IN MEMORIUM: A TRIBUTE TO MARTA ALTO —1945-2024
by Pati Palmer, Palmer/Pletsch
colleague, co-author, and friend
Marta Alto shared her sewing expertise with sewists from around the world for over 50 years. To become the teacher we admired, she became a prolific sewer and became good enough to teach everything from jeans to blazers.
Susan Pletsch and I formed Palmer/Pletsch in 1975. We wrote and published sewing books featuring new technology that appeared in Mother Pletsch’s Painless Sewing, Easy, Easier, Easiest Tailoring, Sewing Ultrasuede® Fabric, Sewing with Sergers and Creative Serging. Marta was so fascinated with all the new technologies that she became an expert in each topic and contributed to early books before she ever became an author.
Sewing fashion was her passion, but she also enjoyed the needle arts and dabbled in knitting, both hand and machine. If it added to her creative abilities, it caught her attention.
After traveling the world teaching Palmer/Pletsch 3-hour seminars, Marta became co-author of several new Palmer/Pletsch large-format books, the primary talent in most of our videos, and an outstanding teacher of 4- and 5-day Palmer/Pletsch workshops in Portland.
We miss Marta every day, but what makes me most sad is that since Marta and I lived so close to each other, I was looking forward to growing old with her and reminiscing over all the things we shared, created together, and experienced. I will share many of these in this tribute blog post.
I was looking at one of the fit books we created together, in which, next to her bio, she wrote the beautiful message at right to her students and the teachers she helped train. It appears beneath her photo on the author page of The Palmer/Pletsch Complete Guide to Fitting. It was from her heart, her tribute and thank-you.
MARTA GIVES SPECIAL THANKS
I can’t believe I have been teaching sewing for 50 years!! I’ve loved seeing my students learn, particularly when they have those aha moments. I truly want to thank all of the ladies who have taken my seminars and hands-on classes and workshops. I learned as I was teaching—especially fit, which has been a continual learning experience. Thanks for loaning your bodies for fit practice!
I have been so lucky to have worked with Pati and to have had the opportunity to travel and teach all over the world. I’ve been to every state in the US, many of them every year for 20 years, as well as many times to Canada and Australia. What a fantastic career!!
MARTA TAUGHT FOR PALMER/PLETSCH BEGINNING IN 1981 AND RETIRED IN 2021—40 YEARS
It was appropriate that Marta retired after Sewing Camp. It was her favorite class. You had to be REALLY GOOD to be able to help with whatever garments the campers brought to be fitted and sewn. The first years of camp, Marta took six to eight students. With so many students wanting to repeat camp, she took 12. That is when she asked me to be there to help fit the first days. When camp grew to 16, we added Helen Bartley to the teacher roster, and the three of us kept busy having so much fun with each other and the students. Many campers returned year after year, some as many as once a year for 20+ years.
Sewing Camp continues and we channel Marta for help with tough decisions. She always sends the right answer to our minds! Due to a smaller classroom than the “football field” at Fabric Depot, we now limit camp to six, but we’ve added several more dates per year to accommodate! Thanks to Marta we’ve added camp to our other locations around the United States.
We held a surprise retirement luncheon during Sewing Camp in July 2021, Marta’s last workshop. I had to choose from a huge collection of workshop photos to create this card (with the help of my Design Director, Linda Wisner). Everyone at the workshop signed it.
Some of these women, and many others, wrote to me after Marta died, sharing their memories of her. Further down in this blog, read about her memorial service and then the tributes many of you sent us about your experiences with Marta.
FROM MARTA’S DAUGHTER, ANASTASIA ALTO
OBITUARY
Marta Alto, an icon in the sewing industry, passed May 10, 2024. Born in Seattle Jan. 6, 1945, to a civil engineer Mark Westling and Olive (Parsons), an artist. Her family eventually landed in Eugene where her father worked as a government consultant at the University of Oregon in the urban planning department. She soon had two siblings, Molly and John. Through her young years she found passion and inspiration in fashion. She learned how to sew at age 10 and through high school and college realized she not only had the creativity but the technical talent to exceed in the trade.
Her formal education started at Oregon State University in the home economics program. During college Marta worked at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival learning costume design in the summer. Her first official job was at San Francisco State College in the drama department, working as an assistant costume designer. In 1967 she married and had her son Chris. Soon, she became a single mother and, to have more flexibility for her son, she was hired to create the couture designer boutique at the Crest Room, a clothing department at Meier & Frank in downtown Portland (as shared in an article in the Oregonian newspaper in 1973).
This career move ended up being the start of a long career in the sewing industry with her footprint having a direct impact in modernizing the field. Soon Palmer/Pletsch was formed and Marta joined Pati Palmer as a long-standing business associate.
Marta married Jerry Alto, a video producer, in 1974 and had a daughter, Anastasia. Marta traveled across the US, Canada and Australia teaching seminars, then became an instructor for their famous 4-day workshops. Palmer/Pletsch provided sewing instruction that allows the hobbyist to create clothes that truly look custom-made. They created a large instructional video library (with Jerry), instruction books, and sewing notions. Marta was an innovator who worked in the sewing industry for 49 years, retiring at 76.
Marta was a forever friend, staying connected with old and new friends over the phone and with correspondence. She was always busy if not traveling, working on books, or preparing for workshops. She filled her free time needlepointing, embroidering, reading, quilting, and gardening. Marta made hundreds of angels with her embroidery machine that she shared as holiday ornaments. She was a creative cook who knew how to throw together ingredients to impress. She was a musical and jazz lover who could be caught singing in tune to musicals.
Soon she had grandchildren Maddox, Odin and Mathilda and loved visiting with them while making cookies, going to the Oregon coast, and making stuffed animals. Her contagious laugh will be missed by her husband, Jerry; son, Chris Alto and daughter-in-law, Sandy; her daughter, Anastasia Alto and son-in-law Corey Blodgett; her sister, Molly Brann, and brother-in-law, Dave Brann; and her brother, John Westling. She touched so many in her life and work.
A FAMILY AFFAIR
You may have noticed student photos in our books and how we unapologetically included family and friends as well!
Our daughters were not immune from being in our sewing sphere, whether it be in a 4-H club or photos for our books and patterns. As toddlers they wanted to learn to sew. When Anastasia was only 11, she was the youngest student ever to take the Palmer/Pletsch 4-day Serger Workshop!
They were always good sports.
The 1992 McCall’s pattern M5774 at right featured our daughters and those of some of our friends:
Anastasia is on the far right. Melissa is the ballerina. Kelsey Black, daughter of Lynette Black, author of Dream Sewing Spaces, is the small one on the beam. On the left with the yellow ribbon and tights is my college sorority sister Joanie Barclay’s daughter Haley.
Marta sewed many creative garments for The Serger Idea Book, like the ones on our models that included Anastasia’s party dress.
Anastasia became a cover girl on our jacket book along with her mom who sewed all three jackets.
THROUGH THE YEARS
Even though Marta didn’t officially start with Palmer/Pletsch until 1981, I’d worked with her at Meier & Frank since the 1970s before and after Susan and I had formed Palmer/Pletsch. Here are some early photos.
In 1977 Marta watched Susan and me sign the Painless Sewing book that included her famous “Marta’s Painless Placket.” Did she know then that she’d be doing book signings herself 20 years later?
We published The Serger Idea Book in 1988 as a collaboration of then traveling Palmer/Pletsch seminar instructors who submitted their creatively sewn projects for photography and instructions.
Marta designed and sewed the cover photo jacket from houndstooth wool with serger and Ultrasuede trim. She made the flower from the same silk charmeuse as the blouse, with rolled edges stitched over wire.
This group of women were the team involved in creating The Serger Idea Book. Left to right: Linda Wisner and Lynn Raasch seated, Marta standing, Pati Palmer, Kathleen Spike, Karen Dillon (now deceased), and Ann Price Gosch (who later became and still is our main editor).
Marta with Sue Neall, Palmer/Pletsch Australia, and me at the Puyallup Sew Expo in 2017.
2008 Fit-A-Thon, a 5-day open fit for those who had taken fit and pant fit. It was one of our favorite Sewing Vacations!
below: 2011 Tailoring Workshop: Students wore finished jackets to graduation dinner at my home.
NEVER A DULL MOMENT
In 1980 there were nine Palmer/Pletsch home economists traveling North America teaching 900 seminars in one year. Twice a year everyone met in Portland to come up with ideas for the next season’s seminar topic. We had great fun.
For example, I needed a jacket to wear to commentate the AQS fashion show in Paducah, Ky., around 1985. I bought a lot of fabrics for Portland designer/artist/quilter Paula Marineau to sew a jacket for me to wear. I gave my leftover fabrics to Marta for a jacket. She gave her leftovers to Lynn Raasch, who gave hers to Terri Burns. It was the era of shoulder pads, high and wide.
We were about to take serger seminars on the road. These jackets allowed us to carry fewer samples because they displayed all kinds of creative serger techniques and a variety of decorative threads. The photo appeared in Creative Serging Illustrated, a joint venture of Palmer/Pletsch with Chilton.
Lynn Raasch, Terri Burns, and Pati Palmer with a seated Marta Alto.
MARTA LOVED USING OUR MCCALL’S PATTERNS AND MAKING THEM USER FRIENDLY
Susan Pletsch and I started with Vogue in 1975, then with McCall’s in 1980 until she retired. Marta was a huge help as I continued without Susan. Marta went with me to NYC many times to meet with McCall’s. She loved dining at the Bull & Bear in the Waldorf Astoria, where we sometimes stayed.
Pati and Marta working with McCall’s Patterns in NYC to incorporate the Palmer/Pletsch Tissue-Fitting method into patterns and to show where to draw the alteration lines on the tissue.
Marta and I with Benhaz Livian, head of pattern making, and Sid Tepper, design director.
Anyone who embroiders alteration lines on her shirt must be trusted by a pattern company to help get fit into commercial patterns. (Note lines 1, 2, 3 for bust adjustment on the front.)
MARTA’S BOOKS
I remember wondering in 1977 if Marta would be writing books someday. She co-authored the first edition of Pants for Real People 26 years later, for her first book signing in 2003.
Her last book signing was in 2018 for The Complete Guide to Fitting.
Learn more about Marta’s books HERE.
AND A FEW OF MARTA'S VIDEOS
Marta is the star of nearly all of the Palmer/Pletsch videos. She was a natural!
SEE VIDEO CLIPS FOR FREE ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL
To see free clips of Marta’s videos, including one of her first, Creative Serging (she was so young!), visit our Palmer/Pletsch YouTube channel.
FREE FASHION FOR REAL PEOPLE ONLINE MAGAZINE—2000-2012
Marta absolutely loved sewing, modeling and being in our magazine that lasted 12 years with 24 issues. Image consultant Ethel Harms helped with fashion trends and the photography. Marta and I created, sewed, and wrote content, and Linda Wisner designed the magazine.
Marta tastefully embroidered dresses, jackets, home dec pillows and curtains, and handbags shown in several issues of FFRP. She made delicate holiday ornaments including angels for her lucky friends, and explained how to use Perfect Sew liquid stabilizer on washable fabrics including sheers. Jeans became a passion, so she taught jeans sewing in a video, and embroidered jeans pockets for an issue.
I really miss the collaboration of all of us on the magazine. It allowed us to share the season’s fashions, patterns, and sewing techniques with those needing inspiration.
The fun consumed us for 11 years!
MARTA WAS KNOWN AS A FIT EXPERT
FIT THE TISSUE FIRST, THEN THE FABRIC
Helen Bartley, Marta, and Pati tissue-fitting in 2019
Marta fabric-fitting Katharina Onanie, a regular from Tokyo.
Marta and I started tissue-fitting our students in the 1970s at Meier & Frank department store in Portland and perfected it over more than 40 years. The latest book is recommended by sewists as the road map to fitting fashion patterns for your body. In most cases tissue-fitting replaces making a muslin. (The preface in the book—The Palmer/Pletsch Complete Guide to Fitting—gives the trajectory of our learning.)
Marta helped create free educational handouts about fitting, which are available on our website:
TEACHER DEVELOPMENT
Marta helped train our CSIs to make sure their teaching would help tissue-fitting catch on through them and the workshop locations, where those teachers also trained teachers.
See our website for a list of locations of workshops and all our CSIs offering classes, many on fitting.
Marta is with Tammie Pontsler, who is our online instructor and teaches in-person classes in her studio in Grand Rapids, Mich.
MARTA'S TEACHING LEGACY LIVES ON AS THESE CERTIFIED SEWING INSTRUCTORS TEACH "THE PALMER/PLETSCH METHOD OF FITTING AND SEWING" AT OUR WORKSHOP LOCATIONS
And we now offer online Zoom workshops and webinars, taught by Tammie Pontsler.
Marta,
You are already missed by those you touched and especially by those at Palmer/Pletsch. Helen Bartley and I were channeling you during Camp this summer, asking, “What would Marta do?” Then the answers magically came. Thank you for being you! From all of us at Palmer/Pletsch.
Memorial for Marta June 8, 2024
Ethel Harms, Lynnette Black, Lynn Raasch Benson, Ann Gosch, Linda Wisner, Pati Palmer, Susan (Pletsch) Foster, and Roz Simon
(Palmer/Pletsch authors/workshop location teachers and staff: not pictured:
Helen Bartley, Nancy Nix-Rice, Sue Neall, Pamela Leggett, Janet Dapson, Nancy Seifert, Lyndsey Stanfill, Roberta Carr (now deceased), Barbara Weiland, Gail Brown Quigg, Marilyn Thelen (now deceased), Leslie Wood Willmott, Liz Edmunds, Nan Ides, Susan Andriks, Sue Green, George Palmer)
READ ON: Inspiring messages from YOU about Marta.
COMMENTS FROM FRIENDS, WORKSHOP ATTENDEES, OUR TEACHERS, AND THOSE WHO MET MARTA THROUGH HER BOOKS AND VIDEOS
NOTE: We are sharing responses from an email Palmer/Pletsch sent in May 2024 announcing Marta’s passing. I hope you will read some/all because the comments are so uplifting, unlike much of today’s dialogue. Who thought your sewing teacher would become a positive force in your world to the point you wanted to share the positivity? If you read even a few comments a day, YOU may gain inspiration too! There are also some who said Marta changed their lives because they made a career of sewing or teaching sewing. There are some funny stories that will make you giggle. One of my favorites is the very last one.
Our goal for this blog post is also to make sure readers know that everything good that Marta did teaching sewing lives on in the teachers she trained and the students she taught who are able to pass on what they learned.
Katrina Walker (KatrinaWalker.com)
Marta had the special gift of being honest and straightforward with tact and caring. Everything she did was done with a sense of irreverent fun and she never missed an opportunity to poke a little fun at herself, too. Who could possibly forget the immortal “Bullseye” blouse? Marta’s spirit will always be part of what makes the Palmer/Pletsch sewing family special. As long as her knowledge is available online and through her many books and DVDs, she continues to be an active part of our lives and spreading her unique gift to others. Thank you, Marta, for helping to make me the sewing professional I am today. I am so grateful for your loving guidance and generosity.
Pamela Leggett, Pamela’s Patterns
I met Marta at my first Fit Workshop in 1998. I was starstruck! Within 2 minutes of her intro, she had her shirt off and was showing us how to measure a high bust. I thought she was so brave! Now I do the same in my classes! No prima donnas in the Palmer/Pletsch teaching world! (I’m pretty sure I am not the only one with this memory!) I worked hard to master Marta cutting upside down and backwards with a pair of scissors so students could see, and I think of her every time I do it. I shared a room with Marta at the Puyallup Expo for a few years. I would be sitting on my bed with my computer preparing for my classes and Marta would have a pen and paper. For some reason this would always make us crack up laughing! I loved her laugh so much!
Sue Neall, former Palmer/Pletsch in Australia, offering our workshops and training teachers.
I first met Marta in November 1998! Such a lot of great times together and wonderful memories were woven through many workshops, shows, and books. You changed the direction of my life and career introducing me to some of the important people in your life—Linda, Ethel, Cleo, and more. Marta is a woman to be respected and remembered and thankfully because of the books, videos, DVDs and more that live in so many sewing rooms around the world, she will be for many years to come. sueneall@sewinspirationalevents.com.au
Helen Bartley, instructor, manager, Palmer/Pletsch Workshops Portland and author, Fit and Sew Custom Jeans
I’ll never forget the first time I saw Marta in her handmade jeans. I was blown away and so excited that someone I so admired saw jeans as a garment worthy of sewing and being part of the Palmer/Pletsch curriculum. She inspired me to sew and write the jeans book. Many of her techniques are used in the construction and modifications chapters.
Marta gave me the confidence to move into teaching pattern-fitting and serger techniques by gently suggesting I take over one element at a time as she eased into her retirement. When she was ready to move on from co-teaching pant workshops, she took me aside and said, “It’s easy! You don’t have to know anything. Just help students get into their tissues so Pati can do the fitting more quickly.” HA! I fell for it and what a surprise I had when I discovered that wasn’t entirely true—at all. Pati told me to read the Pant book cover to cover and be prepared to help fit. <GULP> Still makes me smile. Thank you, Marta. I miss you and ask you questions all the time while teaching sewing and probably always will. And I know you’ll answer me.
Julianne Schisler
I watch Marta’s It’s in the Details video EVERY time I put in a zipper. I wouldn’t dream of attempting it without her by my side. I so enjoyed taking fit classes with you both in Oregon and learned so very much.
Kate McIvor, owner, The Confident Stitch Fabric Store, Missoula, Mont.
I will forever be thankful for both of you for changing my life course! I will miss Marta every time I sew!
Judy Hall, punchwithjudy.com.au
I have so many memories: staying with Marta when I did your courses in Portland and her staying with us teaching at the Rock in Australia.
Janice Langan, CSI
When I started taking the Palmer/Pletsch classes in Oregon and became a teacher, she trusted that I had figured out how to get a straight skirt to fit full thighs and it ended up in your fit books.
Pati Palmer
I’ve known Marta for 49 years, from the day her grade school friend’s boyfriend introduced us. Marta laughed telling the story. “He used to be Pati’s boyfriend.” Marta knew she wanted to sew as a career, not sit behind a desk. She became an expert: Ultrasuede, serging, tailoring, knits, fit, machine embroidery, quilting, needlepoint, machine knitting—no topic too intimidating! As a result, she co-authored many books and was the talent for most Palmer/Pletsch videos. We were the perfect team—Marta mostly on R&D and me on writing. We loved creating books, videos, and seminars together. After her videographer husband, Jerry Alto, suggested it, I became the camera person for her videos because as Jerry said, “You know where Marta is going to move next.” I always loved working with both. Marta totally impacted my direction for Palmer/Pletsch. I can’t tell you what a hole in my life Marta’s passing has left.
Pati and Marta in 1974
Susan Pletsch Foster, Portland and Scottsdale, Ariz.
Marta was an integral part of Pati’s and my business from the beginning. Her sewing creativity is throughout all our books, patterns, and videos, from Ultrasuede projects to Marta’s Painless Placket and more. She had an amazing ability to simplify sewing processes that intimidated, making them easier to understand and to accomplish. Marta’s way was understated yet confident. In 1983 after the Palmer/Pletsch group went to Europe, Marta and I went on to London with the sole purpose of touring the Victoria and Albert Museum costume exhibits. Upon arriving at the V&A we learned the entire collection was closed and under renovation! I cried but Marta calmly carried on and found other interesting museums for us to enjoy. This was quite an accomplishment in the pre-internet era! I will cherish my collection of Marta’s Christmas Angels even more in the coming years.
Leslie Willmott, former Palmer/Pletsch educator and author
Susan and I recently reminisced about the P&P trip to Europe in 1983! – to Paris, Lake Como & Milan. I dug into my photo files and found a few to share … all with Marta expressing her great pleasure in being there! We visited Giverny, relished our desserts at Le Coupe-Chou, ready to take the train to Italy, and, of course, our dear Karen Dillon was with us, too. I am blessed to have known and worked with Marta and to have been her friend. I will miss her Christmas card angels! May this beautiful woman who gave so much to so many people rest in peace.
photos from the Palmer/Pletsch trip to Europe in 1983
Janet Dapson, Palmer/Pletsch Certified Sewing Instructor, Michigan, Fabrications.com
I became a devoted follower of Marta from my first Palmer/Pletsch Fit workshop. I looked forward to her guidance at every workshop on my way to becoming a Palmer/Pletsch CSI. She was a joy as a person and an inspiration as an instructor. Her expertise in fitting even the most difficult pattern style was impressive. During a Sewing Camp, one of the students had a dress pattern with an unusually detailed bodice. We watched in awe as Marta, without hesitation, showed where and how to alter the pattern tissue to fit the student. I still value Marta’s guidance and continue to refer to her tips and techniques via the Palmer/Pletsch books and videos. My most cherished memory of Marta was her encouragement for me to teach the 5-day Tailored Jacket workshop in our Michigan location; words cannot express how much that meant to me. To use one of Marta’s best adjectives, her “fabulous” spirit will remain with me every time I pick up pattern and fabric for my next creation.
Catherine Azzone
I came out to Portland about a month after we lost our newly built retirement home to fire. I asked Marta for some information/worksheets that were lost in the fire. She said just to come to her house, and we would go through what I thought I was missing so she could copy and replace. She was so helpful and just put me right at ease. Another memory I have is a funny one from the ’90s. You and Marta offered a workshop on a variety of topics including the two-hour shirt. My memory is that Marta was up on a stage so we could all see, and she proceeded to show how she sewed together a shirt in two hours. The fun started when those of us in attendance tried to do the same! Comments were all about stopping the clock for a variety of reasons …. “Stop the clock … I have to go to the bathroom!” “Stop the clock … I need to rip. Marta didn’t rip so this time doesn’t count.” “Stop the clock … I need coffee!” We may have finished our shirts but not in two hours but with a lot of laughter and her encouragement! I also remember taking her serger workshop and I carried my binder of samples onto the plane with me and would not put them down. She was a wonder woman and teacher and clearly a great mother, wife, and friend. Hugs
Cheryl Lampard, Lancaster, Pa.
I consider myself fortunate indeed to have been taught tissue fitting by you and Marta, in Portland. I think the thing that stands out most from having met Marta is the way you both interacted with each other. I liked how you both sometimes had different opinions on how something could be done, yet it was never a case of “mine’s better!” Rather, you were both willing to share your expertise with us all and let us decide which way we wanted to do something. Also, I remember thinking that Marta was perhaps a little stern at first, but the jokester in her soon showed itself!
Marilyn Melrose
When I think of Marta, I remember the racks of beautiful clothes she brought to show us at the beginning of class. She inspired us all. She also shared her quick sense of humor. She was such fun! I have very happy memories of those “sewing vacations.”
Kiki Jordan, St. Louis
It was with an incredibly sad heart that I received your news about Marta Alto. She was such a driving force in my sewing career, encouraging me to try different techniques as we came for our yearly Sewing Camp workshops in Portland. I learned how to “smush” [darts] for my flat-chested figure, how to create a fabulous welt pocket, and so many sewing tips that I have continued to use to this day. She had a wonderful, wry sense of humor, which kept us laughing throughout the workshops. I will be able to revisit her videos and books, taking comfort in the fact that she will still be looking over my shoulder when I need a little help. Sending you heartfelt thoughts on the loss of your good friend.
Evelyn Cummings
My experience with Marta was at a class at the College of DuPage with Linda Weisberg in the suburbs of Chicago. She did a demonstration on the serger for us. I remember her being very organized. I was just in awe of her techniques.
Judy Shubin
I met Marta through a set of serger videos, at least 30+ years ago. I can still hear her calm, encouraging voice from the VCR machine. Marta helped me with pattern and pant fitting in Palmer/Pletsch workshops in Portland. I never felt incapable or lacking, she just helped in her straightforward manner. She and Pati were the best teachers!
Laurie Maymi
I met Marta at her last sewing camp. I had no idea that these classes existed in my area (Portland). I had a special project, my dress for my daughter’s wedding. The material was silk, something I’d never sewn. It was not possible to finish the dress during the camp, but Marta offered to continue to help me finish. It turned out that she lives just a couple of miles away. During those visits, she showed me amazing things. Marta also lent me her spare serger. When I went to return it, she told me to keep it since she did not have any use for it. That and her extra help are gifts I will never forget.
Judy Gordon
Pati, I am so sorry you have lost such a lifelong friend. We are at the age where each day is a gift. I have learned with my cancer diagnosis to sew my favorite fabrics today, not to “save” them for tomorrow. My thoughts are with you.
Robyn Turner
This news of Marta’s passing is a shock. I reread your email three times. I know she retired a couple of years ago to take care of her husband. I can still see Marta’s smiling face. I quit sewing for about 10 years before moving to New York. I decided to begin sewing again and while at Mood [Fabrics], I overheard a conversation about Palmer/Pletsch. I called to take the first available class, which was Marta’s jacket workshop. She was a master at jackets, I learned so much from her. Her sense of humor was contagious, and although the class was trying at times, she never missed a beat and always had a solution. She could make a jacket with her eyes closed. I continued to attend camp for many years. She was a very special lady. I know this must be hard after all the years of your partnership with Marta. Your combination of knowledge can never be duplicated.
Janet Malwitz
I was so saddened to read about Marta’s passing. Over the many workshops I attended in Portland, I came to admire her so much. In the first workshop I took, I must admit I was intimidated by Marta—probably that “matter of fact, no nonsense” delivery. But, as I interacted with her, I found her to be such a warm person who loved what she did and loved sharing her knowledge, which was vast. I’ll always remember her infectious laugh and how encouraging she was to all the students. Condolences to Marta’s family and all the Palmer/Pletsch family.
Jan Shaw, Australia
So sad to read of Marta’s passing. Although I only met her briefly at the Perth Stitches and Craft show with my late Mum (who is missed every day), I’ve always enjoyed watching her videos and often refer back to them, also the books of which I have a majority.
Tari Wyse, Las Vegas ASG chapter president
Very sorry to read this. Marta & Pati’s books are some of my favorites. Another amazing sewing star has joined Heaven’s Sewing Bee.
Sharleen Zebinski, Canada, Palmer/Pletsch CSI
I wouldn’t be the sewer I am today if I hadn’t seen Marta in Winnipeg at a “home” show. She was introducing the serger and all the marvelous projects you could do, not to mention time-saving seam finishes. While at a workshop in Portland, she said something to the effect of “if your fabric comes from your stash, it’s free!” My sympathies to her family and the Palmer/Pletch team.
Kim Spink
I met Marta at a pant-fitting party and sewing workshop in Anchorage, Alaska, around 2010. The workshop was filled to maximum capacity. Most of us had not sewn garments in years. But there was a lot of excitement to have Marta there and the workshop was a huge success. I really don’t know how she was able to fit so many ladies in every size and shape with such a kind and thoughtful manner. I can imagine she went home exhausted, but we were so glad to have the opportunity to learn and create beautiful pieces. Marta was a gifted teacher and so patient with all of us. She was able to take a room full of quilters, get us excited about making garments, and teach us to make beautiful pants that fit all sorts of shapes and sizes.
From Pati Palmer to Kimberly,
Oh my! This brought back memories. I remember Marta having that huge class. She didn’t even tell me she was teaching pant fit because she didn’t want me to know she could teach every topic. But her sister lived in Alaska, so why not. When she got back, she exclaimed she put people who were in between sizes in a larger size, and it made fitting so much easier. That created a new rule for Palmer/Pletsch pant fitting that we use to this day. Thank you for taking the time to write.
Pamela Johnston
I have an appreciation for Marta’s sewing abilities (costume shop skills!), the no-pressure method she used to bring that knowledge to the student, and the humor that helped get the information across. Not everyone can do that! We are all lucky to have come across her in our lives.
Mary Hayduk
I was sad to read the news of Marta’s passing. I took one of your pants fitting/sewing classes that you and Marta taught about 10 years ago in Portland. I thoroughly enjoyed that class, your instruction and Marta’s too—you were quite the team! That type of partnership is so hard to find today. I learned so much from Marta and you! I became totally hooked on the Palmer/Pletsch approach! I cannot imagine the loss that you must feel, so please accept my condolences.
Marian Kowalski
I was a Sewing Camper a couple of summers about 20 years ago and was lucky to fall under Marta’s sunshine. I’m an engineer, accustomed to working with people like me. At one point, we realized that I needed yet another pattern adjustment, and I sighed, but Marta quickly outlined what I needed to do: “… and add an inch and a quarter here.” I gawked at her quick, decisive instructions, and she said, “It’s just math, Marian.” Whoa! I am an engineer, and usually I am the one who says that to someone else. It made me a bit more daring and enthusiastic about ways of fitting a pattern. Marta was smart, skilled, gifted, and fun. A light has gone out of our world.
Chesna Deyoe
Whether completely new to fashion sewing or a more “seasoned seamstress,” Marta always had a vital tip to help with any issue. She is a treasure, and heaven is lucky to have such a lovely woman and talented seamstress. I bet the angels’ wings fit much better now.
Melissa Bauska, Castle Rock, Wash.
I just wanted to pass along my condolences to Marta’s family and to the entire Palmer/Pletsch team. I had the pleasure of taking a four-week fitting class from Marta at Fabric Depot in 2007. She made an impact on my sewing and encouraged me on how to make my garments better fit my body. I have enjoyed countless books and videos of hers over the years and am very thankful she devoted so much of her life to teaching sewing and fitting skills.
Elizabeth Bryant, Palmer/Pletsch Certified Sewing Instructor, fitsewbeautiful.com
When I finally met Marta in person, at her last teacher training class at Fabric Depot in Portland, I was amazed. Her knowledge and her generosity stood out as she made her circuits around the room, doling out wisdom at each student’s station. She was always beautifully dressed in perfectly fitted jackets and jeans, often embellished with the machine embroidery that she loved so much. There seemed to be no figure problems that she couldn’t solve with scissors, tissue paper, and a little tape. That was, until I attempted a full-bust alteration on a surplice-wrapped dress. Marta walked me through the complicated steps, patiently explaining the theory and showing me how to rotate a dart into the surplice wrap.
However, when I wanted to know how to redraft the huge drape’s pleats back into the dress’s side seam, pattern drafting theory met practicality. “You can’t adjust the flat pattern for that, Elizabeth,” she told me. “That is what draping is for!” For Marta, practicality always won. Her work was all about the perfect fit, not the method it took to achieve it.
Elizabeth wrote this article for Threads magazine online:
threadsmagazine.com/2024/06/11/remembering-palmer-pletsch-instructor-marta-alto
Joan Weakland, Ames, Iowa
I want to express my sincerest condolences to you for losing a longtime friend and colleague. I have been using the Palmer-Pletsch alterations method since starting with Helen Bartley in 2019, and with you and Marta in Camp where this photo was taken. I want to take this opportunity to tell you how IMPORTANT your life’s work in creating all of the Palmer-Pletsch books, videos and classes has been for me. Your approach has been to help me to get sewing again, after years of thinking I should work from a couture approach, which just slowed me down (to a halt!), and did not help me fit the clothes that I was making. I love all of your books, and I have owned a copy of Mother Pletsch’s Painless Sewing since the mid-’70s during the height of my teen sewing years. I want you to know your approach, the photo documentation of different figure types, the many detailed explanations in all your books (so that one can dare to hope to find the answer to an odd, esoteric fit or construction problem!) is a tremendous resource and legacy to your fellow seamsters/sewists.
Anne Findling
“Oh my gosh. She’s taking her clothes off,” I thought as I squirmed uncomfortably in my folding chair. “What have I gotten myself into?” Those thoughts disappeared quickly, replaced by: “Wow, what a great fit. Man, I wish I could get my makes to look so good.” I sat on the edge of my chair, no longer self-conscious, but with full attention on the woman dressing and undressing in the front of the classroom. She was like me; I could do this!
That was my first fit class. We met in the classroom of the now-shuttered Fabric Depot in Portland. I recognized Marta immediately because I had “all the books,” but I was still a bit starstruck. What I came to appreciate early on was that Marta was truly the nonjudgmental, generous, and kind person that she projected. A bit of “extra fluff” was not a character flaw, but merely a chance to demonstrate another tissue-fitting skill. I just loved the process of taking a commercial pattern and making it “my own.” Marta’s mentoring still guides my sewing.
WE LOVE YOU, MARTA!
There is so much joy and gratitude in this blog post. Marta will be missed and her legacy will live on. Thank you for all the work which must have gone in to prepare this tribute. My condolences to Marta’s family and friends.
Thank you. And thanks for what you’ve done for customers and patterns. We all have made wonderful contributions in our sewing careers and Marta enjoyed every minute! Pati
This is such a wonderful tribute to Marta Alto. I loved reading the many perspectives on her work and the personal stories. I truly wish I had chosen to get on the P/P bandwagon 20 years earlier! Back then, after several in-depth classes with other sewing professionals (and still no fitting epiphanies), I called the P/P office to get a little more info on the fit class and working with Marta. Pati answered and passed the phone to Marta; she was SO understated, despite her FABULOUS skills and talent, that I waited another 20 years to study with P/P! Well, my true loss, but I am very grateful that I have been studying with several P/P instructors —Marta, Pati, Helen, and Pamela — since 2019!
We’ve enjoyed you being in the workshops. Thank you for you comments about Marta. Pati
I count myself among the fortunate many who were graced with Marta’s knowledge and generosity. I will always cherish the opportunities I had to learn from and to laugh with her. I miss her very much. Thanks for all the memories in this lovely blog post.
Thanks for allowing us to photograph you during workshops and put your fit photos in the fit book. You energized us!! Nice comments about Marta. Thank you. Pati
I think a lot of us use both Marta and Pati’s knowledge without even knowing it, it has just become the way we automatically do it. That’s the mark of an excellent teacher! I giggled reading that the angels’ wings probably fit better now that she is there.
And Marta loved embroidering little angels as gifts and yes, their wings will fit better. Thank you. Marta will be remembered! Pati
I arrived in Portland to live in 1978 and soon after I had my first class with Marta was the 8-hr blouse at Meier & Frank. I was hooked and in the next 30 years I took many more classes with the Palmer & Pletsch group. They were all a blast Marta was so accomplished but made you feel there was nothing you couldn’t do. Marta’s good cheer will be missed.
Yes, she was a great confidence builder. Thank you for your comments. Pati
What a beautiful post, Pati. I loved reading all of these. My only experience with Marta really is using the videos she’s done that are in the P/P library for sale. They are SO HELPFUL. My heart goes to you and everyone else here who are saddened by her passing. <3
Laura, Remember you have fully experienced Marta through Helen Bartley who studied with me and Marta for over 10 years and now is the head teacher in Portland workshops which you now attend. So you learned tissue-fitting through Helen and NOW you are teaching beginning sewing. Congrats. Marta lives on. Pati
It’s past closing time on Friday afternoon, and I’ve been glued to my computer, enjoying this walk down Memory Lane you’ve created with this tribute to Marta. She was a treasure indeed and is greatly missed! Thank you for sharing this with us, Pati!
You are welcome. She deserved to be recognized for her contributions to sewing. Thank you Pati
I am so sad to read of Marta’s passing. I was so thrilled to attend Palmer Pletsch fitting classes at Fabric Depot in Portland with a group of ladies from Australia several years ago. I often talk about Marta and her “magic hands.” As a plus size woman she told me my size from a glance at me, then confirmed by placing her hands on my shoulders. I was sure she was wrong, that was too small. Of course she was right. It was a magical time learning with Marta, Patti and Helen. I’m so grateful I had that experience.
Thank you. A nice memory. Pati
I am so sad that I am just now learning of Marta’s passing. I came to all the classes in Portland in the nineties and learned so much about fitting from Pati and Marta. Even after I could no longer travel to Portland, I would call Marta with questions and just to talk to her. She was so helpful and wise and comforting. I feel I became a
better sewist because of her and Pati. I will always have wonderful memories of Marta and my times in Portland. Hoping she passed peacefully and her family has wonderful memories of her.
I was always amazed Marta’s liking to talk on the phone when asked to help was always preferred over email. She cared deeply about her students. We all do, but Marta’s was a very special way. Thanks for sharing. Pati
Pati-I’ve really enjoyed these memories and tributes. Thank you for resending them. I last saw her at her retirement party during the 2021 Sewing camp. At that time, I told her directly that the best thing she taught me was to be fearless about sewing… Especially when it came to tailoring. That class made me a better sewist all around.
Happy birthday Marta!!
PS, The 2008 Fit-a-thon picture shows me wearing a pair of navy wool pants I made—-I still have them!
I hadn’t heard of Marta’s passing until now. What an amazing woman she was and this memorial catches so many wonderful memories of her. I remember her as a kind woman, generous with her time and her vast knowledge in the sewing realm and she had a great sense of humor.
Marnie,
She was all that you said. Thank you for your kind thoughts. I will forward to her children. Pati Palmer
Oh goodness I’ve only just read this post and it brought a tear to my eye. How very sad. I attended several classes in Portland and enjoyed learning from Marta’s knowledge and her lovely warm personality, both of which come through in all the PP videos. Sincere condolences to Marta’s family and friends who must all miss her very much.
Mandy, Thank you. We are all missing her. I hope you are doing well and still sewing. Marta would like that! Sincerely, Pati Palmer
Pati, thank you so much for creating this space for all the tributes to Marti Marti had a marvelous ability give total attention to teaching you while actually teaching a whole group, always with a smile and frequently telling of mistakes she had made. She made each class special and made you want to come back soon. I am sorry that I am so late in seeing this tribute.
Marilyn, You are so right in your comments. She is very missed by all of us. Take care.Pati