I don’t know how to sew. I would have loved to have been offered Textiles as a subject in school, like my younger sister was, but alas, instead my tech selection was Food Technology. During my childhood on the farm our family consisted of 3 adults and 5 children, so my mum was kept plenty busy running such a full household–as a result she taught me the absolute basics of mending when it was necessary, but I never had an interest in learning the skill in earnest. I could never even produce a straight backstitch, so I found the whole thing frustrating and generally avoided it when I could. Fast forward to my 20s, I realised knowing how to sew properly would’ve been a very useful skill to have, sewing machine and all. That notion has haunted me for the entire 10 years I’ve been dressing in vintage style clothing, and finally this year I decided to do something about it. Not by undertaking any sensible measures like signing up for a sewing class, of course. No, I grabbed Gertie Sews Jiffy Dresses and decided the Popover dress was as good a place to start as any.

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