Um, what have I been sewing?

I will post pics of the two shirts I've been sewing. I haven't sewn in a long long time.
This stitch lounge lets me have the room to sew and not have to put everything away. Plus it's the best idea I've ever had.

The first thing I sewed was a deceptively simple blouse in a slinky knit. And I have never sewn with knits. The blouse looks great, but the front wrap neckline was stretched a tiny bit while sewing on the facing, so it rolls forward and thankfully it's not easily noticeable. I re-learned that stretched synthetic fabric can't be steamed back down to shape.

The next blouse started out Easy but I upgraded it to Advanced. I chose a hot pink rayon. I replaced the darts with gathers. I kept the lining but replaced the front piece with sheer silk organza with woven patterns. Re-learned lesson: Delicate fabrics require stabilizer. I used Scotch tape. It's a real pain to remove itty bitty bits of scotch tape from under a seam line.

In sewing silk organza with a woven in pattern, if you press the seam over, the woven-in thread sticks out as if it were frayed or cut off at the edge. So I added bias bindings for the neck, back, and under the arms. I used a rotary knife and cutting board/straight edge to make the quickest most accurate bias bindings ever. Did I mention that the hot pink rayon shows hand stitches unless I only pick up a single thread? I'll be hand rolling the edges for the flouncy shoulder-attached sleeves, no bias bindings, I ran out of fabric. The blouse is cut on the bias so it will probably hang slimmer on me than the tissue pattern and measurements indicated. Are we laughing yet?

I thought I would jump into the deep end of the pool and come out looking good.
Big Lesson re-learned: Sewing requires fit and construction techniques, and knowing your fabric.