Shirley’s Tape and Shears

I called Judy from Alaska telling her I needed my wedding dress altered quite a bit as I purchased a dress that was way too big off the shelf. She agreed to meet with me early in the morning on my way to work in Angola, Africa with the agreement that I would only be in Vancouver for 5 days when I arrived back from Angola. She was very good about returning my messages even when overseas. Judy got all the alterations I needed complete prior to flying to Montana for my wedding. There was quite a bit of work to get done and she was kind enough to suggest some other nice add on’s to make the dress a one of a kind. Even the bustle stayed put the entire wedding day/​night. I was surprised that she did not charge more for all the work she did. I will go back to her if needed.

I am a short person and many clothes I buy need alterations. Judy took forever to hem pants. I had to come back multiple times to get my clothes. Judy would tell me the pants would be ready in a week and then I would come at the agreed time and nothing was done. Took weeks to get my pants! Had her alter an was blouse and the work was awful. I do not recommend this place.

Judy has altered several pairs of pants for me and she does excellent work! I have given up trying to find pants that fit off the rack, I just buy ones that fit at the widest point and have her alter them to fit my body. She does excellent work and has reasonable prices. The results are beautiful. I recommend her to everyone.

I purchased a formal dress from a UK website back in November 2014. I took the dress in to Shirley’s Tape and Shears and asked her if she was able to take in the sides and it finished in 3 days. She assured me it would not be a problem. The straps on the dress were slightly too tight and Judy suggested that we replace them. She looked around her shop and was not able to find tubing that matched the straps on the dress. She then asked me to go to the craft store to find the exact straps and bring it back to her shop. I agreed, drove to Michael’s Craft to find what she had requested and dropped it off at her shop. She had me come for a fitting every day for three days straight, which was quite unnecessary. When I came in for my final fitting, I noticed that the front looked good but the back of the zipper was puffy and bubbly and did not lay flat against my back. She charged me $ 60.00 to replace two simple shoulder straps and to take in the sides. No other alterations were done. Through our conversation I found out that she had volunteered to make a quilt for someone in her church free of charge. She had me run to the craft store to pick up supplies, and come to her shop 4 times for a fitting to accommodate her quilting project. This clearly demonstrated her lack of time management and her ability to prioritize.
Although I found her personable and friendly, I did not find her workmanship satisfactory. The simplicity of the alteration did not reflect the pricing. I had to take the same dress to a different Taylor in Portland to get it re-​altered. I would not be recommending Shirley’s Tape and Shears to family or friends.

I brought a bridesmaid dress in to this shop on 8÷18÷14 to have it altered. The morning of my appointment I got a call from Judy saying she wouldn’t be able to make it to the appointment for personal reasons but her apprentice «G» (as she called him) could meet me to take my measurements. She assured me he was very qualified and has years of experience so there would be no issue with him seeing me that day. Having a difficult work schedule I chose to keep my appointment and meet with G. At my appt G was very friendly and appeared to know what he was doing, but kept rechecking every measurement he made multiple times. Not thinking much of it I scheduled for my next fitting 8÷28÷14, over a week later. When I arrived for that fitting, I was greeted by Judy with disgust in her voice as she explained she had only started on my dress an hour ago and keeps getting interrupted so she’s not ready for me. Again, she had had my dress for over a week! She explained that it’s «very difficult to make alterations off of someone else’s measurements» but she was doing the best she could. After a few minutes of waiting she finished with the alterations and had me put on the dress, which didn’t fit much better than when I originally brought it in. As Judy rechecked my measurements she yelled at G about everything he did wrong which to me should have been handled in privacy, not in front of an already frustrated customer. She also then decided to tell me the truth that he didn’t have much experience with dresses but is great with sports wear… big difference if you ask me. When I originally called to make my first appt I let Judy know that I would need the dress by 9÷1÷14 and she assured me that would not be a problem at all but now that the time came for my dress to actually be finished she said she couldn’t meet that deadline. We went back and forth for awhile and I demanded that the dress be done when we originally agreed, so she told me she would have G meet me on Monday the 1^st to give me the dress. When choosing a time she told him right in front of me to not cater to me and pick whatever time I suggested and to just do what works for him. After going back and forth with him and finally choosing a time (my schedule was totally open that day but he still made it very difficult to choose a time), Judy chimed in again and said there was no way she would finish the dress by Monday. So after all that wasted time arguing about Monday we decided I would do my best to meet G after work on Tuesday (I’m a dental assistant in Longview and often don’t know what time I’ll be getting back to Vancouver in the evening). A couple hours after that appt I remembered a fellow bridesmaid was supposed to be picking the dress up from me on Tuesday in Longview so she could transport it to CA where the wedding was for me. So I called Judy and explained the situation. She agreed to work to have the dress done Monday for me. Just when I started to feel a bit better about my experience with this shop, the day to pick up my dress arrived and I was reminded once again how poor the service is. I get there and put on my dress, which fit great, only for Judy to tell me that it looked hideous on me and I needed to get some color before the wedding. I could not believe how rude and unprofessional she was. She also at one point told me I needed to start working out so my brain would function better since she was trying to talk to me and «nothing was going on in my head». What she didn’t realize was that I was so fed up with her service I just wanted to get the heck out of her shop. After the insults finally stopped, I went to pay her and the fee was going to be double what she originally quoted me. She generously reduced the fee for me but then didn’t have any cash in her register to give me change. So to summarize this lengthy review, I have never received such poor customer service anywhere in my life. I would not recommend this shop to anyone. I see it has received rave reviews in the past, so maybe I just had a rare experience but I definitely will not be returning for any reason.

Top-​notch alterations and ultra-​friendly staff, but it all comes at a price. If you have a nice suit or dress you want altered, don’t ask questions, this is the tailor you need. If you have a simple hem that needs to be adjusted, you may want to choose a cheaper shop.

I am a short curvy gal, which means I’ve been to my fair share of tailors/​seamstresses in my day. Judy offered one of the best experiences I’ve ever encountered.
I called later in the evening and left a message. It was so late I didn’t expect anyone to answer or to call back until sometime the next day. Judy called me back right away because she was at her mom’s house and got the message and called me right back. She went above and beyond my best expectations of being flexible and working around my work schedule.
We set up a time for me to come before hours so I could stop in before I left for work for her to measure my new trousers that needed hemmed. Judy was very friendly and engaged in conversation and seemed to truly enjoy getting to know me, and probably everyone that she sees.
She had my pants ready to pick up in less than a week and charged a fair price close to the higher end that I’ve paid in the past, but I didn’t mind because she did a great job and she was so flexible it was worth every penny!
The shop itself is a very small space that was a little cluttered, but my pants didn’t come back smelling like smoke or cats so a little clutter didn’t bother me at all!
I won’t even consider another place in the area as long as I’m here. And I refer everyone I see to her because i ha such a great experience.

I have Met Nicest Friendliest Person Her Name is Shirley! She Help Fix My Comforter. I Can’t a Thank Her Enough! I Will tell All My Family&Friends about Her Shop! She is So Wonderful at what she Does!

If you need alterations, LOOK NO FURTHER! Judy really makes you feel at home and is probably the sweetest lady I’ve met in Vancouver since moving here. I needed my blankie of almost 17 years to be stitched back together and she even let me stay there and watch since I was so paranoid about handing it over and leaving. She told me stories about the shop and her life, it really made me feel so at ease when she was working on it and it only costed us whatever we could afford, she initially was going to do it for free but needed gas money so had to charge. I wasn’t even expecting it to be free and her just saying that blew my mind so we paid her 12 dollars and made sure she didn’t need more since she was such a nice lady. Please don’t go anywhere else for alterations, this is an old local business that really deserves more clients.

I purchased a genuine leather jacket from Wilson’s Leather 3 months ago and recently found a large tear where the cloth was separating from the leather.
At 3pm on Friday (Valentine’s Day), I walked into Shirley’s Tape and Shears and was immediately greeted by the owner, Judy. At first she quoted a very fair price for the repair. She stated that she would call me the following Monday.
Early Monday morning I received a call from Judy, as promised. When I returned to pick up my jacket, I was very impressed with the final price as it was less than the initial quote.
Judy even offered to make a customized piece for my car seats to avoid future fabric tears. She is highly skilled and can do just about anything!
I am very pleased with the quality of the finished product and professionalism. I would absolutely recommend Shirley’s Tape and Shears to everyone and will return with my future hem/​tailor/​repair needs.

Judy worked her magic on my daugter’s wedding dress. The dress was much too large in several areas, but Judy knew exactly what to do to correct the problems. She was patient, calm and professional throughout the entire fitting/​alteration process. Judy reassured my daughter that the gown would be beautiful. The end product was magnificent… even prettier than the bridal magazines showed. Thank you Judy.

I purchased some 7 jeans and needed them hemmed before a trip. I found Shirley’s T&S through Unilocal.She was actually the 4^th place I called but the first one to answer. Judy the owner got me in the same day and had my jeans ready before she’d quoted (2 day’s later at 10am instead of late that afternoon). And the total cost was less then $ 13. I will definitely go back next time I need alterations!