wrap top diaries: Papercut Coppelia (with bonus Vogue 8685)

Hi! Everything hurts today. I took a dance class at the weekend with RuPaul's Drag Race alumnus Laganja Estranja, which claimed to be for "all dance abilities" and was NOT. I had to give up halfway through (which I don't think he was very impressed with, but I am an occasional blues and burlesque dancer and I just don't move that fast. Also I will never do another backwards roll in my life if I can help it), and yet my muscles are so stiff today that I can barely move.

(We learnt a "beginner version" of the death drop. I told my boyfriend about it and he tried it out, but he'd already had three gins and just bruised the shit out of his knee.)

ANYWAY. Sewing. 

After my last wrap top post, I was quite keen to get on and make another. I thought it was the kind of basic garment that there would be hundreds of versions of, but that wasn't the case. I couldn't find any still in print from the Big 4, and since my printer is currently misbehaving I couldn't get a PDF. The only currently available printed pattern I could find was the Papercut Coppelia, so I went ahead and bought it.

This is actually my second Coppelia. The first one looked literally exactly the same as this, but after I wore it for a few hours I discovered that the jersey had somehow turned my armpits burgundy. Maybe burgundy armpits are in for spring, but I wasn't a fan, so I chucked it out and made another one in better quality jersey. 

The Coppelia has raglan sleeves, a neckband, super-wide cuffs and a waist band which extends into the ties. Also, and most importantly, it is NOT TOO SHORT. This alone is enough to warrant making more of them, even if raglan sleeves aren't my favourite. It hits my natural waist nicely, so I can wear it over dresses and with skirts. That really shouldn't feel like such a victory, but there we have it. 

On my first version, the neckline gaped like crazy. Papercut's instructions say that you should vary the length of the neckband based on your fabric's stretch, but they don't give any more guidance than that. It seems a little bit odd to be because I've made a lot of things with neckbands and every other pattern has been able to provide a standard size of pattern piece. Sometimes you make a judgement call, sure, but I'm not sure about that being written in the instructions. Small quibble, but I am nothing if not a pedant. 

While we're here, a word or two about this dress. This is Vogue 8685, which I now realise I said I was going to make in my winter plan and then never posted about. I don't feel that I can give a proper review of the pattern at this point because this fabric just did. not. work. It's really soft and comfortable, but it doesn't hold shape at all, so it looks shapeless and oversized even after I took six inches out of the side seam, and the fabric is too sheer over the bust (hence no photos of just the dress). Also it makes a terrible neckband. I can sort of get away with wearing it if I have something layered over and/or under it, but mostly it's just going to be a house dress. I still think the pattern has potential, so at some point I'll try it again with a less floppy jersey.

I'm planning another couple of wrap tops; one in a navy and one in a cream. This colour, as much as I like it, turns out to be quite awkward to pair with most of my clothes. This is probably why people talk about planning their wardrobes around a colour palette, but frankly I just can't be arsed. I'm not going to walk away from fabric I like because it's teal and I have petrol in my seasonal colour concept. Does mean I need more tops, though. What a drag.