Theoretically, I could have made all of their clothes from scratch, but I’ve been trying to cut down on my work load rather than make it bigger. However, I also didn’t want to be spending lots of money. So I compromised and found some middle ground. I went through my basket of mending to find clothes that may be ripped beyond saving, looked at material I already owned and started planning. Using old aprons, curtains, dresses and the like, I pinned, sewed and altered everything until I came up with something acceptable. The only money I spent was on bonnets (£2.39 a piece) which meant that the total money spent on dress up was less than £10. I was pretty happy with the results:
Mrs Ingalls
L10’s dress up was probably the easiest. I already owned a shirt that looked a little prairie like and an apron. We had been given a large, rather see-through white skirt. I pulled in the waist band considerably so it fit her, which also had the effect of increasing the folds and decreasing how see through it was.
Mary Ingalls
I was so happy with C10’s costume. Her top is her own. The skirt was a dress which I turned into a skirt, by forming a waistband using the top of the dress and cutting off the straps. Her apron is made from one of a pair of curtains which I attached the ties from my old aprons (used to make the rag doll).
Laura Ingalls
A4 is dressed in her own top, a dress (for 9-10 year olds) I altered to fit her and the other one of the pair of curtains (the same C10’s apron was made from). I had to reduce the length of the curtain, but other than that I simply added ties as before.
Carrie Ingalls
I was so pleased by how B2’s turned out. The dress and gypsy top is one of A4’s, whilst her apron I made out of a reconditioned adults waist apron! I cut the ties, leaving enough that the apron could be fastened at the back. The bits of ties I cut off I sewed to the top of the apron as ties to fasten the apron around B2’s neck. It turned out so much better than I thought it would and best of all B2 LOVED the whole set up!