The Battle of the Pattern - Getting Warmer!

Well, this is at least the 3rd version of trying to make Simplicity 7051 (from 1967) into not only a smaller pattern (38 vs. 44), but also to change the neck from a jewel neckline to a V with a collar!  (See Scruffy Badger Time's Simplicity 7501 to see where I'm headed.)

So you saw the purple version.  I played with the original pattern a bit, retraced it onto newspaper, re-cut the purple and played a bit more trying to fit it to my dressmaker's friend.  That did not work and of course I'd cut it too small by then to re-use it.  So I went back to the original pattern again and took out a bit from the shoulder to the bottom with a narrow fold.  I also made sure to shorten it a bit.  Then I found some more scrap fabric (I got a bunch free from freecycle.org a while back) and re-cut one more time.  I drew on the darts, but only pinned them for this photo.  I will sew them tomorrow & try fitting again!  This is a lot of work & is trying my patience, but I think that once I get this done, though, I think it will be so useful--between this & the bodice for Simplicity 2847 I'll be ready for anything.  (Hopefully...)