On to Williamsburg!

We are going to visit Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown this spring. I am so excited! A group of homeschool families from here are making the trek. This has been such an interesting study here at home, and at a homeschool co-op class the boys are attending. I've especially enjoyed the study because history (US, World, Ancient--all types, really) has been my worst subject all through my own schooling. That's one of the best things about homeschooling: you learn right along with your children.

Of course going to such an historical place would be more fun if you have appropriate attire! So Luci plotted, and I planned, this PINK gown:


Luci called it her "President Wife" outfit. So, I asked her to pose like a President's wife:

I loved it! Hands on hips, ready to tell the Leader of the Free World just what he's got to do here at home to make the wife happy.

(Mom: Did you notice the pineapple? Just right for posing next to, when you are dressed for Williamsburg, don't you think?)

This dress still needs hemming. The pattern calls for lace at the end of the sleeves and at the hem, plus a bow on the ruffle of the sleeve, but Luci does not want that at all. So, risking an unfinished dress, I decided to not put on those details even though hunting for the trims took longer than finding the pattern and the pink material in the first place. I want her to wear this! If it's not "just right" in her eyes, it will remain in the closet. Oh--and I need to make the shawl and mop cap. That's what I get to do tomorrow afternoon.

It was so much fun sewing today. Even when I put the skirt on the bodice inside out and had to take it all apart. I hate ripping out stitches! But I actually enjoyed my day, even with that. Luci has been at her clingiest with bronchitis, and she let me sew. She played Playhouse Disney on my computer, at the table with me, as I worked. I have not sewed in a long time, because I haven't been able to focus on the task while Luci demanded attention. This gives me such hope for making Luci pretty dresses in the near future! She loves dresses, but the ones for her age group are, well, tacky. They are way too skimpy for my taste, too grown-up, too sexually oriented for me to buy for my young daughter. (And I refuse to buy that stuff when she's older, too.)

If I hit the sales at the mall stores, pretty, modest dresses can be found--but I have to buy for next year to be able to afford things...and, as Luci has done in the past, what she loved at shopping time she did not like at all when it came time to wear the clothes. Wasted money!

Here's the pattern: Simplicity 3725, view D














We are in Volume V, Chapter 1 of our Weaver Unit studies. What great timing, as this chapter covers US History from Columbus through the American Revolution. Some of our resources (but certainly not all) are KIDS DISCOVER Magazines (thanks, Mom and Dad for the subscription!), The Light and the Glory for Children, and If you lived in Williamsburg in Colonial Days. There have been quite a few more books from the library that I can't recall off the top of my head right now.