Looking for a seamstress. (Tailor? Is there a gender-neutral word?)

[lonelyholiday.livejournal.com]

I need to have a bridesmaid dress hemmed, and I'd love to hear some recommendations. My two requirements:
1. Must be good with formal dresses. This is a satin dress with an organza panel, so a messy hem will be obvious.
2. Must be reliable on time. I have a month, which I assume will be plenty of time. But it's an out-of-town wedding, so if the ETA is cutting it close, I won't have any "I need an extra day" kind of wiggle room! Can't just pick up morning-of! Etc.


I promise I'm not a difficult customer, I'm just paranoid. :) It was a bit of a fiasco getting this dress in the first place, so if anything goes wrong I don't believe I'll be able to get a replacement.

Thanks in advance for any advice. I haven't had to have a formal dress altered since I moved to the Boston area, so I have NO personal experience and searching for a list of local seamstresses is just daunting and so uncertain.

Edit: Thanks for all the input! I think I'm going to give Jack and Elegant a call today to start, since they're so close, and go from there.

Comments

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

Elegant Tailor on Mass Ave. between Harvard and Porter. I would trust them with anything. They actually took my wedding dress and cut off the bodice to make it into a skirt (I had a two-piece wedding dress with two skirts). They're wonderful.

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

+1 on this.

I just had them tailor a beautiful raw silk dress I have, and they did a great job on it. Turn around time was very fast (1 week, and it was done). If you went this week you should have it in plenty of time.

also, cost was not bad, $35 for taking in the sides (two layers)