Butterick 6574, or what up with pattern sizing?

So, I finally finished the second, better fitting version of Butterick 6574 (from 1953) yesterday.  I think I am going to have to come up with cute names for these in the future -- I am tired of having to go look up the pattern number every time I want to write about something I'm making!    Anyhow, the second version fits a whole lot better, so hooray!  There is still room for improvement, but the remaining fit issues don't really bug me so I'm going to put this one in the win column.

That's version number 2 at top left.  I did quite a lot of alteration (for my beginner-ish self, anyhow) to get there.  What I did not do is adjust the waist length (or even width, actually) and I am actually quite happy with the result!  So thanks again everyone who gave me feedback on my earlier projects where I lengthened the waist.  I agree that this works better!

I posted a picture of the re-drafted bodice pieces earlier, so I won't show that again, but here's an itemized list of the alterations I made:

FRONT BODICE:
1. Take a wedge out under the arm hole, tapering to nothing at the waist.  I did this a couple of times, as the  drafting progressed, so I'm not sure how much the total amount was.
2.  Rotate bust darts up slightly -- this one was very easy to do.
3.  Rotate shoulder strap position inward.  (The original version was hanging off my shoulders!)

BACK BODICE
1. Add darts at the neckline, pointing at the tops of the waist darts.   This helped a lot with the extra fabric I had going on in back, but there is still some unresolved looseness where the darts taper off.
2. Take some extra out under the arms.
3. Rotate shoulder strap position inward.

When all's said and done, I eliminated quite a few inches of fabric from the top half of this dress, as compared to the original draft.   I know ... different times, different undergarments, but really, there was at room for five or six extra bras in the original!  I used my first version as a muslin: I basted the bodice together twice and took it apart again as I worked through the initial fit issues.  I re-cut the bodice front between the first and second rounds of fitting but the first version (the green one) is still too loose.  I think I have trouble completely seeing the fit until it's all together.  Maybe this gets better as you do more of it?

Other little details I changed from the original pattern ... the pattern called for facings (ick) but I did a full lining in cotton batiste for both versions.  I thought I might have trouble getting the lining together around those flaps for the button in the front,  but it was easy.   After the trouble I had wriggling in and out of the first one, I used a 14-inch zipper rather than the 12-inch called for in version two.   And on the second one, I finished the hem with contrasting double-fold bias tape because I had cutter's remorse after marking and cutting the hem, and wished I had left it a bit longer!  I actually really like the way it looks.   I tried off-white bias tape originally, but it just didn't look right after I pinned it on.  The green looks much nicer:  I think a darker shade "anchors" the hem better.

All the pictures I took of Butterick 6574 are here in my Flickr stream.  And keeping me company here is my dog, Dinky.