My vision, in silk crepe de chine

So when I saw Sunni's outfit here, I completely fell in love with that silk print fabric.  I needed it, so I bought 2 yards from Mood.  And...it sat in my stash for months.  I had an idea in mind, but no amount of searching in pattern books and independent designers yielded what I wanted. This pattern (Simplicity 1692, view A) came the closest, but with some issues (the primary problem being those waist darts!).

I used the bodice and sleeves of the pattern (size 10) and made all kinds of changes: for the neckline, there are some soft pleats instead of gathers, then for the sleeves, I reduced the fullness of the sleeve so there were unnoticeable gathers at the cap, shortened them to 3/4 length and added a tiny band.  I eliminated the waist darts entirely, and then took in the sides to make it more shapely while keeping it loose enough to avoid a closure.  Then, when I realized I had "petite-adjusted" the top too much, I added a 2 1/2" band at the waist.  Which I ended up completely loving.  Is it just me making the best of the situation, or does it make the blouse a touch more modern?

Things I love about this blouse: the back has shoulder darts.  I feel like shoulder darts acknowledge that our backs are also curved, and they create such a lovely fitted shape.  They're lacking in many modern patterns.

Another only-in-handmade-garments feature I love: self bias along the keyhole facing.  

And this self-fabric button THAT CAME FROM MY STASH?  Somewhere along the way, I purchased a garment that came with extra buttons and those buttons were covered with cream colored crepe de chine, as if I knew I'd be making a silk blouse in the future.

Speaking of which,  could I love crepe de chine any more?  No.  The answer is no.  It's my favorite of the silks.  

This blouse reminds me why I sew.  Got fabric and an idea?  Add some sewing skills, and bam, you get a blouse.  I bought some navy stretch twill to make some cigarette pants to complete the vision.  

Resewlution 2015: March garment #2