Tag Archives: closet case files

Kelly Anorak


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It’s finally Fall in Portland! When I left for a business trip to Texas last week it was still warm and sunny and when I got back it was cool and rainy! At least I can finally wear my Kelly Anorak! This is the latest pattern from Closet Case Files and I was a pattern tester.  So my version may have a few differences from the final pattern.

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This was my first time sewing a jacket and Heather made it easy! Definitely having made button down shirts before like a Grainline Archer will help.  The hardest part was probably figuring out the plackets and the zippers.  I was in hurry to get this done so I didn’t pay as much attention as I should have and ended up ripping things out a few times. Oopsie. Luckily this a nice sturdy fabric!

kellyanorak-2Speaking of which, I got this Organic Cotton Ripstop from Fabric.com. It was $8/yd and its’ 60″  so very economical for a project where you need a bit of fabric.  It was lovely to work with too!  I decided to go for some red accents so I used red snaps from Snap Source, which I got at Mill End Store. I also got a red zipper and cord, but red grommets are hard to find! So I bought silver grommets and painted them with nail polish. We’ll see how well they hold up!

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I made one deviation from that pattern and that was to line my hood. I don’t mind the interior being unlined, but I wanted my hood seams to be covered. This was pretty easy to do using the hood pattern and the hood facing to draw a new hood lining piece.

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The pattern instructions call for a bit of hand sewing but I am far too lazy for that. So I did a lot of stitch in the ditch sewing
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The biggest issue I had with the pattern is that the placement of the drawstring is too high for me. If you are bigger busted, you may run into this too! Since I had put the grommet in before discovering this I had a big whole to cover up.  I put some iron on interfacing from the back and then I sewed on a rectangle to cover the hole. I made it bigger so it looked more intentional. Hopefully no one guesses why that’s there!
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I love the details on this jacket like the back vent and the felled seams. I did mine by serging and topstitching.

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Morgan Boyfriend Jeans


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Closet Case Files has just launched the Morgan Boyfriend Jean pattern so now I can finally talk about them! I was a pattern tester and since this pattern went through three rounds of testing I have a lot to say! These photos are of the first pair that I made, which was the second round of testing. I was on a deadline to finish them, so instead of using a contrasting thread for the topstitching I just used the same thread as I was using for the seaming. The result is a rather fancy looking boyfriend jean, which I really like! It’s fun to have something other than skinnies to wear going out and the rolled up legs work well with heels.

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As in almost every pair of pants I make, the legs are huge because they are graded up with the rest of the pattern and I have skinny legs. So I slimmed down the legs quite a bit from the hip down. I think as you get into the larger sizes you need a narrower leg otherwise they look baggy.  I also added an inch to the rise which I almost always do for pants to accommodate my curvy bum.

morganjean-3I did make a quickie pair of the final version that was basted together and some day I will take them apart and sew up them up properly with top stitching! I used a plain blue denim from Joann that will require a bit of distressing so they don’t look like dad jeans instead of boyfriend jeans.

morganjean-2If you’ve made the Ginger jeans then assembly will be quite familiar to you! The only big change here is the button fly and to be honest I will probably just do a zipper in any future pairs I like. I find button flys rather annoying and I’d rather insert a zipper than have to do 3 extra button holes. 🙂

I bought this fabric on Amazon – it’s 12-Ounce Indigo Pure Denim Fabric, 2 Yards by 68-Inch Wide, by Kaltex America.  It’s made by a Mexican denim mill and it’s a nice heavy weight. It’s pretty dark. I got it when it was under $22 but now it’s nearly $30.