Swing Flags

A friend of mine asked me to sew some swing flags for her daughter who is in color guard in the local high school band.



I have never sewn these before but my friend found directions for me and this afternoon I finished them!



These great designs are from the creativity of my friend's daughter!



For fun, I asked my daughter to swing them for a photo op!

Paula Vaughan Piano Cross Stitch

Paula Vaughan Cross Stitch

 I thought I would share one of my major cross stitched pieces that hangs over the piano. I adore Paula Vaughan's paintings. Much of her work has been converted to cross stitch, and I have collected a few of her patterns.

This is one of my favorites.I used a high numbered aida cloth for this, since I wanted a large final product to fill a large wall space. The cross stitch itself measures about 17"W x 20"L. By the time I had it double matted and framed, the final measurement became about 25"W x 28"L.

Anne of Green Gables Interview Transcript

Anne of Green Gables WWI Wedding Dress Pattern

 A few months ago the official Anne of Green Gables website for the renown movie production starring Megan Follows, contacted me for an interview. (Editor's Note: It has since been taken down from their website, so I thought I'd share it here.)

1. What made you a fan of Anne of Green Gables in the first place? About a year after I graduated from college, I was introduced to Anne of Green Gables by a friend, who shares the same name I do, but with a different spelling. Her name is Lori Anne and my name is Laurie Ann. She always told me that her name was more special than mine, because she was Ann+e! As I first watched Anne of Green Gables, I found myself immediately identifying with Anne. Having the dreaded stigma of red hair, freckles and being skinny, we both endured “tragical” taunts causing deep woes in life. Like Anne I could be on the peak of ecstasy one moment and the “depths of despair” the next. We both dealt with sorrows and lived out dreams through books. We both excelled in school and became teachers. I too grew up with rather simple practical clothes and dreamed of more fashionable “puffed sleeves” which were commonly considered too extravagant. Like Anne, I reveled in places that provided “scope for the imagination,” allowing thoughts to collect in my mind before putting them on paper. I too dreamed of being a writer and could identify with her attempts at finding her voice. In essence, I found Anne to be a “kindred spirit”.

2. What is it about the costumes in "Anne: The Continuing Story", that strike you? Most striking to me about the costumes in "Anne: The Continuing Story" was the historical accuracy to detail in the design process which allowed the costumes themselves to tell the story of WWI, enhancing the actors’ wonderful interpretations. The 19-teens were a breakthrough era of quick changing fashion due to growing discontent with the status quo from labor unions to prohibition to women’s rights to growing political discontent that had been brewing for years in Europe. During war, arts and fashion shut down through sheer necessity for survival. As portrayed in the movie, the further away one was geographically from war, more fashion was seen. Division in social class was evident, as would be realistically expected. Lower classes used simpler lines and less expensive fabric. Middle class, like Anne, would enhance the fashionable lines with a touch of lace here, cut-work there, a touch of color in a hat there. Ladies, like Diane, who wanted to and could afford to do so, went all out with the most recent fashion of multiple layers and textures of rich fabrics, lace, beads, and feathers. Sometimes the older fashions of the earlier 19th century were evident in the shirtwaist and long skirts, most likely worn by those more set in their ways and not given to the latest fads or fashion. It was fun to see a few of these characters walking about the streets of New York, a remembrance of a recent lovely fashion. On the war front, the mere simplicity of style told the story of desperation for survival, in clothing grabbed from a pile, handed down, pulled from whatever was available. Wool uniforms of soldiers of varying ranks, from armies of different nations, intricacy in detail of ribbons worn, insignia, patches…it all told a personal story. Being from a military family myself, I know that every uniform detail has a meaning, a reason, a story, a history. I have sewn many military costumes from different eras for my son’s historic interpretations, causing me to pay close attention to detail, so I always analyze uniforms. I greatly appreciated the attention to detail in them also because I come from a military family, resulting in a huge appreciation for the military. I used to live at a military base with NATO pilots from around the world. Even then I was fascinated by the detail to each specific country’s uniform. It was natural for me to focus on the vast array of uniforms on the soldiers in the movie. In America, the carefree mindset that the war was “over there” allowed for garden parties in luscious dresses in beautiful layers of whites and pinks. In Europe, whether in Germany, France, or London, survival was expressed with more somber colors. If there was any color at all, it was usually more subdued. As for individuals, I was surprised by my favorites! Annoying Josie Pye wore my favorite dresses! The simple elegance of her dresses were my favorites. Simple classic lines, cheerful colors (unlike her personality) and a touch of lace and sheerness were gorgeous. I also loved her big bow hats! Diane was ever the quintessential elegant and fashionable lady of her era, wearing the popular layers of texture in sheer fabrics and lace with fancy beads around her neck to showcase her important rank in social class. Anne remained stylish, but simpler, perhaps due to economy. A special cut away coat enhanced by fabric covered buttons, or white blouse with cutwork embroidery and lace, to sylish hats with an enhancing band of color were my favorites from her ensemble. Her variety of skirts with simple lines but each with a different type of pleat showcased her frugality yet remaining in touch with modern style. The most flamboyant of all, and the most fun, was Maude Montrose, social editor for The Dispatch in London. She was the ultimate for fashion in the entire movie. She wore the most layers with richness in texture and had double sets of beads around her neck, the short set and the long set! Her hats were the biggest and most showy! Isn’t that exactly how we’d expect a social editor of that era to dress? However, here comes Anne, to take some of her work details since Maude is hobbling around with a non-glamorous cast on her foot. Anne’s simple style and touching war-front message hits home with her audience, in both public speaking venues and on the front page of The Dispatch, setting up a rivalry with Maude. I sew many historical costumes for history teaching presentations and I think Maude’s fashion would be the most fun to recreate when interpreting the era! In essence, the costumes told the stories the actors were expressing with their actions and words to tell the great WWI story.

3. As a history teacher, how do you think that "The Continuing Story" can be incorporated into classroom lessons? As a teacher, I try to inspire my students to learn history by becoming history. With "Anne: The Continuing Story", the students can watch the movie and choose a part that spoke to them the most, and become that character, reinterpreting their story for a presentation. It could be a main character, a minor character or one of the extras. Everyone has a story. Which one do they want to tell, in order to tell the bigger story of WWI? Research skills would be employed by outlining the character’s known story from the movie. Then the blanks can be filled in from researching at the library to discover the history, culture and geography surrounding that particular character. Which country were they set in? What was their life like before the war? What was their involvement in the war. How did their lives change due to the war, during and after? Then they can write a narrative of their story to present to an audience. Their speech should be enough to grab the audience’s attention, to inspire them to want to learn more about WWI. The student should have done enough background research on WWI and their country setting, etc to be able to field questions from the audience, answered in the persona of their character. To enhance the experience, the student can design and assemble a costume. Whether sewing or creative hunting in vintage stores, thrift shops or grandma’s attic, this is the portion that kid’s usually fall in love with and excite them about becoming history. Would there be an appropriate prop to help them tell their story? Becoming history would also allow them to become part of "Anne: The Continuing Story", building ties and connections, helping them to identify with the characters more than before.

4. In what ways does the film portray the war so accurately? "Anne: The Continuing Story" portrays the war quite accurately from America’s initial non-involvement contrasting with Canada’s early intervention. The depth of emotion of husbands making the difficult decision to tear away from their families to go to war contrasting with wives facing the difficulty to support their husbands, knowing the likelihood they may never see each other again. Accurately portrayed were the reality of the horrors of war, the destruction of land, buildings, transportation and life. Seeking to find healing of emotion when a soldier loses a limb, when a wife can’t find her husband, when war refugees don’t know whom to trust, are all accurately portrayed. The poignancy of a wife going to the American and British embassies for help to find her lost husband contrasted with the powerlessness to find a prisoner of war was real. The fear of the ordeal of air raids, whom to trust when spies lurk about, the hazards of travel to the front not only are grippingly portrayed, but realistic. Most accurate and new to me to “experience” was the portrayal of anarchy in Germany hours before the armistice, the hopelessness of finding a prisoner of war, and the resolve of the German officers boarding the train under escort to meet with General Pershing to sign armistice papers, brought a new perspective to the final moments of the war, yet matching other war time accounts I have read.

5. What do you think sets the costumes in the Anne films apart from other period pieces from that era? I’ve only seen a few WWI era movies, but they have been very specific to one or two locations and usually set only on the battle zone or far away dealing with fringe effects from the war. Anne, The Continuing Story covers the war from many interesting facets. Five countries are featured in setting: America, Canada, England, France and Germany. Soldiers from each of those countries, as well as civilians, are featured. Every social class and age level is featured. Nearly the entire span of the war, from 1915-1918 is showcased. I think this range told a bigger story of the war, from different angles and perspectives, making the story more global, as truly, it was.