shirt improvement

I wore this shirt exactly once, hated it, shoved it to the back of my closet, got hugely pregnant, and forgot about it.  Last month I reshuffled the contents of my closet, burned all the maternity clothing and danced on their ashes, and rediscovered this shirt.

Here's what I don't like about it:

• The tunic shape does nothing for me.  I'm flat chested (apart from my temporary nursing boobs) and pear shaped.  This means that a tunic creates a very disappointing silhouette:  a wide rear end hanging out from the bottom of an empty bag.  Not cute.  I need a fitted top; either a knit or an aggressively tailored woven, that way the silhouette is more hourglassy and less dumpy.
• Long sleeved wovens irritate me:  I cook, change diapers, clean, dig in the sandbox, putter in the garden, and wash my hands.  A lot.  I don't want to have to roll up my sleeves every time I do this.  Long sleeved t-shirts and sweaters can just be pushed up; wovens, not so much.
  
• The neckline is too high.  I feel choked and I can't nurse the babies.  

Here's what I do like about it:

• the fabric--a wonderfully soft cotton lawn, even though florals are not usually my favorite
  
• the fact that I made it myself (and did a pretty fine job with the bias tape, if I say so myself)
  

So I cut the whole damn thing apart and remade it.  I lowered the neckline, opened up the placket so I can nurse the babies without completely disrobing, added another button, shortened the sleeves, added back darts, ditched the back ties, tapered the sides to fit my waist, and created a flared hem. I'm still not thrilled with the results (I think it needs cap sleeves, and something's wrong with the neckline, maybe?). But now at least I'll wear it, so that's an improvement.

While doing this I marked all the changes on the original pattern, so in theory I'll be able to duplicate this on other shirts that need fixing.  Or I can just donate my old shirts to goodwill and spend my precious sewing time making new stuff.  To hell with upcycling until I have more time on my hands to experiment.

I was rereading the post about the original tunic and noted my casual reference to "fetuses."  I was so innocent then.