Kelly Anorak Archives

Team Closet Core Patterns and our New Kelly Anoraks

2 November 2017 by Heather Lou 13 Comments

It occurred to me recently that my studio manager Alexis has been with me for almost two years and has yet to make a physical appearance here on the blog. She's quite camera shy but since we have two beautiful new Kelly Anoraks to show you I decided it was time to aim the lens her way and tell you a little bit about our work together.

I honestly don't know what I would do without Alex. She's in the office 4-5 days a week depending on how much we've got going on, and takes care of customer service, shipping and general office admin, in addition to helping me prepare patterns for release, which includes lots of sample sewing, instruction writing and editing, and all the eye gaugingly boring editing and formatting that starts making me a little crazy when we're nearing the final stretch. She's great at everything I throw at her and has a really sharp, critical eye. She's also more thoughtful and methodical then I am, so it's a good balance for my hyper-impulsive-a-million-ideas-at-once energy. The most exciting news is that after working out of the same apartment for the last couple of years (first as my home and currently just as a workspace, which she always took in easy stride) I've found us a new studio in a commercial building nearby. We'll have lots more space and light to work in, which means we won't be constantly talking with a wall in the way.

So, these Anoraks. I wanted to create some extra resources for constructing our Kelly Anorak since it's one of the patterns we get the most questions about. I was originally thinking of filming a new online course, but it's been such a busy year and I was starting to approach burn-out before I pumped the breaks on a few new projects. Instead, I asked Alex to create a full sewalong for this pattern on her own. Over the last couple of months, she's constructed these two gorgeous Kellys, photographing them every step of the way in between the million other things we constantly seem to be chipping away at. The blog posts won't be ready to likely sometime in December or January (this writing part takes the longest and we'll be crazy busy with the move so I don't have a definite date in mind yet) but if you've been yearning for a little extra handholding with Kelly, we (mainly Alex) will have you covered in the months ahead.

For the sewalong, Alex sewed two complete Anoraks, one with lining and one without. Here is the one she made for herself, the unlined original version with hood:

It's made with a cotton twill from our stash (I believe from Mood?), along with the hardware from one of our Kelly Anorak kits. It's so beautifully sewn; Alex was originally a quilter and has a knack for really precise, beautiful stitching. She hasn't been sewing garments for that long; we actually met at a knit sewing class I taught a few years ago, and she can now sew pretty much anything like a pro.

Since Alex also had to make a lined Kelly, I requested a truly waterproof raincoat version (the nylon one I made gets a little soggy in a downpour). I've been meaning to make one myself, but I've made so many Kelly's that I decided to just take advantage of her brilliant topstitching and greedily take this one home.

For this version, we used our Kelly lining expansion, our gold hardware kit and a special waterproof outerwear fabric (from Seattle Fabrics here). Technically you can make lightweight unlined jackets with this fabric, but I wanted something a little warmer, so I found a beautiful flannel backed satin lining. Unfortunately I got the last few yards, otherwise, I would have bought the roll and used it in every future coat project - the colour is gorgeous. Alex used this seam sealing tape on all the seams (we'll cover this in greater detail in the upcoming sewalong) and so far it's held up like gangbusters. I've taken the dogs on a few super rainy walks and stayed as dry as a bone from the bum up. We also slightly modified the pockets so that there is an external flap; this keeps water from pooling in the pockets, which always have loose dog treats in them, which when soggy is basically the grossest thing I can imagine sticking your hands into. Yay for not having dog treat soup in your pockets.

Waterproof or not, I've been wearing it every day. I like the nautical vibe of the navy and gold (especially with my white ginger jeans!), and it's super warm and windproof and should get me well into December before the snow starts calling for a warmer layer. Alex has been wearing hers every day too, so we basically look like really dorky brand ambassadors walking around together.

Have you made a Kelly yet? Would a sewalong be the kick in the pants you needed to get started?

Kelly Anorak Hardware Kits + New Kelly Lining Pattern Expansion now in the shop!

11 May 2017 by Heather Lou Leave a Comment

You ask, we listen. We designed our bestselling Kelly Anorak to resemble some of the RTW anoraks we were inspired by; sans lining, but professionally finished on the inside. However, many of you requested a lining for your Kelly, and we understand why. Linings can be functional and beautiful; they help coats glide on more easily, look fabulous when you choose a fun fabric, and can help add warmth for cooler weather (especially if you use a flannel backed satin or add a wool or thinsulate interlining).

Our new pattern expansion for the Kelly Anorak includes a number of new facing and lining pieces to help your create a beautiful lined finish on the inside. We also included a modified outer sleeve; slightly roomier to accommodate a lining, it's a little easier to sew than the original since we omitted the cuff.

A few changes were made to the construction to accommodate the lining, so we have also included a new set of instructions to walk you through the entire jacket making process from start to finish. The construction was a little tricky to figure out because of the placket design but I think I found the easiest way to insert a lining with very little hand-sewing. The final assembly is a modified version of the "bagging a lining" process and will help you create a neat, clean finish on the inside of your coat. If you'd like a little additional help, you may find some of the posts from our Clare Coat sewalong to be helpful. I talk about choosing a coat lining here, and walk you through bagging a lining here (the process is a little different but you may still find it helpful).

Please note this expansion is PDF only; due to the limitations of our tissue paper size, we won't be able to add this to the printed pattern when we reprint so you'll only be able to access it in digital form. You'll also need the original Kelly pattern to make a complete coat; this expansion only includes pattern pieces for the lining itself.

GET KELLY LINING EXPANSION

KELLY ANORAK HARDWARE KITS

Our hardware kits for Kelly were super popular last year and sold out quickly. We've brought them back in two beautiful finishes; they include all the tricky to source hardware that makes for a super professional looking anorak, including tools to make snap and grommet installation a total breeze (you can also choose a kit without the tools if you've already got them in your stash).

This time around, we're offering the kit in a gorgeous gold finish:

You can also choose the kit in antique brass:

GET KELLY HARDWARE KIT

If you need help installing your hardware, we wrote two in-depth tutorials on installing grommets and setting snap buttons last year. Both methods are shown using the tools included in your kit.

We'll return to our Kalle sewalong tomorrow; in the meantime let me know if you have any questions about the pattern expansion or hardware kits in the comments!

Kelly Anorak Roundup

29 November 2016 by Heather Lou 6 Comments

To finish off our Kelly Anorak related posts, I thought I'd share some of the beautiful versions we've been seeing on blogs and instagram. I'm just constantly in awe of how creative everyone is. You are all unique snowflakes - need proof? Each one of these is so clearly stamped by the person who made it. So many fabric choices I never considered worked out so well (see if you can spot the Kellys made from shower curtains and wool suiting).... Of course, I was absolutely verklempt to see the super chic black version by the pattern's namesake, Kelly of Cut Cut Sew. I love how softly reflective her fabric is - it looks like sandwashed silk.

Here are some more favourites using our Kelly Anorak pattern:

kelly-anorak-jacket-pattern2 — Helen / Meg

kelly-anorak-jacket-pattern10 — Zuri / Lauren

kelly-anorak-jacket-pattern5 — Jasika / Sue

kelly-anorak-jacket-pattern4 — Carolyn / Jenn

kelly-anorak-jacket-pattern3 — Lauren / Trish

kelly-anorak-jacket-pattern8 — Heather / Heather

kelly-anorak-jacket-pattern6 — Mariah / Julie

kelly-anorak-jacket-pattern9 — Lorene / Kelley

kelly-anorak-jacket-pattern11 — Eirene / Carrie

Don't be shy to show us what you're working on. Keep me in the loop by tagging your Kelly with #kellyanorak on Instagram!

Underlining the Kelly Anorak for Added Warmth

22 November 2016 by Heather Lou 12 Comments

I've had a number of requests for tips on how to add a lining to the Kelly Anorak, so much so that we are going to work on a lining expansion pack for the spring. In the meantime, I realized that a fairly simple way to add a layer of warmth to this coat is by underlining it with cotton flannel, like I did with my recent red nylon Kelly. In this post I will explain how you can do the same.

INTERLINING VS UNDERLINING

When you underline a fabric, you are essentially layering two fabrics together and sewing them as if they were one layer of fabric; this is often done to add body to thinner fabrics. Typical underlining fabrics are cotton muslin, organza and flannel. Interlining is slightly different; rather than adding structure, you are adding an additional layer for warmth, and can use lambs wool, Thinsulate, fleece or flannel. Technically what I did with my red Kelly qualifies as both, since I used the nylon and flannel together to create a warm inter layer, but for the sake of this blog post I will just refer to it as underlining.

UNDERLINING THE KELLY ANORAK

To underline your own Kelly, you'll need to cut the back, sleeves, hood, front coat and front yoke from your underlining fabric. I suggest using a cotton flannel, but you may want to switch to something smoother at the sleeves; in my case I used a satin backed flannel fabric called Kasha, to make getting my coat on and off a little easier. You may want to widen the sleeves slightly since they do become a little more slender with the additional layer of fabric.

Once your underlining is cut out, baste it to your fabric pieces with wrong sides together, stitching inside the seam allowance. Below you can see how I basted the underlining to the front pieces.

One thing I found very helpful at this stage was a thin coat of temporary spray adhesive designed for fabric like this. When you are underlining two fabrics together, they often shift and get misaligned at the seams. I found the process so much easier and more accurate by temporarily bonding the layers together; I just gave a light mist to the flannel before lining it up with my coat body.

I also left the hems un-basted until it was time to hem them; you may need to trim them after you press the hem up, so it's best to leave them free for the time being.

It is not necessary to underline the back yoke - simply underline the entire back jacket and then sew your yoke onto your shell fabric as directed in the instructions.

Of course, it is important to keep in mind that without a lining, all seams are exposed on the inside of the jacket. I choose to flat fell all of my underlined pieces since my fabric was thin enough to allow me to do so. If your fabric is too thin, you should finish your seams with a serged stitch. Below you can see how I flat felled the hood seams; just think of your underlined pieces as one layer of fabric rather than two.

Since the kasha lining on the sleeves was a little too slippery to flat fell, I finished the sleeve seams with a serged and topstitched seam.

HEMMING THE UNDERLINING

As I mentioned, it is best to leave the underlining free at the hem when you are basting your pieces together. As you can see below, when I pressed body and underlining fabric up along the hem, the underlining was significantly longer due to the turn of the cloth.

To resolve this I trimmed off the excess flannel and then finished the hem as usual with a Hong Kong finish.

Underlining my Kelly added a few more steps to the process but really made a significant difference in the warmth of the coat. I love how it looks from the inside, even if the green kasha I used in the sleeves doesn't match at all whatsoever (who will ever see it?!)

Are you planning on underlining your Kelly or are you part of the "Please give us a lining" chorus?

A Wind and Waterproof Kelly Anorak (aka Little Red Riding Hood)

15 November 2016 by Heather Lou 32 Comments

Since I brought home Harry, I find myself outside a lot more often. I mean, that was kind of the point. I'm a bit of a chairbound workaholic and part of the reason I knew I needed a dog in my life was the non-negotiable walks they need several times a day. Most of the time it's fine, but man alive, there are damp, cold, rainy days where you're both shivering and wet, and he refuses to listen to your terse whispers to "Just poop already dude!" Up until last week I didn't have a proper raincoat, and I felt every minute of it when Harry refused to go in inclement weather.

Time to pull out that red nylon I bought at the Pendleton outlet in Portland last year and get to work on making myself an all-weather Kelly Anorak! And oh, how I am now regretting not making Harry a matching one with my scraps....

I really put my heart and soul into making this baby and get an immense sense of pride every time I look at it (G actually got a little mad at me when I showed it to him since he has such a hard time finding good quality men's clothing, but failed to take me up on my millionth offer to teach him to sew). One thing I wanted to try was underlining Kelly; a lot of you have asked for a lining option, and until we get to work on that expansion pack I thought it prudent to find a way to add warmth in the meantime. Underlining is kind of the perfect solution, and I'll be sharing a post later this week explaining how I did it.

You activewear pros may scoff at me for calling this a raincoat since I didn't waterproof any of my seams. In ready to wear, seams for waterproof jackets are finished with a seam sealing tape, but since I was flatfelling my seams together with my flannel underlining, I didn't think that would work. It's possible that rain will permeate my topstitching, and while I've read that you can seal stitch lines with a product like this, I thought I would try it in the rain and see how it performs before trying it. Of course it's been dry as a bone here for the last week so I don't have anything to report on the experiment. My gut feeling is that it will do just fine in short periods of east coast rain, but might get a little damp around the seams if I was hiking for hours.

I used the hardware from our Kelly Anorak kits, and the lovely plaid interlining is from Blackbird Fabrics (the plaid is out of stock but she still has the blue flannel I used in the hood). I also used a flannel backed satin in the sleeves so I could easily wear it with sweaters without getting stuck, for a total of three different fabrics on the inside. Somehow I misaligned one of my pockets but I doubt you even noticed so forget I said anything.

I had lots of fun with the topstitching and inside details. I made bias tape from a plaid cotton in my stash and used it to finish the hem and neckline with a Hong Kong seam. Makes me smile every time I see it.

I'm pretty surprised by how much the style of the jacket changes with my material choices. It feels much more LL Bean-outdoorsy than the classic twill versions we made for our samples; just goes to show how transformative fabric choice can be. And the best part? It's warm. The nylon is super windproof and the flannel lining means this is a coat I can wear well into winter, provided it doesn't go to minus ten in the next few weeks. Ahh, the power of flannel!

I've started seeing some absolutely gorgeous Kelly's out in the wild (some with some fabric I didn't even consider as options!) so I'm excited to share a maker round-up with you shortly. What are you making yor Kelly out of?

Details: Kelly Anorak in red nylon, Firmoo glasses (my secret eyeglasses haven), Nars Dragon Girl matte lip pencil, Blondo waterproof ankle boots

Sewing Flat Fell Seams

4 November 2016 by Heather Lou 6 Comments

One of my favourite things about designing patterns is thinking about the best way to finish things; pretty guts are very important to me (team #prettyguts). When I started working on the Kelly Anorak, I knew flat fell seams would play a major role. Essentially a sturdier version of a french seam in that all the raw edges are enclosed, flat fell seams are great when the right and wrong side of the garment need to look great, and be strong and durable enough to last a good, long time. They are commonly used on jean jackets for just this purpose and have quickly become one of my favourite seam finishes.

While I've covered flat fell seams before in our Ginger Jeans sewalong, the process for Kelly is slightly different, and I wanted an extra opportunity to fan away the flames of fear some of you may have about trying them. It's essentially sewing a straight seam with a few extra steps, and it is 100% worth your time. If you're feeling lazier and have a serger, feel free to use a flat faux seam which is explained in our instructions. Either way, you'll want to sew these durable seams along the front yoke, side seams and one of the arm sleeves (the other will be impossible to flat fell once the sleeve is assembled in a tube).

SEWING A FLAT FELL SEAM

The first step is to sew your seam at the 5/8" seam allowance with right sides together. In this example I am sewing the front coat to the front yoke.

kelly-anorak-jacket-pattern_flat-fell-seams-3

Now, depending on which way you want to press and topstitch your seam, one of those seam allowances is going to wrap around the other. In this example we are pressing the seam up, so you will want to trim the yoke seam down to 1/4". You can use regular scissors, but I absolutely love applique scissors for grading seams since the duckbill part ensures you aren't cutting the other seam by accident. If the seam is straight, I often use a rotary cutter for speed and accuracy's stake.

kelly-anorak-jacket-pattern_flat-fell-seams-5

Once the "under" seam has been graded to 1/4", press the entire seam up, so that the wider seam is on the top.

kelly-anorak-jacket-pattern_flat-fell-seams-6

At your ironing board, use your fingers to fold the top seam around the seam you trimmed. Try to do this as evenly and consistently as possible, and press into place with lots of steam.

kelly-anorak-jacket-pattern_flat-fell-seams-8

This seam now needs to be topstitched into place. You can sew from the right or wrong side of your fabric. If you sew from the right side, make sure you use lots of pins to keep that seam folded in place. If you sew from the wrong side, you can just use your fingers to make sure it stays tucked under as you sew as I did below.

kelly-anorak-jacket-pattern_flat-fell-seams-10

Here it is from the right side once its been stitched down.

kelly-anorak-jacket-pattern_flat-fell-seams-11

Some people prefer to make their flat fell seams with the wrong sides together first. Feel free to try it that was as well, but just keep in mind you will have two visible lines of stitching on the right side: your construction stitch, and the topstitching to seal everything together. I personally prefer to "hide" the folded part on the wrong side just in case my pressing and cutting wasn't 100% perfect.

Hope this helps you make a sturdy Kelly of your own!

Our New Fall Pattern // Meet the Kelly Anorak

5 October 2016 by Heather Lou 46 Comments

I live for pattern launch day, especially when it's for a pattern I love as much as this one. I'd like you to meet Kelly, the jacket of my/your dreams.

I've been planning the Kelly Anorak for two years, and it's destined to fill a major hole in your closet. You know, that practical, utilitarian and yet stylish jacket that you want to wear every.single.day. The one that just gets better with age, that transitions you from the hot summer months into the cooler autumn ones, that has enough pocket space for your keys, the dog treats and the kitchen sink, that looks as great layered over a cozy sweater as it does with a simple tee. The "Where have you been all my life" jacket. She's right here.

DETAILS

Style meets function with the Kelly Anorak; a classic shape with a modern cut, this simple coat is the perfect choice for transitional weather.

Lightweight and unlined, it features a two piece cuffed sleeve, optional drawstring waist, gusseted flap pocket and a zipper placket with snap buttons. View A will keep you warm and dry with a roomy three piece hood, while View B features a classic stand-up collar.

Kelly is just right made up in light to medium-weight woven fabric such as twill, gabardine, and linen, and will make the ultimate rain coat when sewn with a waterproof fabric like ripstop or goretex.

This is my version of a simple coat. It's all straight seams so even a beginner could confidently tackle it, while there are enough unique design details to make it appealing to more advanced sewists. I love all the durable seams, the fun hardware, the spacious hood design that protects your head without squashing your hair, the deep, 3-dimensional pockets that are comfortable to actually stick your hands into (and big enough to let you leave your purse at home), the flattering, butt covering length. I love that I can wear it for most of the year, that it will just get softer and more comfortable every time I wash it. And I am beyond excited to tackle a few waterproof versions; I have a beautiful red ripstop for my own Little Red Riding Hood, and I have been itching to wax one of my twill samples.

Buy The Kelly Anorak Pattern!

KELLY RESOURCES

We're happy to tell you we have hardware kits coming your way, making it a cinch to get everything you need to make Kelly in one spot. The kits will include snap buttons, grommets, tools for installing both, drawstring cord, cord locks and little cord stoppers. We're still putting the finishing touches on them but you'll be able to find them in our shop sometime next week.

And of course, we have lots of Kelly related bog posts coming your way. We won't be doing a formal sewalong but you can expect posts on constructing the zipper placket, making three dimensional gusseted pockets and installing grommets and snap buttons, among other things.

OUR PATTERN NAMESAKE

This pattern is named after Kelly of the sewing blog Cut Cut Sew. A Portland based maker with a kind heart and a beautiful smile, she has long inspired us with her clean, contemporary style, and fresh, modern take on everyday basics. She is also mother to two of the most profoundly awesome kids I've ever met. This coat was made for Portland weather, made for Kelly, and made for all of you. We hope you love it as much as we do!

ps. A big thank you to our beautiful model/friend Keena and our make-up artist Christie for such a fun pattern shoot!

pps. We had a shipping bug yesterday (resolved at 9:30 EST). If you tried to order a pattern before then and had a wtf moment when a high shipping price came up, it's resolved now. We are trying to refund the more obvious issues now but if you won't hear from us and feel like you paid too much for shipping please get in touch and we'll resolve it!