It’s that wonderful time of year when the leaves have changed and I get really cold all the time. It’s the time of year I start thinking about how much I need more jackets in my life. This year, I finally did something about it and sewed up a Kelly Anorak jacket.
When Closet Case released the Kelly Anorak pattern, I had mixed feelings. Mostly I just wasn’t sure if it was my style. After I won the Jeans Contest on Pattern Review, I got a gift certificate to the Closet Case shop and decided to give the Kelly a try. I was hoping to have it done for my European adventure this past summer, but that clearly didn’t happen. But once it got cold, I had the twill and no excuses for not sewing this up.
Underlining
Honestly, I’m glad I put it off for so long. Because I waited, I was able to see Lauren’s amazing version of the Kelly Anorak that was underlined with a quilted thinsulate/cotton situation! I was immediately inspired and got some quilt batting (not the same, I know) and quilted it to my flannel underlining. This was adhered to the body and front yoke pieces for warmth. I used a stretch needle because, as Lauren pointed out, the eye is higher up so it was a bit happier with all the layers of fabric. During the course of finishing seams, I managed to break 4 serger needles. Whoops.
I wanted the jacket to be easy to get on and off and didn’t want to underline sleeves with flannel. I went to Joann and got some “flannel-backed satin” to underline the sleeves. Honestly, I was expecting it to be thicker, but it’s fine for my needs. If I lived in a colder climate, I might have put a layer of flannel between the twill and the flannel-backed satin.
Button caps & snaps & plackets, oh my!
One major change I made (visually at least) was to put the button caps on the inside of the front placket. I’ve read a lot of complaints about how far over the caps are on the placket, but it’d be hard to move them over with the zipper where it is. I honestly wouldn’t have noticed how far over they are until after I made it, I think. Just before starting my jacket, I saw that a friend’s jacket had the snaps inside the placket. Problem solved!
It really just required thinking about it in advance and interfacing the inside part of the placket. Since I had already interfaced the outside, I just cut a narrow strip for the snaps. I folded and pressed the placket, and set all the snaps before sewing. Then I followed the directions for the rest. The collar was a little trickier just because you have to top stitch close to where the snap caps are. I also noticed there were no snap placement markings there so I just guessed. It worked out just fine.
Conclusions
Overall, I’m super happy with this jacket. I made some oopsies here and there, but don’t we all? It just makes it more worth it in the end, I think. Maybe next time, I’ll grade up at the hips. This one is a little bit tight, but not unwearable. I often just snap the waistline snaps and don’t zip it anyway. I’m super excited to have a me-made jacket, and I seriously wear it all the time!
Pattern: Kelly Anorak by Closet Case Patterns
Fabric: Cotton Blend Twill from fabric.com; purple flannel, white flannel-backed satin, and Warm and Natural batting from Joann
Sizing & my measurements: size 10; 37″/29″/42″
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