Quality Alterations

Because of my short legs and long torso, «regular length» pants usually seem to have the best overall fit for me, but I end up having to have them hemmed. I hadn’t had much tailored since moving to Evanston, so I was in desperate need of finding a good shop nearby.
The ladies at Quality Alterations were very sweet, and the woman measuring me took her time to make sure she got everything pinned correctly … even on a pair of particularly challenging dress pants with a slight boot cut.
When I picked up my alterations, my only concern was some messy stitching on a pair of jeans (see pic). To be honest, this was the first time I’ve had denim tailored, so I’m not sure if this is the norm for thicker material? Since I was so happy with everything else and the jeans are for casual wear, I wasn’t concerned enough to ask about the stitching.
I was quoted a little over a week for two hems, but was pleasantly surprised to receive a call that my pants were ready days early. Price was a reasonable $ 12 for the jeans and $ 15 for the dress slacks; I asked about another pair of wool dress slacks with lining and was quoted $ 20, which seemed a bit high.
Parking in the area can be rough during the busiest of hours downtown, but during off times, there’s free street parking (near the park), and metered parking up and down the street in front of the shop.

Based the good Unilocal reviews, I drove a hour out from my neighborhood to get my bridesmaid dress altered. To say that I was very dissppointed is an understatement. I should have paid more attention to the negative reviews than positive reviews.
During the first post-​alteration fitting, one shoulder strap was shorter than the other. Rather than take responsibility for the clear mistake, the owner of this establishment states that I should have helped her take better measurements. I bit my tongue thinking that she’s having a bad day.
During the second fitting, the shoulder strap was corrected but the stitches at the front of the bodice came loose. Now, mind you, she put in these stitches and of course charged me extra. When I pointed out the loose stiches, she states that she knew it would turn out like this; there is nothing she can do, and advised me to pull the stiches out. I was floored. How does this woman run a decent buisness with her complete lack of professionalism?! At that point, I just grabbed my poor dress and walked out.
If you are coming here for an alteration, I would seriously reconsider. Compared to before based on prior reviews, either she’s gotten very busy or lazy. When I was last there, there was a gentleman who was having words with her as well, so I don’t think my bad experience was an isolated event.

They are THE BEST for alterations! I can’t recommend them more highly. I have been coming here for years and get my jackets, shirts, and pants tailored whenever I buy something new and it doesn’t fit perfectly. They make it look like it was made for me!

This is our second time getting a tuxedo, and we had another great experience! The owner and staff are super nice, and very patient in helping you to make the best choices for your needs! We decided at the last minute to go to a party, and needed same day service. We were able to pick everything up the same afternoon. I know it isn’t the norm, but they made it painless and easy. Thanks again, recommend!

I went in here for the first time last week to ask about getting an alteration done on a shawl I had gotten as a gift. It was kind of a weird request, so I wasn’t sure how they were going to react. Luckily they were able to help out and were able to complete the job on time.
The place is run by a very sweet couple. You may want to call ahead if you need alterations done because the husband usually wants to wait until his wife (the seamstress) is present.
Overall a good experience — I like supporting family run businesses so I will be back!

Quality Alterations is our «go to» place for dry cleaning, laundry, alternations and now, even design. They have redesigned coats, dresses and even transformed a cocktail dress into a wedding gown for me… and they also rent out evening wear, such as tuxedos. Lucky us to have these ladies here on the North Shore, with such wonderful talent and service, at very fair prices… no need to go anywhere else.

The woman who owns this place is very sweet. However, I brought my 10-​year-​old down coat in to have the zipper replaced, and it did not happen.
The owner insisted the coat needed to be dry cleaned first. OK, in order to get the zipper replaced and since it was the end of the season, I agreed. She then said the zipper just needed to be repaired. The bill for all of this was $ 29. If my zipper would be replaced I thought that sounded fair. So, I paid.
A few days later I picked up my clean coat with the same zipper. Two days later the zipper broke again.
I am the customer. I came in to have the zipper replaced. I acquiesced and gave in to the owner believing she knew best. However, I knew my coat, and I knew what needed to be done.
I learned my lesson for $ 29. I will not return to this place and hopefully will find a cleaners that does the alterations that I ask to be done.

I have never written a Unilocal review before but figured that I should as a «thank you» for such excellent service.
My «custom-​ordered» bridesmaid’s dress was so big on me that it hardly stayed up. It’s pretty complex with a few layers and a zippered, reinforced bodice. I reluctantly took it to Sherry at Quality Alterations expecting to pay $ 100 for the bodice alone and hem it myself afterward. Instead, I paid $ 65 for the dress to be brought in significantly at the waist (which required that she cut along the zipper), as well as a 4″ hem. It was perfect and only took a couple of weeks.
Thanks, Sherry!
PS. Remember to bring in your receipts at pickup!

There are few people as fine and upstanding as Sharry, the owner.
I brought in a Cashmere coat that needed to be repaired and due to the poor condition, she told me it could not be done. I said that I would have to buy a new coat.
She told me about a customer that brought a coat in 3 years before and she repaired it, but after many calls to the customer to come pick it up, he told her to throw it out because he did not want it.
She kept the coat and brought it out and told me to try it on. I did and it fit like a charm and was a really nice coat. She told me that I could have it. I offered her some money and she said no, it was mine.
So, she repaired a coat 3 years ago and I’m guessing she never got paid. And then someone comes in for a repair and gets a free coat instead and walks out without paying anything.
She will now always do my alterations, and I will always recommend her.

My daughter had a bridesmaid dress that was HORRBILY mis-​sized, called a size 14 – 16 a 5X and it still was about 4 inches too short in the back. Sharry basically rebuilt the dress, let me buy the materal, and went out of her way to make my daughter feel good about the whole experience. The work was beautiful, super fast and really really affordable. I will absolutely be using her services again! Excellent service, and a great deal of sensitivity in working with a teenager goes a long way with this momma!

I brought in a business skirt suit for tailoring and she did a fabulous job! The suit went from a boxy nightmare to fitting perfectly. The pricing is very reasonable, especially for the quality of the work. I will definitely be going back and will send all my friends here.

Trusting one’s wedding dress alterations to a seamstress can be a matter of much anxiety. I found this place through a friend’s recommendation and was not disappointed. The service was extremely efficient, pleasant, and quick — within ten days my dress was fully tailored, and the work was absolutely impeccable. The price was astoundingly cheap — $ 50 for the whole things, plus another $ 10 for steam ironing. This is when most alteration venues I sought just hear the words «wedding dress» and immediately charge $ 200 or more. Top-​notch alterations for a more than reasonable price!

Sharry was so helpful in repairing my leather jacket, which I had ripped.
We spoke on the phone first and she was very pleasant and sounded like she knew what she was talking about.
When I came into the store, she was honest in saying that she didn’t think she could repair my Marc Jacobs leather jacket. I wanted it fixed somehow, and Sharry and I brainstormed to come up with a solution: take the suede from a jacket she was going to sell, cut out two pieces, and replace both the ripped panel and the parallel unripped panel to create a new look. I was so pleased we came up with an out-​of-​the-​box solution.
She told me it would be ready in 2 weeks, but she called me 3 days later and said it was ready. How’s that for service? Wonderful! Highly recommended.

Fantastic service and my pants were ready the next day. I really recommend this place.

I had a complicated dress and coat that needed significant alterations in a very short time frame for a special occasion. Sherry was amazing and took the time to fit me in and worked absolute miracles with the dress and basically remade the coat for me. She was wonderful to work with, very caring and was beyond reasonable with the price. It is obvious that she really cares about customers and takes the time to make sure that you get exactly want you want. Her workmanship is impeccable and you can see the care she puts into it. I would HIGHLY recommend Quality Alterations and definitely intend to go back!

At last – a reliable place for simple alterations. My experience at QA is a complete 180 degrees away from my recent debacle at a North Shore outfit which shall remain nameless.
1. Service
On my first visit, the lady inside unlocked the door for me despite it being 8:30 – the posted hour is 9am. On another trip near closing time on a Saturday night, I breezed in at 5:57 to get my pants (no problem) but they had some kid up on the measurement block with a bunch of pins in him. Clearly he wasn’t going anywhere for a while, and my point is that they will apparently flex the opening and closing times to accommodate customers.
Furthermore, with my alteration requests, they filled out a form of which I retained a carbon copy. The requested work was very clearly stated, as well as my full name and phone number. Plus, on both occasions, the lady measured the line of the hem, asked for my verbal approval, and pinned up the material right in front of me.
2. Price
Only eight dollars ($ 8) to hem a pair of pants. Seems like a very fair deal, especially compared to the Andrew Jackson that I had to surrender at the other place.
3. Quality
I took one cheaper pair of pants there as a test, and they came back looking great, with nice, modest stitching and exactly the length that I had asked for. Then I submitted a beloved, expensive pair, with equally fine results.
So thanks to these two experiences, Quality Alterations will be getting all of my tailoring business from now on. Huzzah!

I took an evening cocktail dress in to fix the collar. The collar material is black very thin seethrough lace material and it’s very delicate. They just repaired it so nicely, it’s like new and original. They really did a good job!

I like this place. I ended up going here to have my simple J. Crew wedding dress hemmed and to have some lace attached to the neckline. Given the fact that people often try to rip off brides, I was impressed that the people at Quality Alterations charged only $ 50. It did take longer than expected to get it back, so be sure to spell out precisely when you need it. But they did a great job. So I’d say it’s affordable and quality.
They do a lot of business, so it can get busy in there, but the quality of the work is worth it.

After researching seamstresses/​alterations for 2 weeks, I ended up going to this place. I wanted something that was not downtown (avoid parking issues), Gus was on vacation, and reasonably priced. I read about this place on one of the Unilocal threads, and apparently, she is very highly recommended on Angie’s List. I talked to her a couple times before I drove all the way to Evanston, and she seemed like she definitely knew what she was doing, so I gave it a shot.
I went on a Saturday and she has one assistant, who apparently doesn’t interact w/​the customers, so she kept leaving me on the fitting platform to go deal with all of the influx of ppl going in and out. I had several items, so this was not fun, especially since I was keeping an eye on the meter.
I never felt like I had her full attention and she kind of haphazardly pinned things. I asked her if she needed to take any measurements but she said no. I kept asking her and finally, she took my hip measurement for the skirts. I requested a day that was over a week out and she basically said, «no promises.» Also, one of the skirts was a little more complex, and she said I might need to come in for another fitting. I told her that wasn’t realisitic, because it’s a huge drive from my house to her shop.
The next day I realized that she hadn’t measured my hip to the where I wanted the skirt to end, and since I had 6 skirts there, I called her back and confirmed that all the skirts would be the same length. She told me to measure a skirt I had and call her back. (Why didn’t she just measure me while I was there like I requested??) I called her back w/​the measurement and asked her, «What was the measurement you came up with?» I wanted to see if what I measured was a match – since I’m definitely not a seamstress, I wasn’t sure if I had measured correctly. She told me she was busy, so I said I would call her back.
By this time, I was starting to get cold feet and thought about cancelling the entire order, but I didn’t want to drive all the way back for no work done. Then she called me back and said she couldn’t work with me because I didn’t trust her. No kidding — you didn’t take any measurements and talked to other ppl the entire time I was in there! But still, you know how you are going to say something, and someone says it to you first? Ooooh, that burns!
So I ended up driving all the way BACK up there, picking up the clothes and returning home w/​no work done. 3 hours out of my life for nothing, not to mention gas. I should have known someone w/​no Unilocal reviews was going to be bad news. Would definitely NOT recommend her.