Assembling a Regency ensemble: The 2nd fitting

I went over to Miss V–‘s for the second fitting of the spencer.  The photo does not do it justice but wait until you see the finished garment.

For this fitting, she wanted to confirm that everything had lined up before she stitched together the lining and the exterior. Since she had trued the garment, it was always possible that things had shifted.

Indeed, we had to make adjustments to the sleeves to account for the fact that one arm is slightly longer than the other. This, by the way, is entirely normal.

Check it out. Put your elbows on the table in front of you and press your arms together with palms touching.  Now look at your finger tips. Chances are that the tips of your dominant fingers will be slightly longer than your off-hand.

The other point of conversation that was interesting was on how to handle the closure on the spencer.  Buttons or hooks-and-eyes were both in use in 1814 and it wasn’t clear, looking at reference material, which one would be more likely for a double-breasted spencer like this.  Even garments that  look buttoned may have decorative buttons and a hook and eye closure.  I think we finally settled on self-covered buttons of the same green as the rest of the spencer.

I’ll have it on Tuesday — for Shades of Milk and Honey‘s book release day!

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8 thoughts on “Assembling a Regency ensemble: The 2nd fitting”

  1. Hm. My fingers line up. Probably makes up for my legs being asymmetrical, at least in how much my feet turn out.

    1. This is also very common, although it can cause back pain. It is correctable! PT, yoga, etc. Many people also seem to have one leg that is shorter, but very often it is that their hips are off kilter.

  2. That looks amazing! I bet it looks ever better in person, too. If I can’t have my own, I am excited that I shall at least have the chance to admire yours.

  3. The spencer looks great! I hope you have a wonderful time wearing it at Nasfic.

    For my part, I am apparently freakishly symmetrical. My hand dominance is not strong, though.

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