Pati Marta - Palmer/Pletsch Publishing

SEWING
&
WITH
Marta
Pati
After teaching summer workshops,
Marta and I got sewing. We wanted
to get this issue of Fashion for Real
People out in September, but here
we are in October already. This is a
summer into fall transition time. Later
in the fall we will offer some winter
ideas and take you into early spring.
In this section we’ll show you what
we’ve been making.
You can purchase all Palmer/Pletsch
McCall’s patterns on our website at
www.palmerpletsch.com.
FASHION for
PEOPLE
Real
PART TWO
7

SEWING
WITH
Marta
Marta’s early fall jacket
McCall’s
M6042
Marta Alto made this wonderful jacket last spring in a black-and-white
tweed. She loved it, because it was so easy to sew. For early fall I
made it in cotton batik—a fabric you can find in every quilt shop! It
makes a comfortable jacket for the end of summer and early fall when
weather can still be warm.
Marta: “For this season,
I picked a simple tonal smallscale
print and I love it! I used
PerfectFuse Medium for the
jacket fronts and I also fused
the backs and side panels with
PerfectFuse Light. I lined the
jacket with my favorite
lining, Ambiance rayon. It is
the perfect year round jacket—
even great with jeans!”
Pants: McCall’s M5239
8

When is a dress a blouse?
McCall’s
M6116
Marta sees all patterns for what they could
be. This is our new shirtdress with armhole
princess seams.
Marta: “I decided to test the fit as a
blouse length and I love it! This is a
cotton print from my quilt fabric
stash. It is very comfortable and a
great princess shape. I plan to do a
dress version soon.”
9

Make it more than once!
Fit the pattern once and sew it in many fabrics.
Marta lives up to this philosophy: This is her
fifteenth blouse from pattern M5433!
McCall’s
M5433
Marta: “This is my favorite pattern; it is
such a wonderful shirt! The semi-sheer silk
was an odd cut from the Mill End Store.
Since it was so lightweight, I fused both
collar pieces with PerfectFuse Sheer as
well as both collar bands. This added
body and kept the print from showing
through too much. I left out the vertical
darts since I planned to wear it tucked in.”
Since the fabric was so light, Marta chose to not sew the front band and instead
extended the front edge to fold under into a facing and self-interfacing. To do this:
1. Add 3” to the pattern front, measuring from the cut edge.
2. Measure 5/8” from the original cut line to mark a new fold line.
3. Fold the extension in half to form a facing and self-interfacing,
just like our unisex shirt pattern McCall’s M4079.
For details on Marta’s
new red jacket, see
Part Four, page 35.
10

Pati plans her fall sewing
I plan my fall sewing during the summer. I don’t sew much in August because it is time for play, vacation, and
good Portland weather. What I do sew in the summer is “transitional clothing” that will bridge my summer and
fall wardrobes.
However, to get me in the mood for fall sewing, I get out the pieces from my stash that I’d like to have in my
wardrobe. I pick the patterns first, and then try to match them to fabrics. If I decide to make a jacket, I ask
myself, What will I wear with it? It is a real plus if I already have something in my wardrobe that would work—
then I feel that I’ve hit the jackpot!
My planning table with potential
fall projects. I may get only three
out of the eight sewn. That is
OK. The rest will go back to my
stash and come out another fall.
SEWING
Pati
WITH
11

the Oprah blouse
Oprah once dubbed this her favorite blouse neckline, the wing collar. When she
mentioned this on her show, one catalog company sold completely out of this style
within 24 hours. The power of Oprah!! That is what made me decide to design a
blouse with this collar style for McCall’s.
McCall’s
M6076
The sleeve in this pattern is ideal for
very full upper arms. You can add to
each piece and even the over- and
underarm seams. The alteration lines
are printed on the tissue.
I decided to make this a
great blouse for learning
to alter for a full bust.
It has three views:
a shoulder princess,
an armhole princess, and
a side panel with a dart.
It features our latest bust
alteration instructions—
new and improved!
12

wear it two ways
Wear McCall’s M6076 as a shirt or as a jacket—two for the sewing
time of one! In the early fall, I wore this blouse with cream pants and
espadrilles.
Then, transitioning into later fall, I will wear the blouse as a jacket
over a camisole. I had some beautiful tan silk gabardine in my stash
that coordinated perfectly with the tan in the blouse print. The added
belt gives me “essence” of waistline. The latest in necklaces is a chain
tied into a knot.
The tan silk wrinkles, so the pleated trouser view C was the best
choice. I had to be very careful pressing, because the silk tended to
shine when top-pressing the pleats. I used our Perfect Waistband
Interfacing because it is nonroll.
When I sew a princess seam shirt, I like a fabric with body. My fabric
is a stretch cotton sateen. I used View A, the shoulder princess. The
print was pretty large, but the seams from the shoulders on both back
and front broke the print into smaller sections. I like it better.
Flattering Tip: When you wear
your hair color in your clothing, you
achieve a sophisticated, elegant look.
I used PerfectFuse Sheer
interfacing on the upper
collar and facing. Since I
planned to sew horizontal
buttonholes, I cut the interfacing
with the stable
lengthwise grain on the
cross, to prevent the
buttonhole from stretching in my stretch cotton. Now, having sewn the
buttonholes, I recommend for stretchy fabrics that you also add a
small rectangle of interfacing in the buttonhole area on the blouse
front. Then both layers in the buttonhole area would be stabilized.
Trousers: McCall’s M5239 and,
for large sizes, McCall’s M5537
13

Pati’s classic shirt and pull-on pants
I love this Bali batik from Batik Butik, Victoria, BC, Canada. They produce a
high quality batik that wrinkles less than others. I chose the shortest-length of
the shirts and the three-quarter-length sleeve.
McCall’s
M5433
protip
Before fusing interfacing to a collar and stand, place the
pattern back on the fabric to see if it has skewed. Make
the fabric pieces fit the pattern, and then fuse interfacing
in place.
Look how distorted the pieces would have been if I’d not
done a tissue check before fusing! I scooted the rayon
under the pattern until it matched.
McCall’s
M6082
I love that the darts add a little waist shaping. I sewed the back darts as deep as the
pattern. I sewed the front darts narrower to give me a little more room across the tummy.
For high-quality rayon batiks from Bali, visit www.BatikButik.com.
14

the classic shirt in many ways
McCall’s
M5433
McCall’s
M6082
You’ve seen this shirt in a recent
newsletter. This is the from the same
classic shirt, M5433. In the summer,
it was my swimsuit cover-up.
I love it when you sew one thing and
it makes a new outfit out of an older
thing. In early September, I wore it with
my new pull-on, narrow-leg pants in
stretch cotton.
It is amazing how wearing dark under
the long white shirt can slim down my
size 18 hips! (My top size is a 12.) I
added a belt for “essence” of waistline.
The stretch-cotton pants are from our new pull-on pant McCall’s
M6082. I used view A, but I have no gathers at the waistline.
I fitted my stretch woven snugly at the waist because the fabric
had enough give that I was able to get the pants over my hips.
I did not sew a casing for the elastic, but tried this very quick
method:
1. Wrap the elastic around your waist over the pants.
2. Adjust the pants under the elastic until your side seams and
center front and back are in the right place on your body.
3. Mark those positions on the elastic—I wrote RS (for right
side), LS, CF, and CB.
4. Serge the elastic to the wrong side of the top of the pants.
5. Fold down the elastic and fabric and stitch in the well of
the four seams (front, back, and sides) to anchor the
elastic to the inside. This waist treatment is very
comfortable to wear.
Learn to fit with this classic and yoke style pull-on pant.
15

topper goes lightweight
I made this vest several times for winter in bright color wool
coatings such as the pink one to the left.
This same pattern makes a great transition piece. I like a little
topper in the summer to wear over my tank tops. So I braved
the younger look of wearing a short top over a longer one!
For this beautiful Bali Batik, I fused the facing and collar with
PerfectFuse Sheer. I like the collar worn open, but it is a fun,
soft collar when snapped closed too.
McCall’s
M5941
Have you been creative with this VERY EASY pattern?
Send us your photos!
16
(For high-quality rayon batiks from Bali, visit www.BatikButik.com.)

camel coat revisited
McCall’s
M5767
Everywhere in the fashion magazines is the color camel. This fall I will
pair my camel cashmere coat that I made last fall with my new silk
gabardine pants. I love the coat’s hidden placket and the one large
button. The buttonhole is actually just a slit in the collar seam, making it
very easy to stitch in a coating fabric. This coat is so easy to sew that
if you make it now, you will be able to wear it by the time the weather
turns colder.
I added the animal-print scarf and the camel faux suede handbag
that comes with this “Classic Coat with Tote” pattern, McCall’s
M5767. Make the coat in camel hair, Ultrasuede ® for a great travel
coat, or rainwear fabric. Try an animal print in any of these fabrics. I
love a long coat, but the topper length is what I needed.
17