Sewing myself a shirt

My dad was in Beijing and bought me half a meter of silk.

My girl in the plaid dress I made her. 2009.

What do I do with this? I am not a clothing sewer. I can't remember the last time I made clothing for myself. I do remember making a dress for my little girl (before she started sewing her own things). And once I made pajama pants for my darling husband. I'm not sure why. It just seemed like the thing to do.

Now I'm not sure about everyone else, but I find that if I buy a pattern and then make it, it never fits. It's huge. Always. I make my regular size, which in every store is SMALL.

As I looked at the pattern, I wondered: maybe this is because for the actual bust for the small size is 43". Hello! 43"? What am I? A model in a girly mag? I am a small! I come with a small bust.

I measured my bust right now with a metal tape measure over all my clothes and it came in at 35". And I am at the height of my milk production with a six-month-old son. If you had asked me back before having kids, it would have probably been 25". Seriously.

Anyway, I have a plan to use this pattern to make a smocked top. Just the smocked part since the pattern is for a child. But I am not making it from a pattern. They will just make me look like I am wearing a mumu.