I let out the princess seam at the full bust and stitched it back up with a 1/8 allowance, and the pulling went away...
I'm just barely a C student, and so far, I haven't felt that my patterns needed a FBA, thankfully because... I'm terrified of pattern adjusting: I feel that it's way over my head and skill level. However, I knew plunging ahead with the dress was not the right thing to do, so I got out my copy of Fit For Real People, and proceeded with actually completing a FBA. When I put the bodice back together, the pulling was gone.
To any new sewers out there, like me, who are super-intimidated at trying a pattern adjustment, get out your instruction book, and try it! You can probably do it! (But perhaps you should stop reading now, because a bump in the road was hit...)
I ran into a serious problem when attaching the bodice to the waist inset/skirt:
There is a ridonculous amount of ease:
I've checked that the seams and notches line up, and let's assume there's not a pattern drafting error. Does a FBA add waistline width? Argh, what is going on here?
I'm off to drown my apparel construction sorrows in Indian takeout and The September Issue...
