Simplicity 3833 Muslin in Progress

Off I go on the Simplicity 3833 sew along.

The fabric still has a chemical smell, but I'm moving forward with my muslin. When it's complete, I'll hang the garment (tunic or dress, to be determined) out in the breeze for a day or so. If it still smells after that, I'll chalk it up as an unwearable muslin.

This is a size 10 throughout, using the shorter length of view D with all the marked petite adjustments taken.  What I am seeing is:

• Bust darts too low. That's a new one! It's likely more a result of my using a ponte knit rather than any uncharacteristic perkiness. In a woven fabric, I bet the darts would be in about the right position vertically, but still a bit too long.
• Darts are puckering. I'm not going to take responsibility for this. It's the unholy chemical composition of the fabric that doesn't press and holds wrinkles.
• The neckline fits over my head without a back zipper opening, so it goes without saying that I'll be skipping the zipper. 
• I'd like a bit more width from the waistline to the hem, so I plan to re-sew those seams with 1/2" or 3/8" seam allowances rather than 5/8".
• The shoulder seam needs to be trimmed by 5/8" (I do intend to add long sleeves).

Since I was thinking of reshaping the neckline to make it slightly more open, and to use a binding rather than finishing the neckline with facings (as provided by the pattern), I believe I am going to re-sew the shoulder seams a bit deeper as a means of bringing the bust darts up a little. Since I haven't yet cut out the sleeves, I can adjust the sleeve cap for less height to correspond to this adjustment.

I'm not wild about the muddy, grayed-out color of this fabric (or much of anything else about it, except that it is here), but it works really nicely with a great Ellen Tracy scarf I found a couple of years ago at the thrift store. The scarf is large and beautiful, in shades of purple-y chocolate, gold, teal, cream and deep magenta. The slight plummy hue of this taupe is a good foil for the scarf, so I hope the garment will be wearable in the end.