JUSTINE BATEMAN HAS NEW ROLE ALL SEWN UP.

Byline: Barbara De Witt  Fashion Editor

Justine Bateman seems to have been cast for life as the designing woman, but at least now she can wear her own fab designs.

Bateman, now 36, won teen hearts in the 1980s TV sitcom ``Family Ties'' as the trendy, somewhat rebellious Mallory who lived the mall rat's life and dreamed of becoming a fashion designer.

Not long after the series left the air, Bateman left show biz. Wanting to create something of her own, she developed the Justine Bateman Collection - sold in stores across the country and modeled in slick fashion mags by the likes of pop singer Christina Aguilera. Her line includes intricate spider- web knits, and she credits Edith Eig of La Knitterie Parisienne in Studio City with teaching her the skill.

Beginning at 9 tonight, Nick at Nite will air three back-to-back ``Family Ties'' episodes. It's part of the network's ``Screen Style'' marathon that ends Friday with ``TV Land: Style and Fashion,'' an hourlong special in which the network takes an in-depth look at the way TV characters set major trends.

And we'll see Bateman in June playing a fashion designer on the new Showtime series ``Out of Order.''

``The director wanted to bleed some reality into the show, so I play a fashion designer,'' Bateman says of her role in the series that also stars Felicity Huffman and Eric Stoltz, with William H. Macy in a recurring role.

``Part of doing research for Justine's character involved us going to Justine's studio, plus she took us to other design studios in the area,'' says Wayne Powers, who co-wrote the series with his wife, Donna, and directed the two-hour series premiere. ``Since Stolz and Huffman's characters are both screenwriters, it was interesting to see the similarities between creating designs and creating scripts.''

While Donna Powers describes Bateman as easy to work with and willing to use aspects of her own life in the show, Bateman says she really isn't that much like the character.

``I play the neighborhood troublemaker ... one of those people who weaves their way into your life and says charming things at inappropriate moments. She has to pull others into her vortex, where I like being by myself,'' Bateman explains, adding, ``I've been known to be a loner, but now I have a husband, a baby - he's 7 months old and named Duke - and friends I adore.''

Justine Bateman Collection clothing is available at Body in Encino, Fred Segal in Santa Monica and West Hollywood, and La Bella in Long Beach, as well as Bendel's in New York. (For more stores, see www.justinebatemandesigns.com.)

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(1 -- 2) The former ``Family Ties'' star's clothing line is big on spider- web knits, which are made with techniques she learned at Studio City's La Knitterie Parisienne.