Kelly Anorak by Closet Case

I bought this pattern a few years ago. When I've gone looking for a new jacket to buy, I've always imagined something like this, but never been able to find it. Now I've finally got round to making one! It's not quite what I envisioned though. Maybe the olive green isn't quite what I wanted, but it's close enough. I would have liked epaulettes on the shoulders, but they're not included in the pattern and I didn't really think about it until later on. I suppose it's something I could probably sew on. If I knew how to make epaulettes that is. I'm in my socks because I don't have any suitable shoes right now. None of my photos are really the jacket in its final form. I need to wash it because there are markings all over it, including one section where I traced the pattern wrong and had to start over. It also needs a decent press. It's been hanging over chairs, screwed up in a ball, man handled through a sewing machine and dragged all over the place while I installed the snaps, so I imagine it'll look a lot nicer than this when it's properly finished.

I think I made a size 12, which I imagine is a US size 12, so larger than my usual size. I'd picked the size using the finished measurements, and I thought it seemed nice and roomy. The finished jacket is actually much smaller than I was anticipating. There's not much room at all around the bust and the arms are pretty narrow.

The main thing I don't like about it is the sleeves. They're set in sleeves and were a beast to sew. My fabric was quite thick and kept managing to get tiny puckers or folds. After several attempts, I think I've mostly got them out, or at least so they're not particularly obvious. The lining was supposed to be shorter than the main sleeves so that it tucks up inside, but mine keeps wanting to come out. It's as if I have far too much lining. Even in the body too, it looks like the lining is too baggy. There's noting holding the sleeve lining in place so sometimes you have to stuff it back inside. I feel like it maybe should have been tacked somewhere. But back to the sleeves. The thing I dislike the most is that you can't really lift your arms any higher than waist level because the arm holes are just so tight. I suppose it's not a problem if all you're doing is walking around, but don't try and do anything active, like lifting something or putting a backpack on.

But anyway, I really like it and I really enjoyed the process of making it. I think there were about 20 pages of instructions. I feel like it was a pretty simple project, yet also a pretty complicated one. I'm sure that doesn't make sense. I suppose overall it was fairly simple but there were a few complicated steps in between. I was stuck for quite a while with one of the parts involving one of the front facings. Even looking at the sew along pictures didn't help. And I didn't realise that the right hand side zip was supposed to be sewn flat to the hood facing at the top, so I didn't check that and it ended up being sewn in the wrong way. I still feel weird about it being sewn flat. It seems as if it should have been finished at the top like it is at the bottom and able to move around because it makes it weirdly tight at the neck when you pull the zip all the way up. You can't really have the zip fully up and not have the hood up. If you don't want to wear the hood then it seems better to have the zip only half way up, which I'm not doing in any of my photos in order to hide a T-shirt with a terrible neckline!

I also didn't realise that when I topstitched the casing, (from the right side) that the stitching would go onto the facings inside. I suppose I thought it would go through the lining only, which is why I had white for my bobbin thread, so that it wouldn't look bad on the mostly white lining. If I'd known I'd probably have stitched to the end of the lining, then backstitched and then changed my bobbin thread to the olive colour and continued sewing with that so it wouldn't be so visible.

I also had the same problem with this jacket that I had with the Jalie hoodies. I had to sew the hood lining down around the neckline, which I did, pretty neatly I think. But then when you look at it from the other side, it looks like you let a drunk person do your topstitching. I unpicked it and retried in several different sections a bunch of times, but in the end, I decided to ignore it. It's under the hood anyway and I doubt anyone is ever going to be so close to the back of me while I have my hood up that they'll notice. And so what if they do? I suppose one other complaint is that the hood is a bit on the small side, especially if you have your hair in a ponytail. I'd have liked it slightly larger.

Oh, isn't it amazing how well the zip matches the fabric? That was complete fluke. I bought my fabric and all the notions from Ebay. I think I spent around £50. My fabric was relatively cheap. I think the lining might have cost more than the outer fabric. I think that was a cotton drill fabric. At least it was advertised as cotton drill, but when I went back to look I think it was actually a poly cotton. Maybe 60% cotton, 40% polyester. The reason the project was so costly was because the eyelets (of which I used only two!) cost £7.99 because they came with a setting tool. The snaps too came in a pack with the antique brass and a set of silver snaps, so if I was to do another project, I could use them. I could also get silver eyelets without having to buy the setting tools.

I really need to press the hem! I think that's the part where I'm least happiest with my sewing. The hem seemed to curve, so it was difficult to get it folded up properly.

The instructions talked about adjusting the placement of the drawstring casing to your natural waist. I'm sure the pattern wasn't designed for someone who is 5 foot 2, but I felt it was in a pretty good position for me. Looking at this photo, maybe I could have placed it slightly higher, but I'm pretty happy with the way it looks.

I didn't really love the look of the pockets on the pattern. The pocket flap is just purely for decoration and serves no purpose. The look has grown on me though.

A cat. (Belonging to me)

My plum tree.

My camera is making it look like a completely different colour now I'm inside. Here's a better photo of the pocket. The pocket flap just folds over and is secured down with a snap. I saw when they made a waterproof version on the Closet Case website, they cut the flap separately and attached it just above the pocket opening so that it would keep the inside of the pocket dry, which seems sensible. Since my jacket is made from cotton, it's not going to be any good in the rain. I made it as an autumn/spring jacket really. It was supposed to be not too warm, but at the same time, warm enough for cooler weather. I might change the cord lock I've used. I saw some nicer metal ones. You can also get little end pieces that you can put on the end of your cord to make it look nicer, like the plastic bits you get on shoe laces. I think I might get them too. Oh, and I should mention about the pockets, they're roomy enough for my phone to fit into, which is great considering how large phones seem to be these days. I think the correct name for these type of pockets with the gusset part might be bellows pockets??? I've made them before on some utility type trousers.

Installing the eyelets and studs wasn't much fun. Since the fabric was so thick, it was hard to make a hole through all the layers big enough to fit the various stud posts and eyelets. Neither the studs or the eyelets came with any instructions, so I had to find instructions via Google.

Overall though, I'm happy with the way the jacket turned out. I think all the little details, like the zipper teeth matching the colour of the studs and the eyelets help to make it look more professional, even if the sewing isn't all that professional. I have some of the olive drill fabric left, so I thought maybe I'd sew up some kind of a bag to sell in my shop to fund my next project.