Fatal Problem with JJ 6009

Okay, on Saturday I spent some time working on JJ 6009
http://www.burdastyle.com/patterns/jj
and after an hour or two of wrangling with the sleeves and tutting under my breath, and trying it on, I realised that I had made a fatal error.

When I originally cut the pattern I guessed correctly that it is for a narrow shoulders so I cut it to the largest size and then proceeded to grade the pattern in the bust to fit me (it does) BUT the it is not possible to grade it to fit me in my lower back without then changing the side seams... Yes reader, I should have cut it to a smaller size - or at least one which is more realistic for me. I did a pretty good job on the princess seams which I had not done before, and the sleeve placket - even if it did face the front of the sleeve rather than be at the back. On the down side, I had stuffed up the front placket somehow and was dreading doing buttonholes.

Looking in my bathroom mirror wearing the shirt for the last time, I also realised that I hated the puffy sleeves. My already generous shoulders were now embellished with wings. I was using a cotton poplin which had no stretch whatsoever, so there was little chance of movement if I made things too small. So in the spirit of learning I cast the whole project aside. No reader, I did not take to it with the scissors. I folded it neatly and put in my stash basket.