The Palmer Pletsch Complete Guide to Fitting: Sew Great Clothes for Every Body. Fit Any Fashion Pattern

by Pati Palmer, Marta Alto

From tissue-fitting pioneers Pati Palmer and Marta Alto comes a new book whose title says it The Palmer/Pletsch Complete Guide to Sew Great Clothes for Every Body! Fit Any Fashion Pattern . It’s been 20 years since their last book about fitting and altering sewing patterns, Fit for Real People. For Palmer and Alto, that means 20 more years of hands-on learning and experience from fitting more “real people” of all shapes and sizes from around the globe. Having long ago dispensed with tedious measuring or making a muslin to check the fit of a sewing pattern, the authors have mastered the process of tissue-fitting. This means simply “trying on” the pattern’s tissue pieces to check systematically for where to alter the pattern for a custom fit. The pattern pieces themselves become the “muslin.” “Systematically” means following the tissue-fitting sequence they’ve developed and refined. It’s a no-guess order of fitting that ensures success. The book reinforces this sequence since the alteration chapters themselves are ordered in the same sequence. Readers are instructed to start with length and width, move on to the back, check the neck and shoulders, all before even considering how the pattern fits in the bust. As they work through the pattern, sewers will alter the tissue and try on again until the tissue fits well. The book then instructs how to pin-fit the fabric for a final tweaking before sewing. The book explains all facets of pattern fitting and alteration to give readers the background and guidance they need to achieve a custom fit on any pattern from any company.

Instructions
• Take just one measurement to determine the right pattern size to buy. Find out what to do if you are between sizes or a different size top and bottom.
• Make a “body map” with a close-fitting dress pattern to see how you differ from the “standard” on which sewing patterns are based. • Learn from “real people” examples of a variety of bodies and their individual alterations.
• Use the book’s new “wrinkle dictionary” to identify a needed pattern alteration. “Wrinkles point to the problem,” say the authors, and now you can look up the page reference for a solution.
• See how age can affect body shape, from preteen to octogenarian.
• Take note of the latest sewing techniques for garment details that affect fit, such as darts, zippers and sleeves, for enhancing the look of a well-fitted garment.
• Learn basic skills for designing or redesigning for myriad variations using the same pattern. Throughout the book, step-by step instructions are accompanied by full-color photography and a new style of technical art that is extremely clear. Short captions explain each illustration. As a bonus, the authors detail the evolution of ready-to-wear and pattern sizing over the past century, along with their own history in pioneering the art and practice of tissue-fitting.

Genres: Sewing, Nonfiction, Fashion, Crafts, Reference

256 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2018

About the author

Pati Palmer is driving force behind the Palmer/Pletsch craft publishing company, of dozens of sewing books and how-to DVD’s and creator of eight Palmer/Pletsch sewing notion products, including PerfectFuse™ Interfacings. . Palmer has been designing for The McCall Pattern Co. since 1980, and Vogue prior to that. She has written the guidesheets for 250 patterns and includes fit and sewing tips. She is dubbed The McCall Pattern Company's "Fit Expert." She has been an educator for an interfacing company, a department store buyer, and has conducted seminars throughout North America and Australia. She currently teaches workshops in Portland, Oregon where she trains consumers and teachers.

Reviews

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was disappointed that the Complete guide to fitting did not include any info on pants or knits, it is just an updated version of Fit for Real People. And, not all the pictures are even updated - there are some very dated styles and hairstyles. I wish I had read it out of order with all the chapters about the fitting process first and then the chapters with the examples. I found it really annoying that the book constantly directed you to other pages/sections for more info (or sometimes the authors' other books) and would have preferred that they cover each topic once in depth rather than have to flip around and look up the referenced pages so frequently (nearly every page directed you at least once to other pages). Overall I feel like a lot of good info was given. If I can get over the disorganization of the book, I hope it will be useful in my sewing.

[Madison Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book is amazing! From the Wrinkle dictionary to the back to the fittings of real-world people with a breakdown of fixes by type of pattern (yoke, princess seam, one piece back, multi piece, etc) you will find the solution to your problem.
Great pictures with guides on order to do fixes (because sometimes one fix corrects another problem), this is packed with great information. I recommend reading all the case studies, however, because a few of the problems fixed in the case studies aren't included in the wrinkle guide (like Sway back problem - which is exactly what I look like).
Note that this book only covers shirts and dresses - no info on pants fitting, so you'll need to get another book if you also are making pants.
A+++ wish I'd bought this years ago.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book disappointing. While there is good information in it, the editing style was very informal (think blog versus formally edited book). Parts of this book felt more like a catalog for the Palmer Pletsch products over and over again. I understand the utility of including the resource list at the back of the book, but leave it there and not in every chapter. Most annoyingly, though this book is titled "Complete Guide to Fitting", pants fitting is not included. Not to worry, their book which does cover it was mentioned several times... I also had a hard time reading through some of the adjustments because of the layout of text and pictures was unclear.

[Annette McIntyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have trouble getting clothing to fit that you've sewn yourself this book is invaluable as it shows in many pictures just what the various wrinkles in your finished garment men and how to alter the pattern so that it fits you perfectly.

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing resource for garment fitting.
I don’t actually use the Palmer-Pletch method but this book (nay bible!) covers every possible fit issue you may encounter, with very clear instructions on how to adjust for perfect fit.
While it shows you the tissue fitting method (I prefer muslin fitting as I don’t have a fit partner to hand for the fiddly tissue fits) it can easily be used to identify what need la changing, where and how.
I read it in a couple of sittings cover to cover, mostly cooing at everything contained.
Obviously it’ll get more targeted use while I’m sewing - ooh so excited that I shall finally have better fitting me mades!

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough introduction with plenty of explanations and illustrations of altering patterns to fit a particular woman's body (though many areas could also work for me), with alteration instructions for every body part and numerous styles of shirts, dresses and so on.

[Tianna Maehara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guide isn't quite 'complete' as it doesn't include fitting for pants but offers many great tips and tricks for getting a better custom fit in your sewn garments without having to make a muslin. Looking forward to trying their techniques out!

[Emma Ashcraft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very educational and in depth. I wish I had a buddy reading with me. The tissue fitting method is a bit harder to do on one's self. It is possible, just more time consuming taking the tissue on and off multiple times.

[Stephanie Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing fitting method

[Lindalwd · Rating 2 out of 5]

How can it be a "Complete Guide to Fitting" if it doesn't include pants? Sure glad I got it from the library and didn't dish out $40+ for it.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much information. Needs to be taken in smaller chunks rather than all at once, at least for me. Looking forward to checking out this resource again.

[Aleks N · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's some useful information in this book, but it's in no way a complete guide as it says absolutely nothing about fitting pants.

[Becca Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fussy

[Patricia Hodge · Rating 5 out of 5]

This will also be in a state of constantly reading as I take existing patterns and learn to fit them to my body.