Sewing For My Sanity

Simplicity 9845 Peace, Love, and Hair Grease

Simplicity 9845 is the dress we all need. Peace and hair grease, hooray! As I wrap up my summer sewing projects, I love everything about sewing with natural fibers.  Natural fibers include cotton, silk, lyocell, wool, hemp, linen, rayon, modal, alpaca fleece, camel hair, and spider silk.  Natural fibers in extreme weather, especially heat, are the key to staying cool, calm, and collected even when everything about your life is on fire and heating up. ⁠

Simplicity 9845

MY Obsession with Jiffy patterns

Let’s talk about this dress because you may not know it, but I have a crazy pattern obsession with Jiffy Patterns.  If you have not tried one, do it! They are the key to getting out of a sewing slump or the sewing cure when you only have a few moments to exhale and sew.⁠ Keep reading to learn why. I absolutely love Simplicity 9845.

Simplicity 9845
Simplicity 9845
Simplicity 9845

⁠Why sew with Jiffy Patterns

Jiffy patterns are ⁠usually 1-3 pieces⁠. This is an immediate bonus. Sometimes, you only have a few moments, and cutting out a million pieces is simply undesirable. This one did require a zipper installation, but sometimes there are no closures or a simple closure. A few Jiffy sewing patterns I’ve made have only one or two pieces like my DIY each like  Beach pants simplicity 8390.

  • 1-3 pieces
  • Vintage⁠
  • Classic⁠ style
  • Easy ⁠to sew
  • Hackable⁠
  • Cool original 

The only drawback with Jiffy patterns is the pattern envelope. Vintage/Jiffy patterns generally do not have an actual photo. While the line drawing is provided, the garment shown on the envelope is not a photo. It is a drawing–almost cartoon-like. Sometimes, figuring out what it would look like on an actual body is challenging. I assume many photos were black and white (or not full color) and expensive to mass produce.

Jiffy Pattern Simplicity 9845 Features

Did I mention how much I love this pattern? It’s a 1960s vintage pattern. Who could not love it?  It immediately says, ‘Im here’ and ‘watch out’ with cool sophistication and is definitely more upscale than the sweatshirts I’ve made.  This is an elegant and classy 1960s-style vintage Simplicity pattern.  You will only need to cut three pieces to construct Simplicity 9845.  I used this beautiful silk from my fabric run in New Orleans. I cut a size 10-12 graded in all the right places.

Simplicity 9845
Simplicity 9845

This A-line dress is collarless and designed with shape-ready front and back darts, complete with diva-ready raglan sleeves. The closure is a standard zipper. The pattern also features variations for sleeve and dress length. One of the unique features of purchasing a Jiffy Vintage Pattern is the “authentic vintage reproduction,” meaning sometimes you get the original cutting layout, instructions, and pattern pieces.

Photos by Rakimism