For our monthly meeting in March, we did a small pivot to have our guest speaker not just speak, but deliver a class! Over 90 minutes, Pamela Leggett of Pamela’s Patterns showed us the Palmer/Pletsch tissue paper fitting method for the upper body, where paper is used in place of fabric and a muslin, to alter a pattern to a body. Specifically, due to time limitations, Pamela focused on the upper body.

During her talk, Pamela stepped us through this Palmer/Pletsch tissue paper fitting method. Vertical adjustments are made first, horizontal second, in the order of:

1. Bodice length;
2. Back, high/low before wide/narrow;
3. Shoulder, square/sloping;
4. Full bust princess seams need fullest part marked first,
5. Hips width.

After the adjustments adjustments above, in the following order:

• The bust dart can then be determined;
• The waist and hip can be defined better;
• The back can then be adjusted for sway or flat;
• The shoulder position is fine tuned; and
• The width and length of the garment suitable are fine tuned to your stature.

If it weren’t clear already, Pamela re-emphasized one last time that the prescribed order of doing all this is all-important.

Thank you very much, Pamela! Our members were thrilled to have heard you talk, show, and answer questions on these. We have issued a monthly challenge to

But all this is general talk, if you wanted more details, you can find it in this three page complimentary excerpt from Pamela’s book, The Palmer/Pletsch Complete Guide to Fitting.

Also, McCall’s also sells patterns with this method incorporated, where the lines you’ll need are already on the tissue pattern! Just look for Palmer/Pletsch written on it, or look through this list on the Palmer/Pletsch website.

More Monthly Challenges Garments

With Pamela Leggett taking most of the meeting time, in what time we had left, members showed 15 garments they made in synergy with others for the Partners Challenge, where members found another member who would want to make a common garment and they each made their own versions. As members will have one more opportunity to show garments they made, we will wait until all garments are in within the intended time range to show them in one united post. That one will be fun!