A great jacket with lovely details
A review of Closet Core Patterns Kelly Anorak
Reviewed by MingMakes on 11th April, 2024
Behold my sunny yellow Kelly Anorak! I always love my most recent make the most, but this one is so practical and needed in my wardrobe, it’s had a lot of love and wear. It’s absolutely perfect for the wet spring we are having here in the UK. This yellow just pops against the grey background and amongst the sea of black and blue anoraks out there.
I made this on a 3 day workshop with Claire Tyler two months ago. Good thing too as it would have taken me months on my own. I’m not the fastest at sewing and wanted to get through as much as possible in those 3 days so I didn’t bother with the topstitching but this is something I’m really regretting. I get topstitch envy when looking at other people’s versions! The pocket and hardware details really make this jacket.
Fit:
I bought the lining expansion pack and used the sleeves from that, which are slightly wider and without a cuff. I cut a size 6 and did an upper rounded adjustment of 1.5cm. This fit pretty well but it’s still a tad tight around my upper back, I might have benefitted from a lower RBA as well.
Fabric:
Outer – Yellow dry oilskin from Merchant & Mills. This was really nice to sew with and has a lovely soft matt feel.
Lining – I used some flannel from my stash to line it, leftovers from the very first garment I made 4 years ago, some PJ bottoms. The jacket was still pretty lightweight and I was surprised how warm and windproof it felt.
Sleeves – Royal blue Bremsilk from Bloomsbury Square Fabrics left over from my Eden Coat
I redid the zip 3 times, as having sewn it on one side, I was 1cm too long on the other side. This meant the yoke and drawstring channels didn’t match up but I finally managed it with a lot of easing in.
I used silver hardware which was a faff for me to find for some reason, they were either out of stock or the wrong size or needed a very specific search term. On some sites ‘cord ends’ seemed interchangeable with ‘cord stoppers’ or toggles …
Also folks, don’t do what I did and attach one side of your snaps before marking the other side through the hole. This will add plenty of time to your project, ask me how I know!
Lots more photos and details on my blog if you’re interested.