Historically Inspired "Prairie" Dresses

For those of you who don't know (and most of you don't), historical costuming has been an interest of mine for as long as I can remember, even though making my own historical costumes is a recent venture.

As of the 5th of this month, it has been two years since my Grandma W. went to be with the Lord. I have been thinking about the Christmases that she took the time to make something with her own hands for each of us girls and send them across the States for our Christmas. She usually color-coded what she made for us. "Marianne" usually had something blue, I had something purple, and "Margaret" had something red/orange.

One year, Grandma made us historical dresses with pinafores. Here is a picture of me (back, left) and "Marianne" (back, right) in ours. ("Margaret" is wearing a dress my mom made her.) (i I think this picture was taken in 2004.) Oh, we wore those dresses so much we wore them out! I loved having something "Little House-ish" to wear, as my goal was always to be like Laura. ;-)

Since I embarked on historical sewing about a year ago, I have often wished that I could have shown Grandma the things I have made. Of course, I can't, but I still am grateful for the time she invested in those outfits that she knew would be so special to us, and I am thankful for the inspiration she was to me!

I hope you all have had a good launch into the Christmas season! Keep your eyes on Jesus Christ, through whom we may have unspeakable joy and eternal life!

~"Elinor" :-)