Machado’s Tailors

I went to Machado’s based on the recommendations of people in my town. I’m sorry to say I did not have a very good experience. Ordinarily, I use Mar-​Ant in South Orange and have always been very happy, but I wanted to find someone locally. Everyone says we should support our local business and I try really hard to do so.
The dress I took, I had sewed myself and I only needed them to finish the last few details. My buttonholer was jamming, so I wanted them to put in the button holes and I have a hard time measuring my own hems, so I hired them do the hem. My requests were really basic sewing, nothing complicated.
When I got my dress back, the stitching on the buttonholes is way too wide a zig-​zag and there are loose thread spots all around the hem, where they clearly had the tension wrong. It all looks terrible and unprofessional. When he measured the hem, he only pinned the front and I had to ask him to pin the back — which was the whole point of having a tailor do the hem to begin with, as I can’t pin the backside of my own dress while wearing it and the backside always hangs differently. Thankfully, the length is correct. That is the best thing I can say. I will not be using them again or recommending them.
Next time, I will try Lidia’s (I originally went there and she had a sign saying she was closed) and hope I have better luck.
I am pretty upset since, as I said, I made this dress. This is something I spent my time making and I suppose I expected them to take at least the same level of care that I did, since I was paying them good money. They just did not have an attention to detail. It was sloppy work and I will probably end redoing it, which stinks. And to add insult to injury, they are a cash only business, but it was not posted anywhere, so I had to use the closest ATM and pay a fee on top of the money I spent.

I have been visiting Mr. Machado for years. I am not an ‘off the rack’ guy and Mr. Machado does tailoring that many tailors have refused to do for me before. His prices are reasonable and his work is always great. I am glad to have found his new location again. This is a great mom and pop shop that needs to stay around forever!