Alterations By Melonie

Mel was so sweet & did a great job with my wedding dress. It fit PERFECT. I did not have to pull it up once during the night. Fit like a glove. Many layers & hard work. You can see the seams & how good they looked. HIGHLY recommend her!

I came to Melanie with a bridesmaid dress that fit horrendously. I was dreading having to wear it. Melanie took it in everywhere, and made it fit like a glove! I actually look GOOD in it, which I never though was possible when I first put it on. I would absolutely trust Melanie’s expertise again, and highly recommend her services. On top of her excellent work, she was professional and efficient.

Me: «I have two pair of pants that need to be hemmed up.»
Guy Behind Counter: «Do you have an appointment?»
Me: «No.»
Guy Behind Counter: «You’ll need an appointment?»
Me: «To get paints hemmed?»
Guy Behind Counter: «Yes.»
Me: «I’ll just go somewhere else.»
Seriously? An appointment to have pants hemmed?
I guess they are very high end and don’t need such low-​level business.

Had a great experience working with Melonie, upon the suggestion of my friend Alicia (see her review below). She had an eye for how to improve my dress, including redesigning the manufacturer’s appliqué accent. The dress ultimately fit like a glove, and I was able comfortably wear it all day. She provided me with an up-​front quote and explained her pricing. I have no idea whether it was «competitively priced» but ultimately I cared about expert tailoring, and that’s what I got. Oh! And those jeans I took her that also needed hemming? Perfect length. Note: she accepts cash and check only, sees clients only by appointment, and IS open on Saturdays.

Not worth the hassle or the price as a go-​to alterations service. Her repair to a vintage winter coat didn’t last the winter.

Melonie hemmed and shortened straps on a dress for me. Her hours aren’t super convenient, so I had to wait almost a week to get my dress back. I also felt that her services were a bit overpriced. She charged me $ 30 for the hem and shortened straps. While I thought she did a good job, the dress only cost me $ 50 so then I ended up spending more than half the cost of the dress to make it work for me (ah, such is the life of a small, petite Asian woman).
I probably would go into NYC next time to get something hemmed, as there are a lot more options and presumably, more competition.

Melonie altered my gown for my wedding this July, and the results were fantastic. It was not an easy gown to alter, as it had 3 layers including lace and lace appliques that were machine sewn & beaded as they were sewn on (as opposed to having the beads sewn on to the appliques before sewing the appliques to the dress, which would not require re-​beading when the appliques were removed to alter the dress). She did an amazing job taking in the hips and entire bottom half of the dress, had a good eye for what would work best for the shape around my rear (it looked like I had a butt! And I don’t, really…), and came up with a very good way of avoiding having to hem the whole thing by adding a few skillfully-​placed layers of crinoline. She also did a great job of taking in the straps as well as designing a french bustle that looked great AND stayed put the whole night, through hours of dancing
Her prices were extremely fair. The final product was more expensive than what she initially quoted, but that is because I requested additional work be done. She went over the additional costs before doing the additional work, so I was not surprised by the higher final price. Overall, for the amount of work she did, the price was extremely good – far lower than estimates I got from a seamstress in NY, where I got the dress.
Melonie was quite flexible in scheduling appointments, and for me, her location (on Chapel St) was extremely convenient. She is appointment-​only, and since she’s so busy in the spring/​summer with wedding and prom dresses, I probably wouldn’t go to her with run-​of-​the-​mill alterations during that time. She clearly cared a lot about making my dress look as amazing as it could, and it really showed. I could not have been happier with the final product. When I have another dress to alter, I will definitely return to her shop.

Each time I visit New Haven I am further frustrated by what an ivy league school and a bunch of rich people not paying taxes does to a community. Customer service is a gamble and this place reiterated that to me.
I checked online for a seamstress and saw the good reviews. I checked the address and hours. The only thing that stood out to me is that yellow pages states Saturdays by appointment only. Not every day. So I drag myself there in the rain. I’m let in. I realize that she is in the middle of a fitting so I am quiet and sit down to wait. At some point I’m asked what I need. I say that I’d like to get a dressed altered but I can wait to talk about it until she has a moment. Without even looking at me, she says,‘I only work by appointments and I’m booked until the end of May.’
I think as a human being, I warrant to be looked at when spoken to. So I ask if she can recommend anyone else and again without being given any eye contact I am curtly told no. I say thank you and leave.
I recognize she’s busy and must be good at what she does. But customer service is part of the package and it’s greatly lacking.

Worst experience with an alterations person ever. Melonie’s husband stands there and watches the appointment, including the part where you are partially dressed and waiting for her to zip you up. Even though she knew that I was on a time crunch, she called the day before my second fitting to tell me that she didn’t get the dress done in time and had to move the appointment back. When the second fitting did roll around, she hadn’t even bustled the dress as requested.
The dress I brought her was too big in the waist and hips, but she kept telling me she couldn’t adjust it in the waist because I would bust the seams. When I tried to explain that the inside band of the dress was much too loose, she began to yell at me, screaming «Well, what is it exactly that you want me to do?! I can’t make the dress fix your body!» Thankfully, one of my bridesmaids sat down with her and explained to her how to alter the dress to actually fit me, which somehow Melonie, with all her years of experience, couldn’t figure out after two appointments.
During the first appointment, I almost fainted because she was causing so much stress. During the second appointment, I was almost in tears as she continued to yell at me and insult me. I thought because of the raving reviews I had read, this would be a great place to go. However, I found out during my first appointment that a couple of the reviews out there are from her daughter and a friend who wanted to help drum up business. Talk about false advertising!
Only go here if you want to have to explain every single detail of how to alter your dress to her and only if you don’t mind over paying for the work done, don’t mind being insulted, and don’t mind her husband watching you get zipped up.

Went here to get a pair of jeans hemmed ($ 15 without original hem – pretty average for the area).
Dropped it off on a Friday, it was ready by the following Thursday. Length was perfect.
One star is taken off though because she’s only open from 9 – 3 most days, which makes things a little inconvenient.

There was a girl with a wedding dress, just weeks away from her wedding and in desperate need of quality alterations, and Melonie saved the day!
What a gem! Seriously, she knows what she’s doing and did expert alterations in record time on a very complicated dress. It was layers of silk organza with many folds, layers, etc., and she did an absolutely terrific job for a price that simply couldn’t be beat.
If you need wedding or prom dress alterations, DO NOT hesitate to call her up! She’s very busy, so give yourself more time than I did!
Melonie — THANK YOU!!!