A friend recently sent me text asking my advice. She knew that I didn’t do alterations for anyone but my own brides, but her sister had bought a dress for $900 at a warehouse sale in Sydney, which needed the hem taking up. The warehouse sale didn’t offer alterations, and her sister had called a few places to get quotes for her dress - one came back at $850!

WOW! If I charged that for a hem I would only need to do one hem a week!

I told my friend that I did think that was unreasonable, and suggested different ways she could resolve her hem issue.

Brides - when you buy a dress, whether it is on sale or full price, please ask for alteration costs as it might surprise you. And keep in mind that there are many boutiques that don’t have their own in-house seamstresses.