Creative Notions — Local services in Manchester

BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE!!!! I beg of any bride thinking of getting her dress worked on to find some where else. Rachel and her mother are a tag team of errors. Mom says she does the hand stitching but my MOB dress had to go to another tailor a week before the wedding to fix a horrible hem and that was long on one side and shorter on the other- a belt that was hand stitched and added that was not completed and was drooping on both sides and a sudden new 10 in rip inside (see pic) that had never been there before! That is AFTER i paid for alterations. My daughter found Rachel on line almost. A year ago where her dress sat with no activity for 8 months. Rachel assured her there was plenty of time to add sleeves and a drape on the chest. She bought “matching fabric” for these 2 things that was clearly WHITE while the dress is off white. Awful. Everytime she said things on my daughters checklist would be completed next visit they never were - stains on the dress while in their care- she had to cut off her TRAIN to make matching sleeves since there was no additional time to look for matching fabric. Communication was horrible- timelines didn’t exist- the worst part is they Rachel and her mother just don’t have the expertise to handle more than a button- unless you do t care if there are strings hanging- uneven hems- ( see the horrible pic of the hem on the sleeve she created) and a new stain on the dress one week before the wedding - they tried to gaslight her that the stains “had been there all year” even tho we had pics from 2 weeks prior where they weren’t there! She said she would bring the dress to a local dry cleaners to try and get it out. My daughter has cried buckets over her wedding dress and came to hate it because of Rachel’s incompetence. 5 days before the wedding she still had no dress so she ordered a new one on line and had it rush altered!!! She said the dress situation was the ABSOLUTE worst part of her wedding g. She had me and her father pick up the dress 2 days before the wedding because she can’t even walk in there! She never wants to hear of creative notions again. I would highly suggest you keep looking for someone more professional- more organized and more competent to work on something for the best day of your life. My daughters was anything but because of it. Check out very similar reviews on yelp which i wish we had done before paying $ 800 for literally NOTHING...

I do not recommend for wedding dress alterations. I was not happy with the quality of work nor the customer interactions.

Each time I went into the store, I left feeling more stressed and less confident due to the interactions that went on there. The ladies were not hesitant to express their stress, frustrations, problems, and exhaustion right from the start even though I walked through the door each time with a kind smile. At one point I was in the dressing room, and they were complaining that girls always lose weight right before the wedding (felt directed at me, since they were taking the bodice in again), even though my wedding was months away and I hadn't lost a pound since the fitting before.

As far as the work goes, the first appt we agreed on the work to be done and they put pins in the dress. At the second appt, I expected some of the sewing to be done, but they just put more pins in the dress to make sure it would be perfect before they cut it. At the time, I appreciated this as a sign of caution and care. At the third appt, I insisted on trying on the dress despite it hanging by the door ready to go without a try on. The sewing was done, and I was not happy. The dress fit way looser than it did with the pins, and the bodice was left with significant bulges on both sides where they made their cuts. Visibly and feel-wise, the dress was constructed worse than when it was brought in, and I was moving out of state in a week. They did fit me in for a 4th appt, but when I arrived the bulging was barely fixed and still apparent, and my strapless dress was still a little loose. I paid my bill and left since I was moving literally the next day.

After the move, I took the dress to a new tailor. I immediately was able to trust this new tailor, and felt I was in good hands from the get go. I asked her about the work done on the dress. She said the previous tailor took the wrong approach technically, and that an experienced tailor would know better. The work done was extremely invasive and not well done, with fabric still left bunched and bulging in the side of the bodice. In one appointment she made the dress fit my waist perfectly and magically corrected all the problems done previously (with cutting, pressing, etc). I am extremely happy and relieved with my new tailor.

Creative Notions did perform the work in a timely manner and at a reasonable price, so can't complain...

I was dissatisfied with the workmanship and would not recommend anyone to go here for alterations. I took my daughter’s formal dress in for alterations. This dress was for a pageant that has specific rules. I told Rachel that the dress needs to be floor length per the rules. She was also to take in about 1/2in on the corset part on the back of the dress (this was for a better fit).

When we came to pick up the dress, my daughter went to try it on. I immediately noticed that the hemming on the bottom of the dress was uneven as she walked with the dress. I let them know and was told to leave the dress and it would be fixed.

The third time we came (final pick up), I couldn’t open the zipper all the way, I asked Rachel if she did anything to it, she said no. Part of the zipper was closed (sewn in) on the very bottom part so my daughter could not comfortably put on the dress. There was also still an uneven hem on the bottom as my daughter stood up with the dress on. I pointed out again the uneven hem and Rachel tells me, “it just needs to be fluffed out” as in fluffing the tulle part under the skirt and it would even out. It never did.

I took the dress to another seamstress who specializes in alterations for Pageant dresses. She showed me all the flaws Rachel did to this dress. 1) Rachel glued the stones!! instead of sewing it back on. 2) Rachel also left a opening on a small portion of the skirt and did not sew it back into the corset part. 3) When you flip the skirt part of the dress, you can see that Rachel broke the fabric (where the zipper is) and did a messy job to sew it back properly!! 4) on one side of the skirt, it was all lumped up together, causing the uneven hem on the bottom.

Overall, I am extremely disappointed with the work and damage done...