Winnie’s Alterations

Went in for a quote on a coat I purchased — nice winter coat but the small is still a bit big and I’m trying to decide if it’s worth having tailored or if I should return it and wait til I find something that fits me better .
The woman there (Chinese — don’t know name) rarely spoke even when I asked basic q’s about my dilemma and her fees, and stared blankly at the floor. I asked again a second time, then a third when she tried to start pinning me. Finally she offered a price of $ 30 but would totally do a hack job by creating a new seam across the top back and not hemming the sleeves (even tough they really need it).
Needless to say, I left with my coat and will now go to Oakridge a Tailors for an honest opinion and professional service (if a decide to keep the coat based on the cost /​benefit after I get a real quote for real work)

I came here the other day in a panic needing some fabric sewn onto a bra by 5pm that same day (I arrived at around noon) and Michelle? did it for me beautifully by the time I needed and for much less than I was expecting to spend, especially for the rushed service. There was also another guy there who had also come in for some last minute alterations and she was able to accomadate his rush as well. I did not find the language barrier to be an issue because she obviously knows what she is doing and understood what I wanted. I highly recommend this place!

I bought a pair of PVC leggings online but when I received them, they fitted more like pants. :(I really wanted these to be skin tight since they look the best that way.
I checked out Unilocal and took a leap of faith based on Michelle’s reviews. She attended to me right away and noticed that the fabric wasn’t that stretchy and communicated that to me. I told her I still wanted it tight, so she had me change into them and started to efficiently pin the extra fabric away. It still wasn’t as tight as I wanted it, so I told her that and she adjusted it again. She was worried it would be too tight, so she had me sit on a stool so I could get a feeling if it really was too tight for my liking. It could still be tighter hahaha. I told her I was okay with how it felt and she could take it in even more. I showed her by pulling the fabric taught against my legs and explained that I wanted it to look like it was from the Matrix hahaha.
To get these taken in was done for a really great price and it only took her 2 days turn around time. I didn’t even need them right away and maybe she didn’t have many other projects to do, but I didn’t expect them to be done so quickly. I came back 2 days later and they were ready. The true test was to put them on and they were PERFECT.
I don’t care if Michelle’s English is perfect. We were still able to communicate and she was friendly (it’s a one-​woman operation, don’t be surprised if she doesn’t sit and chat about the weather with you. She has alterations to do!). She knows her stuff and I will definitely go back to her again for any future projects.

Having gone through most of the alterations places in town, I think Michelle Y is both reasonably priced and perfectly skilled (i’m very short and skinny, so most of my clothes require alterations of some kind). In the past 6 months, I’ve had roughly 8 – 9 pants shortened (leg narrowed on several of these), and about a dozen or so shirts altered (sleeves and length shortened, backside tapering/​darts, etc…), and each one has come out perfect. I’m going to start bringing more complicated/​expensive pieces in to her, like suits and coats, since I know I can trust her work now. Turnaround time is also quite fast… especially for a 1-​person operation.
Re: comments on her English skills. I agree that this can make her SEEM cold and/​or like she’s not listening, but she is actually quite jovial if you chat her up (keep it simple, obv.), and is definitely listening to what you’re saying… she’s just thinking hard about what you’re saying in English, to ensure she understands what you’re asking for. Honestly, I think she tries her best, which is more than I can say for so many other businesses in town where English is not their first and best language, and couldn’t give a flying hoot if that results in bad service.
So…great work, no mistakes, reasonable prices, and fast turnaround. I think this is pretty much exactly what you want in an alterations shop, ya? FYI she’s closed Sundays (and Mondays), and closes 6pm or earlier all other days, so if you can’t pickup/​dropoff during the work week, Saturday is your only chance, which isn’t super convenient, but she is a 1-​person shop!

This place is fascinating. It’s run by one woman, Michelle, who is an excellent tailor and a character. On weekends when everyone is bringing their clothes for alterations she runs around efficiently pinning and measuring, ordering people into dressing rooms, and taking payment.
The customer service is idiosyncratic, but Michelle makes custom garments, does alterations for a reasonable price, and has always done a good job on my stuff. Plus, she makes custom dog raincoats, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Michelle is fast, efficient and her service is very reasonably priced. She replaced the entire lining of my beloved winter coat for $ 80, and I had a tricky zipper replaced for $ 20. For no-​frills alterations and repairs, I would highly recommend Michelle.

Michelle does need some upgrading in english… I am sure some of our interactions could be part of a sitcom. These poor English skills do at times come across ad horrible customer service at times… or is it just Michelle’s personality… not sure yet. But getting a pair of pants hemmed here is cheap… $ 9.
I also like things to be orderly and the place is a bit Topsy turvey … but that has never effected Michelle finding my garment or the repairs she has done.

The customer service here is cold at best, they managed to hem pants correctly but when my wife tried to get a dress altered and it came out crooked the staff became very confrontational and aggressive with us. We asked to have it fixed and the price was increased, when we asked why we were told to leave without the garments.

Remember my Alison Wonderland winter coat from Dream (
)? In the end I didn’t get the lining replaced last spring — everyone was charging more than I thought it should cost, and besides, it was spring. I didn’t need a winter coat.
It is, however, no longer spring, so a few weeks ago I started thinking about that lining again. No way did I want to spend another winter with bottomless pockets. I bought some lovely purple polyester lining from Dressew (can’t believe I haven’t reviewed them yet!), and went looking for a tailor.
I made a number of calls to places I hadn’t tried out last year. Tai Pan Tailor quoted me $ 120 bucks. Helping Hands Cleaners who had done some stuff cheaply for my mum recently, quoted $ 200. Suddenly the $ 60 Winnie’s had quoted in the spring sounded like a steal. I gave her another call. No more Winnie. This shop is now run by Michelle Yuen, and lucky for me, she is more affordable than her predecessor! $ 50 to reline my coat? Priceless…
Since taking in the coat, I’ve had my 30-​plus-​year-​old vintage rain slicker repaired ($ 33), a pant fly replaced ($ 12) and jeans hemmed ($ 8!). Michelle has a list of very reasonable prices for common jobs and can definitely be negotiated with around larger projects (she originally quoted $ 65 for the raincoat).
The only reason this isn’t a 5-​star rating is that Michelle’s English still really isn’t very good, and this has caused us a couple of miscommunications. Most notably, when I first went to pick up my newly lined coat, the bottomless pockets hadn’t been replaced.
On the other hand, when I missed my bus and arrived at her door 20 minutes after closing to pick it up the second time, she opened the door and handed it over. A business that will stay open or reopen for a hapless too-​late customer (me) gets my vote any day of the week.