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Class:
Easy fitting the Palmer / Pletsch Way: Shirts and Tops
Class description:
The class description on the Craftsy website says:
Create perfect-fitting shirts without a partner! Learn an easy yet remarkably effective system for tissue-fitting on the body alongside sewing experts Pati Palmer and Melissa Watson. Start with a simple trick for choosing the perfect blouse size, as well as how to prepare a pattern for tissue-fitting. Move on to fitting and even discover the secrets that allow you to fit yourself! You’ll see how to assess the fit of your pattern in the back, shoulders, bust and hips, and make adjustments for all types of figure variations. Then, build your alterations expertise with step-by-step instructions for full bust and Y-bust adjustments. Finally, get in-depth guidance to make your fabric fitting nothing short of a stunning success.
The class also includes a free copy of McCalls 6750 Palmer Pletsch Misses Shirt.
Topics covered:
Lesson 1: introduction to tissue fitting
– Meet Pati and Melissa
– Introduction to Tissue Fitting
– Choosing the right size
– Preparing the pattern
Lesson 2: Fitting yourself
A demonstration is given on how you can tissue fit your pattern to yourself if you don’t have a fitting buddy.
Alterations covered:
– Sway back adjustment
– Forward shoulder adjustment
– Broad shoulder adjustment
– Square shoulder adjustment
– Waistline – lengthen or shorten
Lesson 3: Pati’s Fitting: Full Range of Adjustments
Alterations covered:
– High round back adjustment
– Hip adjustment
– Forward shoulder adjustment
– Square shoulder adjustment
– Full bust adjustment
– Sway back adjustment
Alterations covered:
– Sway back adjustment
– Forward shoulder adjustment
– Broad shoulder adjustment
– Square shoulder adjustment
– Waistline – lengthen or shorten
Lesson 3: Pati’s Fitting: Full Range of Adjustments
Alterations covered:
– High round back adjustment
– Hip adjustment
– Forward shoulder adjustment
– Square shoulder adjustment
– Full bust adjustment
– Sway back adjustment
Lesson 4: Marta’s Fitting: Back Adjustments
Alterations covered:
– Broad back adjustment
– High round
– Low round back adjustment
– Full bust adjustment
Lesson 5: Shannon’s Fitting: Full Bust
Alterations covered:
– Y-Bust adjustment
– Full bust adjustment after a Y-Bust
Lesson 6: Fabric Fittings
Topics covered:
– Fabric fitting
– Refining dart placement
– Handling asymmetry
– Reading pull wrinkles
Lesson 7: Finished garments and final tips
Topics not covered in class
Considering that this class is to help you fit shirts and tops I was surprised that it did not cover the following:
How to add extra fabric to your sleeves if you have chunky arms.
How to remove the diagonal wrinkles of fabric that often appear between the underarm and the upper bust.
How to do a full bottom adjustment – many people wear their shirts/blouses to cover their bottoms and need that extra bit of room in that area.
Class cost
The class has been listed at £31.94 but for the past few months it has had a 30% reduction taking the price down to £22.35. However during the regular 50% off sales you can often pick this class up for around £15 and that includes a free pattern.
Class strengths
Both Melissa Watson and her mother, Pati Palmer are excellent presenters. They are knowledgeable about their subject and take you stage by stage through the different fitting adjustments shown.
A wide range of common fitting adjustments are covered in this course and instead of using a ‘one size fits all’ they demonstrate the fitting process on four ladies with different body types. This works well as it makes it easier to compare your own fit issues to someone who has a similar body shape to yourself.
The pattern supplied with the class (and other Palmer Pletch patterns designed for McCalls) have many of the lines already pre-printed onto them to help you make your fitting adjustments. This makes it really easy to undertake a Full Bust Adjustment, a wide/narrow back adjustment, a high round back adjustment and a sway back adjustment.
At the end of the lessons Pati gives her own ‘Fit Tips’ which consolidate the things that have been covered and often provide some extra valuable information.
Pati Palmer has co-authored a book called ‘Fit for real people’ which contains all of the alterations in the class as well as many more that you might need in the future.
Class weaknesses
The class description places a lot of focus on being able to fit shirts without a partner. Lesson 2 does show you the process you would go through if you don’t have a fitting buddy. However, it is not an easy thing to do, you have to have an upright mirror and use a hand held mirror to look at the fit of the tissue around your back. Tissue isn’t the easiest material to work with and trying to see, let alone being able to reach around your back whilst keeping the tissue in place is definitely challenging. This class really does work better if you have someone to help you, at least for the first time. Once you are more familiar with the tissue fitting method and understand the alterations that you generally need then yes, you can fit yourself, but I do think that a complete novice to this method might find it hard.
I found the demonstration of the Y bust adjustment quite confusing. The reason why one was needed was easy to understand but Melissa moved the tissue and folded it without clearly explaining what or how she was doing it. Despite probably needing this adjustment myself I haven’t been able to replicate it.
The high round back adjustment is clearly demonstrated and easy to follow. However it is shown on people who only need a small adjustment. If you have a larger round back than they show then you really need to use a different method i.e. distribute the adjustment over a number of different cuts rather than just the one suggested and also to incorporate a centre back seam (this was never mentioned)
Although many of the common adjustment lines are pre-marked on the pattern there are none to help you with shoulder adjustments i.e. narrow/wide shoulders, forward shoulders and square shoulders. Melissa does demonstrate these adjustments on herself and the models by using pins and then later marking the new sewing line with a pen. However, I didn’t feel that she explained clearly enough why these adjustments were being made or how you would recognise that you needed them in the first place.
In lesson 6 one of the topics is entitled ‘reading wrinkles’. This section is a bit misleading as it doesn’t teach you how to read the wrinkles or to understand the fitting issues that might be causing them in the first place.
Class rating
Overall rating (1-5) + Explanation: 4
I really enjoyed this class and when I took it last year I was a complete beginner at fitting adjustments. I learned a huge amount from the class and gained confidence in performing FBAs, High round back adjustments and sway back adjustments. I also learned to recognise that I need narrow and forward shoulder adjustments. The free pattern was a great design to use for learning how to do the adjustments in the course and I’m delighted with the finished garment.
However, the reasons that I have docked a point is because of the confusion over the shoulder adjustments and the Y-Bust adjustment. I also felt that some of the points I highlighted in the ‘class weaknesses’ section above should have been covered in the class.
Overall, this was a superb class, well worth the money and I am really pleased that I purchased it.
The lilac blouse is the one that I made whilst following this class: