Simplicity 2939 and Amy Butler Mini Dress, Tunic & Tops

I've completed 1.5 projects in the past couple of days. The first, which is the 1/2 is Amy Butler's Mini Dress, Tunic and Tops.
I chose the dress. For the fabric, I chose my favorite Amy Butler print from her Bella line. I decided to cut a large, based on my measurements. A large has a bust measurement of 39 inches and my bust measures 40. The pattern says"Measure around the fullest part of your bust, hips and waist. The bust measurement dictates your size. If you fall between sizes then choose the larger of the two sizes." I decided to ignore this advice simply because the XL has a 42 inch bust measurement and I figured with design ease, the top of my dress would end up gappy like the picture. (it is gaping under the arms and at the top of the bust and those straps look like they are sliding off). I decided instead that I should cut the large and add 2 inches to the bust area. Then I forgot. Cut out a large. Forgot that I cut out a large. So, when I sewed it up (I also decided to use my fashion fabric, even though I had the dress cut out in a cheaper fabric to use as a toile) and put it on -- surprise! I found that there is not a lot of design ease and it was quite snug in the bust. As you can see, the top is designed to cut across the bust, and there is a seam there with topstitching, which equals -- a stable seam that's not going to "give". Still, it looked okay in the front and I was comfortable with the snug bust (I'd rather have snug than give a peep show).
Then I turned around and had a real "WTF!" moment. I had fabric pooled in the back!!! Now, I should have suspected something like this could happen due to the fact that the back of the dress is essentially a sheath, where the front of the dress is a roomy trapeze dress with a pleat to take out the fullness.
I turned around and it went from bad to worse!
So, I set it aside. The next morning, I got up and put it on again and realized that it was not the disaster I had thought it was the night before. I think I was just in shock. Of course, I realized that I was due for some sewing disaster since I had a few successes in a row and I'm not one to actually pull out the muslin and make the dress up -- I'd rather use cheap fabric and make a wearable muslin (toile) instead. I save my muslin for interfacing and Amy Butler purses.

As I stared in the mirror, I realized that this can be fixed easily. I just had to think. I though "what would Patti Palmer do?" (I just finished reading Fit for Real People). Pull it up or pull it down. I figure this theory would work with fabric just as well as it works with the tissue pattern. So, I grabbed the shoulders and voila!

Yep, that fixed it. So, I'm going to re-cut the front so I can have a little more breathing room (I also added interfacing to the facings, which isn't called for in the pattern, but given that it's a square neckline I anticipated a droopy neckline). At that point, I will remove an inch from the shoulders and cut deeper into the underarm so I can get rid of the extra fabric at the back. Bottom line: I have to do a forward shoulder adjustment. This pattern is just a little too long in the torso for me, so I have to make the adjustment to the shoulders because I forgot, again, to make this dress a petite. Operator error. I wrongly assumed that the entire dress would be more of a trapeze rather than a blend of a trapeze and a sheath. Live and learn. I'm also glad that I made it out of my fashion fabric. I know for a fact that if I had used the cheaper fabric, I would simply have scrapped this dress and moved on. I have every intention of fixing this one.

The second dress I made was Simplicity 2939. This one turned out too large, but entirely wearable. Operator error again -- I cut out a 20, instead of my usual blending an 18 bodice into a 20 in the hips. I never even glanced at the finished measurements -- this dress has more design ease that I ease that I expected (that's what I get for simply glancing at the pattern back and not looking at the entire thing). So I ended up with a bust that measures 44 inches!! I still like it though and I'll definitely fix this problem on my next one. At least I can wear it as a jumper or a tunic!
This dress does have a zip under the arm, but I didn't need it -- I can slip it over my head without the zip.
I am going to see if I can get away without a zipper on the next go around. That way I can save my zips for dresses that really need them. As you can see from the inside, the facing is tacked down nicely in the front. It is sewn into the seam connecting the bodice and the dress.
I have to say that I love this dress despite the extra room. It's comfortable and looks nice. Plus I finally found a use for this fabric, which is an Alexander Henry print I've had for years.
This dress is a real summer wardrobe builder.

Happy sewing y'all!