Palmer & Pletsch videos are my new best friends!

I recently bought the Palmer & Pletsch "Pants for Real People" fitting and sewing DVDs.  L-O-V-E them!  I'm a visual learner and the books are good but I was having a little trouble visualizing some of the fitting instructions.  There's something about the use of "real" women in these videos that appeals to me.  I've watched some other videos and it really irks me when they bring out the perfectly proportioned woman to demonstrate fitting issues.  I have the Connie Crawford "Custom Bodice" DVD and she uses 2 models.  One is a young girl with perky parts that fit the pattern perfectly.  She had to make up stuff to correct or "fit" to the model.

Last week I popped the "Pants for Real People" fitting DVD in with hopes of seeing some real fitting going on.  It was great.  Pati Palmer walks out in a leotard and tights and demonstrates how to fit yourself.  Every lump and bulge is there.  No Spanx to smooth things out.  Finally, a real fitting.  What is even more amazing is how awesome her pants looked.  I keep seeing these "What Not to Wear" and "How Do I Look" shows that preach wide, straight leg pants with flat fronts for women with hips or bellies, etc.  Pati Palmer made a tapered leg, double pleated-front trouser and a another tapered leg fitted pant and they looked amazing.  She's not obese but she seriously looked 10 pounds leaner after putting on her finished pants.  She was very picky about the fit too but it paid off.  At one point she commented about a "little pillow" showing on her left hip and how she would hide that.  Hey, I've got "little pillows" everywhere and I just figured they would always be obvious because I'm overweight.  Nope.  There are tricks to hide these under a well-fitting pant.  These little subtle fit adjustments aren't so easily explained in the accompanying text but the DVD makes it all clear. 

I haven't finished the "Pants for Real People" sewing DVD but I learned something within the first 5 minutes of the DVD.  I've never had a great looking invisible zipper.  Marta Alto cleared it up for me in one simple step and she didn't use an invisible zipper foot.  Plus she's a bit silly so she's fun to watch.

If you're an accomplished sewer and never have the same little fitting and sewing problems over and over again, then these DVDs aren't for you.  If you learned how to sew from reading books and just trying to figure it out for yourself, you will have nothing but "a-ha!" moments while watching these DVDs.  A cheap investment for my sewing with huge payoffs.  Highly recommend!