Mortem's Tricks or Treats: Working Through The Mock

Well my dear readers, after a long intermission I began sewing again; the New Look blouse patterns to be exact.
...Where to begin...

Firstly, New Look is exactly what rumors say they are; a badly drafted pain in the butt.
Secondly, I'm still very unsatisfied with my alterations... but then, this is a mock up, and as they go, they're meant to highlight the problems.
And finally... this fabric was also playing on my nerves. It refused to stay ironed at the darts; I need a bit of starch.

The blouse isn't technically complete, as you can see I haven't placed in any buttons; the puckering at the plackets is due to the pins in place.
One of the most consistent complaints is that the collar is the most frustrating part to deal with because in all the sizes it is far too awkward-- indeed, I think my blood pressure went up a few digits just dealing with that portion and getting it to lie perfectly.

Of course, having curved rulers makes this process a tad easier than if you were doing it any other way...

I think my own biggest issue was the entire bodice portion; front and back. My figure is heavily pear shaped, so all  the darts needed (and still do) to be tweaked and adjusted quite a bit. In a nutshell, I had to lift the bust dart 2 cm from their original location and increase by 2 cm. I had also taken in some of the bodice at the side seams nearly 4 cm, but as I think and observe on it some more, it seems as though it was still insufficient near the upper portion.

This blouse is also a hell of a lot longer than I expected it to be; as you can see it nearly covers my form entirely! But I think that is purely because I am vertically challenged.

The sleeves were probably the easiest part of this entire endeavor; they needed no alterations. I'm very pleased by how they look!

I am going to be adding some cherry red buttons to this blouse... and then find a home for it; the color isn't exactly my "thing".

In the end I deem this pattern still doable, but you definitely need a little more than the average sewing savvy under your belt to undertake it.