Kelly Anorak - Preparation

Inspired by Lauren Guthrie's version of the Kelly Anorak I bought the PDF version as well as the lining expansion pack in the Black Friday sale.  A fortuitous trip to Birmingham that day I was able to source all the supplies I needed to complete from Guthrie and Ghani.  The fabric is a Millerain waxed cotton and I chose an Atelier Brunette cotton lawn which picked up the gold. I did buy quite a few other things but that is another day.

I hadn't really thought the PDF idea through as I had 90 sheets of A4 to stick together.  The PDF does come with a version for A0 paper so I did look at using one of the printer companies out there but as usual I didn't want to wait or spend any more money.  I prefer layered patterns then you can just print the sizes you want.  As it wasn't the pattern was difficult to cut in places as the many sizes are hard to differentiate especially on the neck facing pieces.  If not layered it would have been easier in colour.

The choices are hood or standup collar and/or drawstring waist.  I have two waxed cotton jackets with collars so I decided to make the  hood version.  As I was adding a quilted lining I decided against the drawstring as I thought this would be too much bulk to deal with.  

I  quickly cut out the main fabric pieces as I didn't want the waxed cotton folded for any longer than needed.  You do need to be careful to ensure you cut the single pieces on the correct side of the fabric.  You also have to trim the the right yoke and coat front on the trim line.  

 Then I had to decide what wadding to use for the quilted lining.  I went for a natural super soft cotton which needed to washed and dried before use. As I  have a long ruler  2 1/2" wide for binding I used this to mark the lines for my cross hatch pattern.  I did try using my quilting guide but just too hard too keep steady on a such a big piece of dark fabric,  At this point I remembered why I stopped quilting. 

I fused a soft woven interfacing to the lining sleeve and hood pieces as although I didn't want to add too much bulk the cotton lawn did need some support.

Then all the interfacing had to be applied. to the fabric  I used a medium non woven for the zip and pocket areas and woven for the neck and hood facings.  

Preparation done.  This pattern in not for the fainthearted.  Now waiting for dark gold overlocking thread to arrive.