Breaking all the rules! Pattern review: Simplicity Jiffy Dress 1059

I broke so many rules with this pattern! But more on that later. Let me start from the top.

It’s definitely an oldie but goodie. If you’re not familiar with this pattern it’s a vintage Simplicity pattern from 1969. I love this pattern because on some level I’d like to think my late aunt, who was a seamstress, might’ve tried the same pattern. 

For my version of this pattern, I used a navy blue  rayon challis from here. I chose view A. I experienced a lot of firsts with this pattern. I had the opportunity to work with front pleats and inserting a v-neck facing. I also didn’t follow all of the directions in the pattern. And I always follow directions! Here’s some modifications that I made to the dress:

1. Omitting the zipper in the back. In my research other bloggers said that the back zipper was not necessary since the neck opening is wide enough. I cut my back piece on the fold. And saved my time and money on a zipper!
2. I did not use interfacing on the neckline. This was more of a personal experiment. The dress has a very delicate silhouette. I did not want a stiff neckline. Not only did skipping this step save on time, I found it unnecessary in my process.
3. V-neck facing: Since I omitted the back zipper, I also made the back piece of the v-neck facing into one single piece versus two pieces.
4. Sleeves: Unhemmed, the sleeves were a bit long. Instead of hemming the sleeves at 5/8 inch, I hemmed it at 1 inch and used 3/4 inch elastic bands.
5. Bottom hem: I actually cut 3 inches off the bottom and then hemmed it up 2 inches.
6. Sans the sash: TRUE STORY! I ran out of fabric to make the sash. So I cinched my waist with a leopard belt from Target. 

Will I use this pattern again? In a jiffy! (See what I did there?). Next time, I would love to try a really groovy print!

XO