Weekend Sewing, by Heather Ross, is filled with projects I've been planning to get around to sewing for a long time. Today, I traced a couple of patterns and used one for a trial run. I read through all of the errata on her site, and on her Flickr group and made adjustments accordingly.
I made the blouse from an unusual fabric: stretchy, ribbed linen. It's a fabric I had a lot of, and I wanted to test the pattern on excess fabric because it would break my heart to make mistakes with the beautiful prints I have set aside for this blouse. Here is a detail shot of the fabric.


My comments on the pattern:

• Unlike others, I did not cut a larger neckline.
• I did hem the sleeves four inches, and they're still lengthy.
• I lengthened the shirt by two and a half inches, made a tiny hem, and it's just the right length.
• I made the medium, but might just try the small. If not, I will narrow the shirt body by an inch and a half next time. It's not as maternity-looking as I feared, but it's a bit trapezey.
  
• I shortened the placket, but not quite enough. Like others, I see no need to cut that far only to sew it up again.
• I sewed the sleeves to the shoulder pieces, then sewed straight up from the wrist to the armpit to the bottom hem. It seemed quicker and I can see no reason not to. It was easy to press the seams this way, too.