Fitting a Vintage Pattern

Really, any pattern, but I'm trying to fit a vintage one. I recently purchased the book Fit for Real People (I can't remember the authors right off hand, will edit later when the book is on the same floor that I am... sorry, I'm just being lazy.) Anyway, I think it will solve many of my problems. I've made the "muslin" of that vintage pattern I mentioned in the last post, and I think I'm going to love this dress. The only problem is the fit. The waist, that I knew should be altered, fits great. The rest, not so much. In fact, I can't really even show you on my body without assistance because a) it buttons in the back and there are no buttons, and nobody home to pin it on me, and b) it fits that bad.

Now, seeing this, you might think, "hmmm, it looks pretty good on the dressform." And it does sort of. Except that the dressform isn't my size. Not sure why I bought an adjustable dressform where the smallest bust is bigger than mine (wishful thinking?), but there you go. I did. And it's even pinned tighter on it.

The problems. 1. Too wide on the shoulders. I love the nearly off the shoulder look, but on me, they are simply not even close. 2. Too wide through the bust area. The darts are in the right place, but there is too much fabric going around the sides and to the back.

Those are the main problems that I have figured out so far. For adjustments, I'm going to try to tissue fit first and then see what to do about them. My tissue is the stuff I traced on, and will be more durable than actual tissue. First I'm going to do some reading though.

By the way, I've actually read the first couple of chapters of Fit for Real People, and it's quite interesting. I think that's a first for sewing reference books and me, because I usually just skip to the parts I need. I have a lot to learn here though, and I'm going to try to do it right.

Also, does anyone know how to figure yardage for fabric wider than 39"? That's all the envelope uses, and while I'm quite comfortable making up my own layouts, a handy translating formula would be useful.