TeachersUpdateNewsle.. - Palmer/Pletsch Publishing

#1 Spring 2013HAPPY SPRING!We just finished the Puyallup show last month andhave had lovely comments about the fashion showthat Marta and I produce for McCall’s, Vogue, andButterick. They sent us some fabulous clothes likethese dresses—a shirred knit and a retro dress.There were lots of waistline dresses. Batik Butikmade up our shoulder princess shirtdress M5847in one of its Bali prints. Our knit top M6513 was afavorite. We sold out of the pattern in our booth.We also had Pamela Leggett, Palmer/Pletsch Eastworkshop teacher and owner of Pamela’s Patterns(www.pamelaspatterns.com), in our booth with herpatterns and products; and Nancy Nix-Rice, authorof Looking Good and the DVD Looking Good Live!,(www.nancynixrice.com) attended the show for thefirst time with her own booth. I introduced NancySeifert and Pamela at the fashion show to promotetheir workshop locations. (Nancy is our workshopteacher in Seattle.) Many of you stopped by ourbooth to say hi. Jean Baxter told us to put her downfor the new Knit Workshop, but by the time I gothome, it was full. So she will come to Sewing Campand work on knits! Janice Aston and Meryl Wynnehad their annual photo op with me and Marta.Janice, who is a Palmer/Pletsch CSI, started asewing business in Calgary and has been verysuccessful, but not quite enough yet to close downher company and do it full time. Go girl! I sharedher business card with you in the last newsletter.Remember, this newsletter is for you, so if you havenews about sewing, teaching sewing, or growingyour business, send it to me to share in the nextnewsletter.Vogue 1314McCall’s 6513McCall’s 58471Butterick 5846

News from Palmer/PletschINTERFACINGIDEAWe love our interfacingline and so do those whohave discovered it. I’dlove to get the word outbetter. The profit marginin our interfacings isvery slim, so I amnot able toactually hirea person togo outand givefreeseminars,thoughthat is whatI did in myfirst sewingindustry job as an educationalrepresentative for Armo InterfacingCo. Many of you have told me thatyou have taught free interfacingseminars at ASG groups as a wayto promote your own hands-onclasses. Some have also offered aninterfacing seminar, 1½ hours for$25 a person. Some of you havesold the interfacings at seminarsor shows where you had a booth.We love it! I’d love for you tomake money teaching and sellingproduct for yourself or a store youare affiliated with.So, what is my idea? I am lookingfor a few of our teachers who wantto be the go-to person in a regionto teach interfacing seminars.I would give you yardage formaking samples, the updated slideprogram and, if you are able todrive to locations nearby and teachan interfacing class, I would list youon our website with your contactinformation for a seminar. If you arecurrently affiliated with a store, youmight make sure the owner wouldCERTIFICATIONapprove of this sinceyou could end up ata competing store.I’d like you to befamiliar with ourinterfacings,like them,and be anactive user ofthem. Tell mewhat areayou’d be ableto cover sincethat infoshould go onthe websiteas well.I mentioned that we can add yourphoto to your CSI listing, but onlytwo of you sent me a photo – LindaBarry from Perth, Australia, andAlison Henson in New Zealand.We hope that being listed on ourwebsite helps you get noticed, andif you send us a jpeg of you, yourlisting will stand out even more!You can renew your CSI online athttp://www.palmerpletsch.com/workshop_teachtrain.htm. Thenyou can email me your PDUs. I amgiving you the form as a Word fileto make this easier. If your CSI haslapsed, simply reapply using thesame link. Check your listing onour website to see if you want anythingchanged. We offer to postyour name, city and state, phonenumber, email, website, and photo,but content is your decision.If you want changes, send them toLinda Wisner, Design Director,Palmer/ Pletsch at wizbiz@wisnercreative.com.CONSIDER THEBEGINNER SEWINGTEACHER TRAININGWORKSHOP NEXT FALLThe demand for beginning sewingclasses is growing rapidly. As I’vementioned before, our beginnerclasses at the Palmer/Pletsch Schoolof Sewing at the Fabric Depot arefull with waitlists.To train more teachers, we areoffering another Beginning SewingTeacher Training workshop Sept.27–30, 2013. Janet Corzatt’ssystem works well. You become“the beginner” at the workshopand you go home ready to teach.You will have made all of thesamples your students will bemaking and have the garmentsready for display to promoteyour class.Consider joining us for this workshop.Many already have and havehad good success. In fact, I’d loveyou to share if you’ve had successwith this program. It is perfect forquilt stores wanting to test fashionsince the projects are done inquilting cottons.2

PANT FIT TEACHINGPATTERN ISNOWDISCONTINUEDI warned you last fallthat McCall’s wouldbe discontinuing ourpant pattern. Wehad about a month’snotice, so Pamela,Nancy, Janet, and Ibought up all wecould at JoAnnsales.I have told you that we will havea new pattern and I took note ofsuggestions several of you made (seepage 9). I made suggestions to McCall’sfor a new pant fit pattern with all sizesin one envelope. The views would belimited, but people are liking plain pantsthese days vs. trousers.In the meantime, we have a great newpattern coming out for a pant and skirt,M6757. It has all the fit info and alterationlines on the tissue as did View A inM5239. The new pant has a back zipperand contour band, but you could use aregular band if you wanted to. The bestnews about the pant is that it has the verticalsingle-welt pocket with all the patternpieces for making it! Of course it is optionalin the first pair of pants, but it couldbe added to the second pair. The leg hasa slight fit and flare to it.M6361 has alsobeen a favoritechoice duringworkshops and hasdetails people like.New pant/skirt pattern M6757shown with our new M6750Oprah collar shirt. A greatteaching pattern.4

LOOKING GOOD BOOK UPDATEWe just finished the photo shoot of the body graph steps. Myniece Emmy (my brother George Palmer’s daughter) and mygranddaughter Linnea (my stepson Jeff Watson’s daughter)graphed each other. Aren’t they beauties! They are so nice,smart, and talented as well. Emmy just graduated from PortlandState University in business and international marketing,and Linnea was just accepted to University of Washingtonand wants to major in computer or software engineering. TheLooking Good revision is coming along. Nancy Nix-Rice willspend a week here with me in April to do more photography.We are hoping to have the book out next spring.Emmy’s graphLinnea’s graphFYI I have done a body graph class with 9 students. Giveeach person half a vertical sheet of Perfect Pattern Paper.Divide them into groups of three, one being graphed, onegraphing, and a spotter to make sure the ruler or pencilis perpendicular to the wall. The fit book gives you all theinstructions plus how to detect figure variations from thegraph. I charged $25 a person about 10 years ago.5

NEWS FROM YOU!FROM MANDY BENGEYFIELD, CSI,SURREY, UKHi PatiI was recently invited to runsome workshops at a 3-day craftsexhibition. I don’t teach sewingexcept as part of my pants andjacket courses, so I thought longand hard about how to run fitworkshops in 45-minute segments.My space was only 16ft x 10ftand there was no facility to run aPowerPoint presentation, so it allhad to be pretty low-tech!Despite fairly low attendancebecause of the snow that fellthroughout the first day, there wasquite a lot of interest. The ladieswho did the workshops reallyenjoyed them so I thought I wouldshare with you what I did. Therewere 5 workshops throughoutthe day:1. I started with a 30-min. introductorytalk on the PP approachto fitting, how to find the rightsize, etc.2. Demonstration of broad back,rounded back and sway backalterations on a full-size pattern,followed by hands-on practiceusing small-scale versions.3. Demonstration of FBA on adarted front (as above).4. Demonstration of FBA on ashoulder princess (as above).5. Introductory talk on commonpants fitting problems.I’m not gonna lie, it was a lot ofwork tracing and marking andcutting enough full- and reducedscalepatterns for the whole threedays! My husband made individualcardboard work boards with ½inch grids and I used the tubes fromtoilet tissue so everyone had theirown roll of tissue strips. But at leastnow I have all the templates etc. sonext time my preparation will bemuch quicker and easier.It was good fun and everyonehad a good time getting involvedwith cutting and altering the tissue.This experience has given me moreconfidence in thinking outside thebox and proved that it is possible togive a professional presentationwithout relying on technology!Mandy BengeyfieldUKFROM CONNIE HAMILTON, CSI,HARTWELL, GA, ON TEACHINGBEGINNING SEWINGHi Pati,About a year ago a new quiltingstore opened in our town and ithas provided lots of teachingopportunities for me. I had spokenwith the owner (Ann) about thepossibility of teaching, so when shebegan getting requests forbeginning sewing classes, everythingfell into place right away. I’vedone two Level I classes using theMcCall’s P/P apron pattern and willstart another this coming week. Ialso did a Level II class but I hadthe ladies make thepajamas instead of the robe. These6were my first classes usingthe curriculum materialsfrom Janet Corzatt andI have a couple ofsuggestions which youmay want to pass on.In the first two beginningsewing classes I found thelion’s share of the entiretwo and a half hours wastaken up with machineorientation. The studentswere truly beginners andwere literally terrified oftheir machines. Inaddition to that, all themachines were differentbrands; some with onlybasic functions and rotaryknobs, some with electronicfeatures and buttons to push;some with drop-in bobbins, somewith front insertion bobbins, etc.Our pre-class instructions said tobring a machine in operatingcondition but because theydidn’t know how a machine wassupposed to function, somesounded like meat grinders, somehad bobbin issues (including thewrong bobbins) and upper tensiondifficulties. Needless to say, by theend of the first class we were almosta class behind. Ann and Idecided with future beginnerclasses we’d have a separatemachine orientation class for asmall fee, and then the apron classcould stay on schedule.The students in the pajama classhad a different problem. They lovedto talk while they sewed but theycouldn’t talk and sew at the sametime so they didn’t progress veryfast. Some of these ladies werefrom the local quilt guild andfor them, sewing is as much forrelaxation and therapy as forproduction, and one lady had ahearing problem, which requiredfrequent one-on-one instruction. Ittook several sessions of the shop’s“Open Sewing” morning to get thepj’s done. I learned that I’m much

etter at being authoritarian andkeeping a tight rein on kids than Iam with adults – especially if thestudents are friends and/oracquaintances! In the future I’vedecided to outline the day’s classexpectations on the dry eraseboard, and what isn’t completed bythen will be assigned as homeworkto be finished by the next class.We’ll talk about this at the first classand I’ll refer to the outline as wecomplete each step so they can seehow on (or off) schedule they are.I’ll let you know how these potentialremedies work!Sincerely, ConnieTIPS TO HELP CONNIE & OTHERSTEACH BEGINNING SEWINGBY THE CREATOR OF THE PPPROGRAM, JANET CORZATT, CSI.Hi Pati,I’m not quite sure how it took solong to get everyone up and runningon their machines, even if theywere novices. It does take a bit ofone-on-one at the start to check outeach person’s machine and makesure all the settings are correct. Igive each student a scrap to test outstitching, help each one who needshelp threading, and check eachmachine to see if all is well. The teststitching usually brings to light anyproblems in threading, settings,tension, etc. (I also offer a SewingMachines 101 class for those whohave no experience with a machineand want to start with more in-depthmachine instruction. We don’t haveto cover everything about the machinein Level 1—just enough tooperate the basics. More informationis given as needed.)I still think it is best to make therobe before moving on to the pj’ssimply because they develop moreaccuracy on the robe that will thenhelp with the pj’s. They also have abetter understanding of the patternparts, how to finish seams, applyinterfacing, sew hems, etc. The pj’sabsolutely require some homework,and students usually feel confidentenough by the third project to workon their own. My lesson plansdefine the sewing goals for eachweek and I make sure to let thestudents know what those goalsare. Anyone who seems to befalling behind is invited to come toone of my other classes for someextra sewing time.It sounds like Connie has come upwith ways to solve the problemsthat will work for her. I think she willfind that things will go moresmoothly after she has done moreadult classes. She may need tobe more authoritative in telling thestudents what they are allowed tosew and not let them skip someimportant learning steps that wouldhave been introduced in that missedproject. We learn along with ourstudents with every class that weteach.JanetA QUESTION FROM CONNIEHAMILTON, CSI, ABOUT A PATTERNTEACHING FITOne question. The pajama ladiesfrom Beginning Sewing want aclass on fitting. (Hooray! I’ve beentrying to get them from quilts intogarments for three years.) Theysuggested a vest, which would bean ideal start because we could usefabric from the quilt shop and Icould cover choosing the properpattern size, plus full bust and highround alterations without gettinginto collars and sleeves. Are thereany current McCall’s Palmer/Pletschpatterns similar to the McCall’s8804 vest pattern from severalyears ago? That was such a greatpattern to use for beginning fitclasses and a wonderful way tointroduce the advantages of the P/Palterations lines already marked onthe tissue. Any suggestions youhave are certainly welcome.7PATI PALMER’S ANSWERWe don’t have a vest pattern at themoment. But a favorite in teachingfit has been M6076 since it has adarted front as well as shoulderand armhole princess fronts. For anonstretch cotton, I’d add 1” sideand underarm sleeve seams just incase. Do the darted front first. Thenteach princess bust. For really fullbustedwomen, do the shoulder insteadof armhole princess. It ismuch easier. This would be lovelyin printed cottons carried by thequilt store. It could be made sleevelessfor warm Georgia summers byfinishing the armhole with a biasfacing, first making sure the armholeisn’t too deep. Good luck! PatiFROM CAROL STALVEY, CSI,SAVANNAH, GA, ABOUT APULL-ON PANTWhile I’m waiting to come to Portland,I have been asked to teach apants fit class. I would like to do anelastic waist pant as I feel I can dothat without getting into too muchtrouble. You have M6082 that hasbeen discontinued available onyour site. Would that be a goodone to use or should I use yournew one, 6571? I would reallyappreciate any and all suggestionsyou could give!!Thank you, Carol StalveyPATI PALMER’S ANSWER TO CAROLThe no-side-seam pant is reallyeasy to fit because the legs are notso fitted. I just ignore all the dartsand make sure there is enough atthe top for a casing. If they areusing a knit, fit the tissue withoutease around. If they need morewaist room, straighten bothcrotches; they are slanted, sostraightening will add about 2”to waist. Practice on yourself first!See FFRP Fall 2013 issue whereI addressed that pant. Have fun.Off to a spa for my tomorrow’sMarch 17th B-day! Pati

FROM JULIANNE SCHISLERI’m super excited about the knitsworkshop, too. I did a pants class afew years ago and it only seemslike yesterday (I’m still sewing allthe fabric I bought on that trip!).I enjoyed it so much that when Icame home I immediately startedsaving up for my next trip. It’sexciting to tackle knits, as we havebeen doing at our local Palmer/Pletsch classes this year. I find that Ibuy a lot of knits when I’m shopping,so it will be empowering tofeel more confident sewing them athome. In our class here at home wemade the pull-on pants with thewide legs from the recent batch ofMcCall’s Palmer/Pletsch patternsand we’re all reporting that we livein them. They are so flattering andcomfy! I look forward to meetingyou all in this class. I am excited tosee names I recognized from myclass before.Counting the days!Julianne Schislerjulianneschisler1@mac.comFROM JANET GARDNER, CSI,SAN RAMON, CAThanks for the words of encouragement.They come at the perfect timeas tomorrow I will be teaching myfirst fit class at the store where Iwork. I look forward to taking moreworkshops this year from you andMarta and to working more intoteaching. I thoroughly enjoyed theFit class and know that there wouldbe a lot more people sewing if theyhad these skills.Thanks again, JanetUPDATE FROM JANICE ASTON, CSI,CALGARY, ABInterfacing Seminar: Yes, I aminterested in teaching a seminar.Was thinking it would be greatsubmission for the Calgary SewingShow next year (Sept. 2013). If Ihad a booth at the show this year,I could have sold a lot after referencingin 20 Tips. Have also beenpromoting the interfacings at myworkshops and the students seeminterested so have placed an orderwith Jeff and plan to offer them forsale in the studio. I will let youknow how that goes.Fits Sew Well: have completedtwo 12-hour Fit Workshops. Haverealized that it wasn’t enough timeto accomplish everything I want to,so am planning on expanding to15 hours. Also planning on offeringa More Fit every month (drop inand fit some more patterns). I finallyhave my website up and running.Ran into an issue with a spammerthat needs to be addressed but takea look and let me know what youthink: www.fitssewwell.comMom and I are planning on comingdown to take the Knit class thissummer. Looking forward to somefit pointers I can bring back to mystudents.Have a great Christmas.Paul and I are off to Maui rightafter Christmas.Janice AstonLESLIE BELAMYBRYN MAWR, PAPati -- thought you'd get a kick out ifthis story:We bought Sam a suit at Nordstrom.They botched the alterations(shortened the wrong sleeve). Thispic is of their "corrected" job.The tailor kept telling me they wereeven. After much discussion I pulledout my tape measure and showedhim that they were different lengthsand circumferences. He said theywere even and it was Sam's arm(bad argument—even if it were,you would still hem it to look evenon the body!).I knew the sleeve was wonky. Icould see and feel a pull in theplacket and you could see theangled hem. The stripes were onthe bias.8He insisted all it needed was a littlepressing and tacking.I told him I knew what I was talkingabout and made him open the lining.Sure enough—the hem hadbeen angled up 1/2 " at theplacket causing it to bell out and be1/2" shorter than the rest of thehem and the other sleeve. When here-did the hem and re-sewed theplackets and buttons it was fine.Moral to the story: Don't mess withPalmer/Pletsch fit experts. We'veseen garments from the ground upand if it doesn't hang right weknow how to fix it!By the time he finished we hadbeen there for three hours and thestore was closing).LesliePS The salesperson was soimpressed with my expertise thatshe asked for my card.LAQUINTA SCHUM OPENSSTORE IN INDIANA:Let’s Sew4406 E. Morgan Ave.Evansville, IN 47715sewsolovely@aol.comletssewllc@aol.com812-477-9914

SUGGESTIONS FOR ANEW PANT PATTERN—A SUMMARY OF YOURTHOUGHTS• You don’t feel that peoplecare about trousers right now.• You like a large size range,size 6 or 8 up to the largestwomen’s size, in oneenvelope. This would makethem always have the rightsizes in stock and I think isthe #1 idea.• Students are preferring afront opening. But I knowsome people are turned off bya fly front. I might suggestadding templates for variety.If they want a fly, they addthe extension. If they want atrouser pocket in front, weadd a cut line and pocketpieces. These things wouldmake it a very versatile pantfit teaching pattern.• The only other desire wasLeAnna Wilson’s thoughtabout leg width being thething that changes mostoften. Let’s talk about thatpossibility.TEACHERS WEIGH IN:NANCY SEIFERT, SAMMAMISH, WA,Hi Pati,I just finished Day 1 of a 2-daypant fit class at Pacific Fabrics.Two of the students were not able topurchase their patterns before theywere pulled from the drawers (inmy PF class they buy their ownpattern, will probably change thatin the future). I was lucky to havea stash of the patterns at home tosupply them. What really surprisedme was that 3 of the students werein the women’s size KK of 5537,the 26-32w sizes; one in fact waslarger than the 32, she has a 60”hip. I am telling you this to makea case for including these sizes inthe new pant fit pattern. I did someresearch, and the only other patternI could find in that size range for abasic pant was Connie Crawford’s.I know I could make a 24 work, butohh what work it would have been!Also, 5 of the 6 ladies wanted frontzippers instead of back zippers, soI had them cut out “B” front, tracethe side of the pocket to fill it in,and the back for “A.” I think aplain front with a pocket should bean included view. There doesn’tseem to be as much interest inpleated trousers. The ladies wereexcited to hear that they couldretake the class to fit a jean pattern.I hope the jeans pattern is going tostick around!Nancy Seifert,Palmer/Pletsch SeattleLEANNA WILSON, OLATHE, KS,Hi Pati,Just finished reading the instructor’snewsletter and wanted to weigh inon the new pants fitting pattern. Iwould love to see a pattern withdifferent size pant legs. That seemsto be what changes the most andfastest in pants fitting and is also a9sensitive area for many homesewers. If they could have a goodfitting pattern w/ different legs itwould really help.Also, this may be asking too muchbut I think having an elastic waistas well as a waistband would begood. Or maybe directions onhow to do it. So may women wearelastic waists and I must admit I dolike them and seldom tuck in sothere is really no need to have aband. The ones with a portion ofthe front band as a regular bandare nice.Love the Instructor’s Newsletter!LeAnna WilsonALISON HENSON, CSI,NEW ZEALANDIn the latest Teacher Updatenewsletter, Pati asked for feedbackabout a new pant fit pattern so…I’d love to see a Perfect Fit basicpant pattern with several leg widthsAND I’d love to see a Perfect FitContour Band Pant pattern withvarious leg widths also. Don’t askfor much, eh?Alison HensonNew ZealandJANICE ASTON, CSI, CALGARY, AB,Pant Pattern: I like the idea ofhaving some alternate views forthe basic pant; gives people someoptions. I haven’t started pantworkshops yet; planned to start inthe spring having separate workshopsfor basic pant and advanced(contour waist, trouser, etc.). I alsolike the idea of having a fit patternfor other styles like contoured waist.I will probably have better feedbackafter the workshops.Janice Aston

Finally, we came across this and wanted to pass it on:Business E-mail Etiquette Resolutions for 2013• Every e-mail you send will be courteous and include a proper greeting and closingwhich includes your name. Typed properly too! Names in lower case or allcaps are not acceptable in any business related communications. Nice greetingsand closings avoid your e-mails from being perceived as demanding or terse andshow that you understand common courtesies.• The Subject: field should always include a brief and concise description of the contentwithin. Take the liberty to change the Subject: field when necessary to betterdisplay what your e-mail is about when a conversation has moved off the originaltopic.• You will not forward an e-mail unless it specifically applies to the personyou are sending to. In business always refrain from forwarding political orcontroversial topics. When you do forward, include a personal note to thatperson so they know why you are forwarding that particular e-mail to them. Whensending or forwarding the same e-mail to a group of contacts, use the Bcc: field toprotect their privacy (especially if they don’t know each other).Use the Cc: and Bc: features prudently, including only e-mail addresses that “needto know.” Never use these options for CYA or e-tattling purposes thereby causingincreased and unnecessary e-mails to others.• Always make the effort to down-edit your e-mails to remove any text that isirrelevant to the ongoing conversation.• Take the time to make sure that sentences are complete, capitalized and includeproper grammar and punctuation. This goes for Twitter and Facebook too!Educated professionals communicate in an educated professional way regardlessof venue (or device). Taking the extra time to make sure that your intent and toneare clear whether it be a Tweet or a Facebook comment, will add clarity in yourcommunications. Making these efforts will certify that communicating with you iseasy and reliable while having the added benefit of helping to avoid any misunderstandings.• Do not send unannounced large attachments of any kind without asking first whenwould be the best time to send them and what format they prefer. This extra stephelps to make sure they have the necessary software to view your files. Neversend unannounced large attachments to business contacts outside of businesshours when they are unavailable to keep their inbox clear.• To avoid serious liability and trust concerns do not post or forward e-mails sentto you privately for any reason in a public forum or to a third-party without theoriginal sender’s permission.Source: http://www.businessemailetiquette.com/104/e-mail-etiquette-new-years-resolutions10