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    Sew Special Designs

    4.3 (31 reviews)
    Closed 10:30 am - 7:00 pm
    Updated 1 week ago

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    Response quality

    Excellent

    Response time

    1 day

    Services - Sew Special Designs

    Clothing alterations

    Clothing mending and repair

    Clothing reproduction

    2 More Services

    Custom tailoring

    Embroidery

    Sew Special Designs Photos

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    Recommended Reviews - Sew Special Designs

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    A toddler could have done this.

    This place is horrible. I paid $60 to have a pair of slacks tightened at the waist. They literally ruined the fit and just folded over and sewed part of the pants in the very front. It looks like I have a penis or something stuck in my pants. They then proceeded to lie and say they "only make adjustments to the back of the pants and didn't do that" when there is clearly shoddy stitching all over the front and nothing done in the back. Thank you for ruining my nice $200 pants and then LYING about it to my face repeatedly and saying "you no get you money back" immediately when I said I wasn't happy with the fit, after they literally asked me how I liked them. Worst customer service and a waste of time and $. Took them 10 days to adjust as well.

    Rip in jeans

    I was really disappointed in my experience. I paid $20 to have two very small holes fixed-- cash. It took a week for them to finish the job, and when I picked it, the fixes made the pants look 20x worse than when I dropped it off. It went from a tiny rip to an incredibly noticeable patch that looks like a stitching mess. I left upset about the experience. I wish they would have told me they wouldn't be able to do the job, I would have taken my business elsewhere. Now I just have pants I have to throw away.

    The beautiful decorative pillowcases Marco made from delicate & beaded fabrics that I'd bought overseas.

    I came to see Marco because I had purchased some fabric overseas during pre-pandemic travels, and I wanted it to be turned into throw pillow cases for a gift for my mom. I had delayed finding a tailor for a long time, because I was so nervous about it being done well, and there wouldn't have been any way to get more fabric if it didn't work out. Marco met and far exceeded all of my expectations. The fabrics were difficult to work with -- one very delicate, and one hand-beaded. He later told me that he had needed to add a layer of interfacing to ensure that the final pillow cases would be sturdy enough. I had also wanted to get as much of the beaded fabric as possible on one side of the pillow, and he found a way to do that without creating awkward seams or patches -- something I had thought would be impossible -- and came up with an idea to layer the fabric for a gorgeous effect on one side of the pillows. To ensure that none of the beads would break, he had to HAND SEW the front and back together. He also used invisible zippers and hid it further under some of the fabric lace. The hours that he put into this were clear from the final product. Marco takes immense pride in his work and is incredibly skilled. I came in a few weeks before Christmas and told him that I was hoping to give them to my mom for Christmas. Of course, I would have understood if this couldn't be done, and he had many other orders at the time. However, it was so important to him that I be able to give these to her for the holiday that he made it happen and I was able to pick them up the day before I went to see her. It was so kind of him to care this much! When I went in to pick them up, he also helped me remove a small stain from the fabric that had been there when I'd purchased it. I had thought that would never come out! He truly went above and beyond what I would have expected, the cost was more than fair for his impressive skill and attention to detail. As if all of that wasn't enough, he was an extremely kind person, and I greatly enjoyed talking with him while I was there. My mom absolutely LOVED the gift and hearing about my experience with Marco, and I'm so excited to have found a tailor!

    This is the terrible replacement zipper for my nice, expensive shirt.

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    20 days ago

    The nicest people!!! I was recommended here by a friend and it was so welcoming! Highly recommend and will be back

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    Fathi M.

    Thank you so much Rachel for your support.That’s kind of you.

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    1 year ago

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    Fathi M.

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    Photo of Matt S.
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    11 months ago

    Ruined two tuxedos with terrible hemming and all uneven. Nice people but, rushed them and needed them back in 5 days.

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    Fathi M.

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    2 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    Fathi M.

    Thank you very Mr Steve for supporting us we appreciate you.

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    2 years ago

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    Fathi M.

    Thank you so much Lucy’s for the great review,we appreciate you.

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    3 years ago

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    Fathi M.

    We look forward to make our customers happy.

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    3 years ago

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    Fathi M.

    We Look Forward to make our customers happy.

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    2 years ago

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    Fathi M.

    Thank you so much for your review we appreciate your support.

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    5 years ago

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    Fathi M.

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    6 years ago

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    Fathi M.

    Thank you so much Mr Kevin for supporting us,It's our pleasure.

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    5 years ago

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    Fathi M.

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    Photo of Justin H.
    80
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    3 years ago

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    Fathi M.

    Thank you so much justin for supporting us.

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    4 years ago

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    Fathi M.

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    6 years ago

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    Photo of Mike Y.
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    6 years ago

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    Fathi M.

    Thank you so much for your support.

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    5 years ago

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    Fathi M.

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    Photo of Jori S.
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    8 years ago

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    Fathi M.

    Thank you for your support

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    7 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    Fathi M.

    Thank you so much Lainie’s for supporting us.

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    7 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    Fathi M.

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    7 years ago

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    6 years ago

    They have a great collection of masks and are always happy to adjust to fit.

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    Fathi M.

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    8 years ago

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    5 years ago

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    Fathi M.

    Thank you so much Jennise for supporting us ,you deserve it.

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    8 years ago

    Quick turnaround! Helped me make a custom bench cushion for a fair price. Thank you for your help. It was greatly appreciated.

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    9 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    Ask the Community - Sew Special Designs

    Review Highlights - Sew Special Designs

    I swung by last minute on a Sunday asking if he could alter two dresses of mine by that coming Wednesday.

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

    Read more highlights

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    Stitch N Ready

    Stitch N Ready

    (72 reviews)

    Lincoln Park, DePaul

    Rushed a dress from a Poshmark seller ahead of an event, just to try it on and have 1"-2" of…read moreawkward puckering on the front of the bodice. It was both too much fabric, and weird pulling on the center seam. Stitch N Ready not only turned around the alteration in effectively a day (picked up next business day), but it lays even better than expected. SO happy and appreciative for their service.

    Came here to get a dress altered and overall the actual alteration work was done well. I needed the…read moredress taken in slightly around the bust and waist area and it cost me $90. The dress fit perfectly afterward and they completed it within a week, earlier than the pickup date I had asked for. The main issue for me was the organization during pickup. I received a text saying my dress was ready, but when I arrived they brought out a completely different piece of clothing even after I clearly described my dress. Turns out they had mixed up the name tags between my dress and someone else's. I ended up going to the back with them and immediately spotted my dress myself. I pointed it out and they asked if I was sure it was mine, which was a little strange. Then they asked me to try it on. At first I thought they just wanted to confirm the alterations looked right, but it turned out they wanted to see if it fit me to determine whether it was actually my dress. Thankfully it fit like a glove. Even after that, they still seemed unsure so I showed Yelp messages I had previously sent with photos of the dress, along with my receipt and even how much I paid. I usually throw receipts away, so thank goodness I still had it. After confirming in multiple different ways, they finally let me take my dress home. Another woman was also there picking up clothing after receiving a text notification and they were struggling to locate her item too, so it didn't seem like an isolated issue. Overall, I think the tailoring work itself is solid, but the shop felt pretty disorganized. The guy working there did apologize before I left, which I appreciated, but the whole process of having to repeatedly prove the dress was mine was definitely frustrating.

    Alva Graciano Tailors

    Alva Graciano Tailors

    (131 reviews)

    $$$

    Lincoln Park

    I have never written a review of anything in my life but I really wanted to shout out this shop…read morethat just finished altering my wedding dress. My dress was a way too big in some places and snug in others but also had a lot of detailing that makes it difficult to hem or alter. I was very stressed about getting it altered. On my first appointment, Niki walked me through everything she was going to do step by step and explained in detail what it was going to look like and answered all of my 1 million questions on what she was going to cut, what she wasn't going to cut where she was going to buttons, etc. Throughout the process, she happily addressed all my concerns at every appointment. You can tell Niki takes great pride in her work and I love that. It fits me like a glove now and I'm thrilled with how it came out! The people at this shop are so warm and friendly and make you feel right at home. I would absolutely recommend them to anyone who needs a dress altered. Mine felt like it was going to be impossible to get right because of the details and construction of the dress but Niki really came through. Just make sure you bring in your clothes with plenty of time to alter because Niki cares deeply about the quality of her work and she won't want to do a sloppy rush job on your garments! And really, isn't that exactly the kind of care you want from your tailor? 10/10 would recommend!

    They do a good job but are very expensive. It cost me $225 for alterations but the work was goodread more

    Sew Special Designs - sewingalterations - Updated May 2026

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