My wedding gown needed to be shortened and let out, and my mom sews well but has arthritis in her hands, so we took it to Jackie's Alterations in Chatham. We did everything they said, brought it in exactly when they said, pre-paid, waited the four weeks they said it would take, called ahead to make sure it was ready, and went in last Saturday to make sure it was right, and nothing had been started. That was after Jackie told my mother it was almost finished and only had a few little things left to do. We left quietly, even though I came a long way to try on the dress, because she had the dress and I wanted it done. Today, after several more urgent phone calls from us, she finally said it was ready. But the dress hasn't been let out the way it was pinned, and she never moved the straps over half an inch as was fitted. My mother was upset with the bad workmanship and since you could see the old seam lines, the fact that the dress wasn't let out enough, but the owner's husband was rude, and said that he could see she was the kind of person that nothing would be good enough, and Jackie said she had wasted enough time on us and she was done talking to us. All we wanted was for the dress to fit and the sides to be let out the way we discussed. We should have known that when she only put one pin in the sides, and said she could tell exactly what needed to be done from that, that it wouldn't be done right. She didn't even steam the side seams, and said we needed to take it to a cleaners. My mom fixed the sides, dabbed the seams with vinegar water and steamed them and removed all her sewing lines. When mom took it apart, she said what Jackie did was only let it out a quarter of an inch at the waist and she took it in an inch at the top under the arm! It was suppose to be nothing under the arm and let out a half an inch at the waist.

I guess it's just their attitude. They didn't care that the dress wasn't let out enough, and that the wedding is in a week, and they wouldn't fix it. My mom says Jackie's sewing skills are bad. You don't do professional finishing with a double thread and a lumpy knot. That's for beginners. Jackie is opening up a bridal salon as well, but I would be scared to do any kind of business with her.