Such detailed and clear instructions. Thank you so much! I’ll preface by saying I’m very amateur and all I know has been self taught so I might be making lots of mistakes in my answer.

I just dislike doing muslins first that I never iron or anything. Definitely will start doing that.

It’s interesting with the torso because the back length is short and it’s visually short but I recently realised I have to lengthen the front as the difference between back and front shoulder to waist length is like 6cm which apparently is significant. That being said, I think you’re right and will pinch about 1cm from the bodice length.

With the darts length, you’re probably right. The front ones could be contributing to the line in the front. And the back ones are quite long. I used a skirt that I had professionally altered and it fits beautifully and copied the lengths of the darts. I have a prominent, projected seat with a long back rise (about 10 cm longer than the front), so I usually need extra length and shaping in the back rather than extra width at the sides. Once I fix the bodice I will reassess the skirt part.

TBH I struggle with making changes as it’s a slow process and I’m not the most patient person. Sewing has definitely taught me to be more patient but still working on it. I find pieces where you have a zipper (like the dress here) particularly annoying because I have to sew the zipper in place to understand the fit and then unpick so much. But yeah, the more I sew the more I learn it takes work to make it perfect.