As a long time reenactor of the pioneer era I have done extensive study of the clothing of that era and have also hand sewn almost every garmet a person could need right up to greatcoats and capes.

Keep in mind that there were no sewing machines in the average household until after 1850.

Pants are the most difficult items in the clothing inventory to make.

A women could stitch up a half dozen shifts or skirts and blouses before she could finish a single pair of pants.

The women also had tricks they used to keep their skirts out of the way and espically out of the fire. They would often pull the back hem of their skirts between their legs and tuck the hem into their belts, forming a type of kolocks.

The difficulty of making pants is one reason they put all children in dresses until they were 4-5 years old, when the boys were "breeched", or put into pants for school and social events.

Even the men did not wear their pants around the house. They wore a heavy "housecoat" or robe called a Banard, to save their regular clothes.