Little House On The Prairie

 Of the books I read growing up, Little House on the Prairie was the first historical fiction series I owned and enjoyed. I loved to look at Garth William's pen and ink drawings in the books. It wasn't until the series came on TV that I became interested in the clothing they wore. Then the internet opened up a new world of research and I spent time looking at what  people wore in that era. I even added some ideas to a unit I wrote for my masters degree. 

The Mary Laura Dress

These dresses were worn by Mary and Laura for a family photograph when Laura was 10 years old. As I did some research on the picture of the girls, I wondered if Laura's dress was brown and Mary's blue (she spoke of those colors in her book once) and if Laura knit the lace for both dresses.  She wrote about knitting yards of lace. 

When making the dress, I used an orange gingham that was printed and some lace that looked hand knit.

It is a cute dress and I'm pleased with how it turned out. The pattern is by Thimbles and Acorns and is well drafted and the fit is great on Nellie. Next up will be the same dress in blue gingham.