contemptradish

I'm making a northern cloth dress for my wife now and looking around at dentalium shells. it seems like most of the stuff out there is pretty short. what average size are people using now for shell tops? or are people using bugle beads instead... or anything else even?

and to be honest with you, she's not going to dance in it much, so a less expensive version wouldn't be the worst idea.

thanks.

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billyjoejimbob

WIFE!!!???

i have seen bugle beads on the NW stuff like Yakima and Blackfeet and such. Dentalium I have REALLY only seen on Lakota dresses, or at least the ones left in the museums.

And by the way, THANKS, Jen is gonna want one now!!!

(check out the FSU mascot thread, thought you may be able to give some insight)

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WocusWoman

Dentalium is very common within tribes up and down the West coast, and in various pieces of regalia and artwork. It is getting harder and harder to find the good stuff though. Much of the cheap stuff you can find, is from overseas. The nice long ones up here go for $1 each and up depending on length.

Cheshire Cat

There are two types of denilium..smooth(which is the most sought after and originally used) and the ribbed (which you will find more in stores). Check Crazy Crow and a good one...EBAy where you can find VERY good deals on dentilium. Almost all the shells you will find and reasonable...will be ribbed. I was lucky enough to get 5lb. of Smooth Dentilium on EBay from a store going out of business and it was the 2+ inche long type. that will just about get me going on a full shelled Sioux/Cheyenne dentilium topped dress and will need more for the sleaves and bottom of the dress. Oh...I paid 80$ for those shells and that was cheap.

contemptradish

hey, when we've been living together this long, close enough.

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contemptradish

a little while ago, when i first started checking around, i bought one of those bags off ebay. they were all super short and broke and were uneven. uggh. i guess i'll keep checking around...

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gourdmaker123

I found this company named Trinidad Trading out of Trinidad, California who sell them by the in bulk (1300 mixed pieces ranging from 3/4" to 1 1/2") for 30.00. Phone 707-667-0711

Trinidad link: http://trinidadtrading.com/catalog/p...products_id=41

This is the cheepest i found in the us for bulk prices. Crazy Crow offers them but they are in dozen pack ranging from 3.35 for X-Lg, 1.50 for Med, and 3.50 for Small they do offer wholesale for those tax exempt/wholesale people. Personally with a large project bulk is better and in this case a lot cheeper.

Crazy crow link: http://www.crazycrow.com/Merchant2/m...de=565-400-000

I do hope this helps you out in your searches for Dentalium Shells. :-)

Czechy

The thicker bugle beads with the satin white (rather than opaque white) finish look pretty good. From a distance they look just like dentalium. Good luck with whatever you end up using. You will be sewing THOUSANDS of those things on!

tribaltagz

My Lakota Sis has made 6 or 7 dentallium tops, all from a big trash bag of shells some vendor GAVE her that he'd been hauling around for years and didn't know what to do with them. Earlier this year I bought 5 pounds of the old time smooth shell for like $20..... average length 1 1/2- 2 inches..... found them online and since then I've been trying to find where I got them so I could get some more and can't find them! I'll keep looking though!

contemptradish

wow! well let me know when you figure it out.

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