Pioneer Dress #2

 This is Lila's "Laura dress". It is made from a homespun-type fabric we bought from Joann. I followed an old pattern Simplicity 9708 that my friend Diane had given me. I used the new version of this pattern for Maggie's dress.  Lila wore this outfit to piano lessons today. I don't know what her teacher must think. Between her bike helmets, outlandish fashion, and pioneer dresses, my girl certainly has her own styles. I miss the (very short) days when I could dress her like a doll where everything matched from head-to-toe.  These days, if I try to make suggestions, she calmly tells me, "Mommy, I'm different than this family, please let me wear it". She has her own style. You can't tell here, but under the dress she is wearing her purple patent leather flats because "they are the most old-fashioned shoes" she owns. I know some day she will probably come to me (as I did to my mother) and say "How could you let me leave the house like that!?" I think I will calmly reply "Just wait, my darling, wait until you have a daughter of your own, then we'll talk".

As a funny side note, I mentioned that Maggie wore her dress to church last weekend. Afterward, word got back to me that a middle-school age young woman saw Maggie wearing her dress and asked her mother flatly, "Did you make me wear dresses like that when I was little?" To which her crafty mother simply responded, "No". The young woman was relieved and said "Good." 

I do hope my girls look back on all this and smile. I do hope they remember these days with fond and joyful memories as I know I will. I hope they know their mother loved them well.

The Ingalls come to O'Bannon Woods

 Last weekend we participated in "A Day on the Farm as a Pioneer Child" at O'Bannon Woods. It was a lot of fun! They had asked Cam to bring a goat and do a milking demonstration and we were all able to go. The best part was, my friend Diane was able to loan Lila and me some period attire. The girls were running around all morning calling each other "Laura" and "Mary" and Cam and me "Pa" and "Ma".

The girls were technically too young for the activities, but they let them participate anyway. There was goat-milking, bread-making, feeding of oxen, brushing out horses, and more. They both really enjoyed being with the big girls. 

 The dress that fit Maggie was red and she really didn't think that Mary would wear a red dress. At least that was her reasoning for not wearing it. So, she's not very period-friendly, but she sure is cute!

 Here's Ma. Diane had two potential dresses for me. One was much fancier than the other and I was sure Lila would pick that one for me. But, she chose this one because it looked "just like Ma". I brought some knitting along and sat near the goats.

 Here's Pa. Cam shaved his goatee the night before for more authenticity. It's kind of rare for me to see his face! The kids all loved the demo. All but one of them tried milking. I was impressed at their willingness to try.

Here's Olga being spoiled by clover the girls were picking for her. There were quite a few other volunteers there that day and they were all so friendly and welcoming. The whole experience makes me want to sew some of our own pioneer clothing and do this more often. Diane to the rescue again, she is hunting up her old patterns!