Wednesday, June 26, 2013

A Few Updates and Such

Hello dear readers. Sorry for my absence this last week or so. Cori and I are in the process of moving so things have been a bit crazy lately. We will be moving back to my parents' house for a few months while Cori is away at the police academy. While not ideal, this will allow us to save a bit on rent as well as put some money aside for the wedding next year. I think we've found a location for the wedding. Now we just need to pick a date! Lol!

In addition to moving, the last few weeks were spend working on a new exhibit at my historical society. If you have an interest in the Civil War and find yourself traveling through Southern Vermont this summer, stop by and check it out!

All my patterns and sewing books are packed as well as most of my vintage clothing. Still need to sort through and pack fabric and sewing supplies... sigh. I hate storing things in plastic totes but that's going to be the best option for right now. And it's only temporary. 

Cori's uniforms take up the back of the closet. I'm really going to miss the closet/storage space in this apartment. :(
Special acid free textiles boxes are the best storage option for older textiles but paper/cardboard boxes are the next best thing as they allow the textiles to "breath". Although I do have a few acid free boxes, I only use them for my antique textiles and very delicate vintage pieces because they are expensive. A few years ago my local historical society ordered a good sized lot of archive material and I was able to tack on an order of textile boxes for myself. It was one of those deals where the more you order the cheap they are. 

If you follow me on Facebook you'll know that I just purchased some vintage wave clips. The kind used for making finger/marcel waves. This weekend I'm going to a special showing of the Great Gatsby with a gathering after so there will be a hair post in the future! I'm planning on wearing my green Downton Abbey gown. (You can read about it here .)
I'll try my best to post a few things in the next couple weeks but if you don't hear from me you’ll know why!

Wave clips!

Friday, June 14, 2013

Modern Beauty Shop - June 1942

For today's Great Hair Friday post, I bring you more from the magazine Modern Beauty Shop. This issue is from June 1941. Enjoy!

Bloglovin Reminder - Just a friendly reminder that you can follow Emily's Vintage Visions through Bloglovin. It may show up under my old blog name, My Vintage Visions. Not sure if there is a way to fix that.
<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/3545306/?claim=jyfj6ve3hay">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

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Wednesday, June 12, 2013

A little happy dance - Copyright issue resovled

Last week I discovered that my post, "New Patterns! - Which One to Sew First?" had been copied and re-posted by another blog without permission. My text, pictures, everything word for word. I tried contacting this blog twice to have my pictures and text removed and nothing happened. I also contacted two other bloggers who had material I discovered had been copied and re-posted by the same blog.

None of us should ever have to make this same discovery. However, if this does happen know that you can do something about it. Under Blogger Polices there is something called Blogger Copyright Tips and Blogger Copyright Policy. These links will help explain the basics of copyright infringement as it applies to bloggers. For a more in depth look at copyright laws visit the U.S. Copyright Office.

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I reported the offending blog and today learned that the blog has been removed from the web entirely! Hooray, little happy dance!! :) I was surprised at how easy it was to file a complaint concerning copyright infringements. If you use Blogger simply follow this link and fill our the form provided. You will be asked to describe the text or photos you believe have been copied and provide links to where both the original and copied contend can be found.

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Thursday, June 6, 2013

69th Anniversary D-Day

Today marks the 69th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy, or D-Day.

One of the most famous images of WWII, titled Into the Jaws of Death - U.S. Troops wading through water and Nazi gunfire, shows U.S. soldiers of Company E, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division landing at Omaha Beach.
 WWII: Europe: France; “Into the Jaws of Death - U.S. Troops wading through water and Nazi gunfire”, circa 1944-06-06. A LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel) from the U.S. Coast Guard-manned USS Samuel Chase disembarks troops of Company E, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division (the Big Red One) wading onto the Fox Green section of Omaha Beach (Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France) on the morning of June 6, 1944. American soldiers encountered the newly formed German 352nd Division when landing. During the initial landing two-thirds of the Company E became casualties. - Photo source The National Archives
An A-20 from the 416th Bomb Group making a bomb run on D-Day, 6 June 1944. Source - United States Army Air Force via National Archive
Interested in attending the 70th anniversary ceremony next June? Check out the blog, Return to Normandy: 2014 for a chance to with a trip to 70th anniversary ceremony. The 1941 Historical Aircraft Group is raising funds to send an original C-47 that flew during D-Day back to Normandy for the D-Day reunion.

One of my favorite PBS programs American Experience did a feature on D-Day. Check out the website which has some really nice interactive features.

An excellent history of D-Day, complete with photo and maps can be found here.

D-Day in Photos from CNN

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Please Do Not Copy Without Permission! It's Rude

Wow, I never thought I would have to say this but here goes.

Please do not copy and re-post images or content from my blog without permission. I work hard on each post and do my best to give others credit when credit is due. I don't get paid to blog or sew, although I wish I did. Please be respectful and ask permission.

I say this because I was rather shocked this morning to discover that another blogger has copied and re-posted an entire post of mine without permission and without linking back to my blog. A complete post and no credit what so ever!! Not cool! I have emailed this person and asked them to kindly remove my post from their blog. The post was one with images of some of my vintage patterns, which unfortunately, I had not put my water mark on. I will be going back and doing that soon.

I'm happy to know that there are people who enjoy my blog and Facebook posts. Like many bloggers, I'm more than happy to share my work, (I would not have started a blog otherwise!) but to copy a person's work and re-post it as your own is very wrong. Not to mention rude and in many cases against the law. It's not difficult to find copyright laws. If you would like to share something that's fine but please ask first or at the very least link back to my blog and let me know you have done so. There is no excuse for stealing someone's work.

My apologies to everyone who has been good about following these rules. This just really ruffled my feathers today!


UPDATE - I'm sharing the link to the blog in question because I believe this blog is being used by someone other that it's creator. It showed up in my Google Reading List because at some point I signed up to follow it. In my reading list most of the posts are about 2 years old. The blog is called "the painted woman - olympic colors for summer 1932" http://thepaintedwoman.blogspot.com/  New posts started appearing about three days ago. However, none of those older posts show when you actually click in to view blog. I Googled the first paragraph of one of the non-racy posts and found it too had been copied in its entirety from another blog. I have notified that blogger.

I left a comment on the post with my material asking that it be removed. We'll see. There didn't seem to be any other way of contacting the person using the blog. :(

UPDATE 6/12/13 - Issue resolved!!

Monday, June 3, 2013

Blue and White Birthday Dress

A little while ago I mentioned that I wanted to make something special for myself for my birthday. I posted pictures here of my newest vintage sewing patterns and many of you commented about what colors or fabrics to use. Thank you all again for your wonder suggestions. The pattern I picked to make is Hollywood pattern 1413.

I really wanted to use the black fabric I picked up a few months ago. It has a pretty red and green flower print. I was imagining it paired with my red 1940s shoes. However, I've been struggling to get my bridesmaid dress finished for my friend's wedding (it's this Saturday!!) so I knew that whatever I ended up making would be a rushed job. I also have a limited amount of that fabric and I didn't want to risk messing up. So, to the fabric stash I went and found this really lovely blue and white cotton. It turned out to be a good choice because it matched the hat I purchased at the Sturbridge Textile Show in May and a pair of navy blue gloves and purse I had in my collection.

Blue and white birthday dress! Happy birthday to me. :)
I knew I would need to line the dress because the blue and white cotton is a little see through. But that turned out ok as I was able to use the muslin mock-up for the bodice lining! I think this is the first pattern I've used in a long time that didn't need any major alterations, unlike my green bridesmaid dress which has turned into a fitting nightmare. (More on that later.) This pattern fit perfectly and it was super easy to put together! I spent one evening playing around with the pattern pieces making sure I actually had enough fabric. (I think I started with somewhere between 2 1/2 and 3 yards) The actual sewing of the dress was completed in a day. Yep, a whole day. Ok, I was up until 11pm working on the darn thing but I got it done!

Because I was in a hurry I didn't take any construction picture but I do have a few of the pattern pieces and the fabric. The skirt is made of three pieces plus the side drape. The back piece, which you can see in the upper right of this photo, was suppose to be cut on the fold. I marked one half then flipped the pattern piece over and marked the other half as I figured out the most economical way to place the all pattern pieces. The skirt front is made of two pieces, the larger of the two you can see in the lower left of the photo. It has three diagonal tucks on one side.

Trying to figure out the best way to lay out all the pattern pieces
It's a good thing I re-read the instructions before I began cutting! The bodice front is cut with the grain running cross ways instead of up and down like all the other pieces. At first I wasn't sure how this was going to look because the blue and white fabric has little woven stripes but it didn't seem to matter. The blue design on the fabric looked the same either way. Unless you are looking at the finished dress really close you can't tell. 

Bodice front and back
The only real challenge I had with this dress was the gathered section of the bodice front. Fiddly is the best way to describe it. I ended up extending the bust darts up to the base of the gathered section to give the front a smoother fit. Other than that I didn't need to change anything. I also left the bow off the bodice but figure that's an easy thing to add later.

The fox wrap was a birthday present from Cori, it was a good find. The lady at the antique mall laughed when I told her I didn't need a bag. :)
Photo op at the phone booth!
For the last couple years Cori and I have gone to Quechee, Vt to celebrate my birthday. It's become a little tradition of ours and I look forward to it every year. We spend a couple hours at the Quechee Antique Mall then go out for lunch. This year my birthday was on Memorial Day so we were able to go to the parade in town, go antiquing, and meet my sister later in the afternoon for a cookout. The days leading up to my birthday were rainy and grey but on Monday there was blue sky and lots of sun! It was a great day. :)

At the Quechee antique mall. If you look closely you can see our reflections in the mirror.
Cori wore one of his WWII naval uniforms. This one belonged to a guy who served in the Seabees. I believe his name is printed inside the uniform but I can't remember at the moment. Some of Cori's uniforms are named and others are not. He has so many now I can't keep track of them all!

This old phone booth at the antique mall made a good spot for photos. Unfortunately, these are really the only photos we took that day. I forgot my camera so we used Cori's cell phone.

Sailor calling home!
We ended the day a visit to a local Civil War memorial
Summary of the Pattern
Fabric: Cotton from the stash
Pattern: Hollywood 1413
Year: 1940s
Notions: Zipper, thread, buckle
How historically accurate is it? I'd give it an 8 out of 10. The print isn't perfect for 1940s but not too bad, however the pattern and construction are very 40s.
Any tricky parts to the pattern? I found the bodice to be fiddly
Did you change anything? I added small darts to the bodice front and back to help it fit a little better.
Time to complete: A couple days.
First worn: May 2013
Total cost: less then $20
Notes: I think it would be wise to do another muslin test of the bodice if I use this pattern again.
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