At 17, Alicia Hibbert is already
a determined and passionate home sewer. Alicia began taking weekly sewing
 lessons at Jane Gilder’s Sew Know How dressmaking school when she was about 15. Jane says her students “love to come and sew, sew, sew and not have to worry about assignments.” Alicia made this dress in only five weeks of lessons. She settled
on the pattern easily but selecting and sourcing the fabric proved more difficult. The entire roll of Alicia’s first choice had been sold to someone else. In the end, the chiffon was ordered from Sydney (arriving after a lengthy delay) and the lining came from Invercargill. Read more about the history of home sewing in the New Zealand Fashion Museum publication Home Sewn.