Doree Quick Mending

Do you have a piece of clothing that you just cannot bare to part with? Maybe it is an investment piece like a trench coat that is classic, the perfect cut and irreplaceable. Or maybe you’re a vintage vixen who shops with a thrifty and keen eye for threads of yesteryear and need a little hem stitched here or waist taken in there. No matter what your sartorial renovation or rescue need, Doree Mending will be your go-​to seamstress and sewing godmother.
I will admit that maybe 80% of myself chose Doree Mending to repair my long suffering trench coat for its latest round of emergency repairs because of their vintage advertising (what can I say, I’m a sucker for packaging, advertising and design) but it quickly became apparent my admiration for Doree would soon be based on the fact they are wonderfully polite, efficient and affordable with results that speak for themselves. Sure I’ve had seamstresses in the past promise me invisible stitching only to get my beloved trench back with clearly visible stitching.
Looking at my trench after picking it up from Doree I’m having trouble seeing where the mending took place. Don’t dilly dally around with others, walk straight off the Queen Street Mall (Queen’s Plaza end), into the Tattersalls Arcade and take a sharp right into Doree. PS. When you do, check out the amazing antique library draw cabinet?!?

When you’re short in stature and short on time, Doree is a lifesaver. Other members of the vertically challenged sect will know the old routine of having to get half the clothes you buy taken up. It always seems to be at the worst time, too. You have a wedding/​funeral/​graduation/​party/​date to go on tomorrow and are desperately looking for something to wear. You find something you like and it’s perfect except for the extra metre of fabric pooling at your feet. You consider taking to it with scissors, but quickly write that off as a bad idea (right decision). Take it to Doree! For quick, basic jobs like taking up, mending, or letting down Doree can often do it on the same day or at least the next day. The prices are fair and the results are neat and consistently as you had specified. Warm, friendly service and flexibility with pick-​up times are a plus. I had a mild panic attack when I thought Doree had gone and was having visions of having to learn to sew. It’s cool, she’s just moved to the Tattersall’s arcade. Phew!

I wish I’d not been «too cool» as a teenage girl to learn how to sew. I tell you what, it would have saved me a lot of time and money had I just swallowed my pride and picked up a needle and thread. But alas, we cannot turn back time, so recently when I found some clothes needing to be mended I took them to Doree Quick Mending in Tattersall’s Arcade.
The little store is so beautiful, lined with old Singer sewing machines. Their slogan is «a stitch in time since 1934» and it really does feel like you have stepped out of a time machine and gone back 60 years. A lady called Mary helped me out and assured me that every garment I had brought in could be fixed. There were a couple of zips needing to be replaced and a few seams needing to be re-​sewn and she said that it would all be ready to be picked up in a few days. I was a little bit taken aback by the price ($ 30 for each of the items needing a zip replaced) but otherwise the service was prompt and polite.
When I picked everything up, they looked as good as new. I was really happy with the work the Doree Quick Mending did, but I think in future I will only take the small mending jobs there to avoid forking out as much money as I did the first time.