I went to a Jane Austen birthday tea in December, and I didn’t quite have time to finish my outerwear, so after the tea I kept plugging away.

I used Laughing Moon 129 Cross Front Spencer pattern, and I sewed it up with some purple poly velvet I got at a local sewing thrift shop before the pandemic. I lined it with a block print India cotton I had in my stash. Based on the sizing guidelines, I made size 12 front bodice pieces, and size 16 back and side bodice pieces. I made size 14 sleeves hoping that would be the best fit for the Frankensteinian size mashing, and thanks to the sleeve gathers, it was fine.

My under bust and bust measurements are very close – the difference is negligible, and so any gathering or darts in clothing as drafted tend to create empty puckers on my body. I was planning to gather the spencer rather than sew the darts for this reason, but even the gathers looked terrible. I cut a good 1 inch off the bottom of the two front bodice pieces, and retroactively sewed in a very small dart 3.25 inches away from the side back seam on each side, creating a half inch dart. This modest dart and removing the extra fabric from the lower edge gave me a decent fit. I’m not completely pleased. I have some ideas about how to make it better for next time, including using the next size down for the front pieces, or trying a small bust adjustment.

It was clear as I was putting the spencer together that the velvet was not going to lie flat against the lining like I wanted. To remedy the problem, I did tiny prick stitches all the way around the edges of the spencer, which took forever and drew blood more than once. I like the end result, though.

I also really love the back of the spencer and the sleeve construction for the pattern. The fit in the back was pretty top notch without a lot of effort. Since it’s a synthetic material, and thrifted, I wasn’t too stressed about the end result, which freed me up to make it without too much perseverating. The fabric is also extremely warm and will serve me well on chilly days.