles. [Baste] stitch, pulling it to finish gathering and then sew it on the dress. In this way it takes a lot of time. I believe the longest [widest] of all is the one sewn and attached to the bottom.
As for me, that is what I usually do. And then, agains for me the width of the dress ruffles are all about the same. For some gets shorter [not as wide, with each ruffle]. The bottom is the longest [should be pvtha instead of falaia] of all. Then, again, the second is not as wide. Then some when they make and use three [rows] dress ruffles. Given that, sometimes the third is lest than all others [on the skirt]. But as for me, I use the same [width] whenever I make ruffles. But then, on the top [bodice] I use the least of all, as we all do, and I usually imitate that.
That is all.