Ellie’s Alterations & Tailoring

This review is long overdue as I’ve been going to Ellie’s for over ten years. Today’s «emergency» was a pair of tuxedo pants from an online rental company (picked by the groom). I was in and out of Ellie’s in ten minutes; crisis averted. Today’s fix was simple, but this isn’t the first wedding party faux pas for which Ellie’s saved the day.
Superior quality and service that feels like family is why I keep coming back.

What a wonderful staff, we love Ellie! She altered my daughter’s prom dress and made it even more beautiful! Not only did she shorten and hemmed it, but she reinforced the flimsy back straps, sewed on some of the loose beadwork and even altered the plunging décolleté and made the dress a bit more modest, but so much more appealing! Ellie also alter many of my dresses that were too long and out of style. We highly recommend this shop and we will always come back!

Came in to get two swim tops taken in on the band. They were ready in a few days and the work is incredible. I will definitely be back.

What a neat lady! Best experience getting my wedding dress altered. Kind people, lovely service and a quaint little shop (: I highly recommend her services!

I have been coming here for over 15 years. Everything is done on time and exactly the way I wanted it

I’ve just picked up a jacket from Ellie’s that she completely made over for me and I am ecstatic with the results. I had some ideas but Ellie added some great thoughts of her own and we went with it. I couldn’t be happier!
I’ve come hear for small alterations, but never anything to this magnitude. Oh, and did I mention that my jacket was ready inside of a week? All for $ 36!
Thank you Ellie! I’m yours for life!

I’ve only brought in one item so far — a shirt with a small hole in the seam of the sleeve — and they fixed it on the spot for $ 5. Will stop in with other items in the future.

I have been going to Ellie’s for close to 20 years. Always polite, professional and do a great job. Nice dressing rooms and 10 min hems on pants. can’t beat that. Highly recommend.

I had an amazing experience working with Ellie on my wedding gown. My dress needed to be taken in and I wanted the long train completely removed. Ellie did an AMAZING job and my dress fits perfectly and looks exactly how I imagined it would look. Another plus is how quickly they were able to alter my gown. It was ready in three weeks and my wedding isnt for another 2 months! A huge relief to have my dress finished so quickly and perfectly. THANK YOU SO MUCH ELLIE!

I can’t even believe what they have done. I sent them a picture from Pinterest and they created it EXACTLY. I am so beyond thrilled and excited to wear my new outfit to a gala. They are busy. So come early. This place is definitely popular and the reputation speaks for itself.

Very friendly service here. I have had multiple good experiences here. 5 out of 6 of my bridesmaids had their dresses hemmed here and they looked great!
I came in here today and they said they would hem my pants in 10 minutes. I came back in 15 minutes and they were all done and looked great. I’ll be back!

I live about 3 hours outside of San Diego but for my wedding dresses it was really important for me to bring them to someone I trusted. I brought 2 wedding dresses into Ellie for changes. The first was my mom’s wedding gown that I wanted to make a little more modern. I was very protective of this dress since it has so much meaning. Ellie and her team were able to do exactly what I wanted (remove sleeves, take out a back panel, change the neck line).
My second dress needed to be taken in, it was a sample, and the length changed as well. I had 3 fittings and on my last fitting, 2 weeks before my wedding, I came in the morning and there were still adjustments that needed to be made. Ellie was able to fix them that day for me to pick up at 5pm. I don’t know any other service shops that are so focused on their customer and their happiness. I’ll be recommending them to all me friends and family.

I just had the most fabulous experience. I brought my wedding dress in to Ellie to add sleeves to a strapless dress, hem and take in. The dress was done in record time and done to perfection. Ellie and her husband are are kind hearted people… when I came for my final fitting I received a hug and «congratulations» from both. Her husband also gave touching marriage advice. The whole experience was painless… in fact it was comforting and the least stressful part of my wedding thus far. I will recommended to all of my friends. Love the people and the craftsmanship!

Horrible experience! The manager informed me my total was 65 dollars for alterations on a bridesmaid dress including shortening the dress and boob cups. When I got home and checked my bank account I realized the manager charged my card twice adding an additional 25 dollars for boob cups. When I realized the charge on my card of an additional 25 dollars, I went back to pick up the dress and informed the store clerk. He refused to give me my money back. Saying it was final sale!!!

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
This brightly lit, family run, little alteration shop has been around as long as I can remember. Loads of quality services, but not for penny-​pinchers.
THE THREADS
Service is always pleasant, even when busy. Turn-​around is quick. Alterations are accurate and they do great quality work. If you know your measurements, you’ll be in and out of their shop in less than 10 minutes. I dropped off a pair of slacks for alteration and when I got them back, the only sign of alteration was the cut rings of fabric around the hanger from my shortened inseam.
THE VERDICT
Ellie’s is a little pricey, but the results are consistently top notch. You definitely get what you pay for here.

Where do I start…
Such a weird and bad experience here. What a creepy vibe!!! I found the staff to be very bizarre and quite rude. I came in to get the hole in my pants stitched. $ 6 and guess what, the hole is back in less than a month. I will never go back nor would I ever recommend to come here. Very weird group of people. I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone in here!!!

I bought a pair a jeans on Friday and needed them hemmed the next day ASAP! I called the location and was told they can be done immediately. As I came into the store I was greeted very politely with a warm smile and was attended to very quickly and was quite pleased with the service. I would recommend Ellies to anyone! And i will now continue to be a customer.

*YOU DON’T JUDGE A COMPANY BY THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE WHEN THINGS ARE GOING RIGHT. YOU JUDGE THEM WHEN THINGS GO WRONG.*
Okay. Returned this evening, only for the proprietor, the gentleman I had formerly found to be so nice, REFUSE To fix the problems for which THEY are directly responsible, then REFUSE to refund me my money after he said they would not fix the problems, and then had the gaul to tell me to take him to court if I wanted my money back and proceeded to kick me out of his store. :-/​
Who does this?!?
I’ve worked with tailors in Bangalore, Hong Kong, and of course, here in San Diego. This is a first for me.
I even went out of my way last night to visit the same department store where I originally bought the suit, and found the last one in my size and took pictures of the off-​the-​rack fit so I could show them the difference. He refused to even LOOK at the photos, only curtly repeating, «my wife said it is fine, then it is fine!»
I get the chivalry, and at some level can appreciate this gentleman standing up in defense of his wife’s work even in the face of overwhelmingly obvious and self-​evident facts to the contrary (I’m sure my wife wishes I would blindly back her play even when it’s self-​evident she’s in the wrong). However, none of that — NONE of it — changes the fact I now have a suit with an ill-​fitting jacket and pants with legs of two different lengths. No amount of chivalry in the world can alter that (pun intended).
So — long story short… 1) they altered the suit to the point it is not wearable (which took three trips and two rounds of alterations), and now 2) refuse to STAND BY THEIR WORK and fix the $ 1,500 suit THEY rendered unwearable (my preference) OR to refund me my money so I can have it correctly tailored elsewhere.
Why… WHY would you treat a customer like this? WHO treats their customers like this?!?
When I proceeded to share my experience with neighboring stores (some of whom I conduct or have conducted business), the proprietor CAME OUT AND WROTE DOWN MY LICENSE PATE NUMBER. What possible reason could he have for doing that?!? Should I be concerned now for my well being?
Now, here’s the kicker — an individual with whom the propreitor is acquainted was performing work in his shop when I arrived and offered to go out of his way to mediate, which I accepted (as all I want is MY SUIT FIXED). He spoke with the proprietor and came out to tell me — *in front of* the proprietor of a neighboring store nonetheless — that *if* I went to «all the stores [I] had vistied, and tell them [I] made a mistake, becuase [I] was ‘drunk or something’» — literally, what I was asked! — that THEN he would fix my suit!
ARE YOU FOR REAL? HOW HAVE YOU MANAGED TO STAY IN BUSINESS FOR 30 YEARS!!!
Even when the ‘mediator’ told the neighboring proprietor this «proposal,» the shop owner explicitly told him they (Ellie’s) were in the wrong, that they should stand behind their work and fix their mistake. I don’t know if it’s a cultural barrier, but I’m sorry, you just. don’t. do. to customers (take a customer’s money, then refuse to correct your mistakes, and then refuse to refund your customers their money when you refuse to do what they paid you for) what these people have done to me…
Man… I was hoping — REALLY hoping — just to drop the suit off today, pick it back up in a couple days and be happy. I would have at least upgraded them from 2 stars to (at least) 3 had I been happy with the fit, and maybe even 4 stars if the fit was perfect, even though they overcharged me in the beginning (shame on me for not asking).
But now, I’m left wondering — can I give them –5 stars? How about –50?
And guess what? If you take my money, refuse to honor your committment for which I’ve paid you, refuse to give me my money back (so I can get my suit fixed elsewhere), and shrug it off, telling me to «take [you] to court,» well, guess what I’m going to do?
See you in court, bub.

Whenever I need something shortened or tailored, I trust Ellie’s.
I always take my new pairs of jeans or dress pants to her whenever I need them shortened. She and her team are quick and are great at eyeballing where the hems would look best.
Recently I brought in an old vintage men’s leather jacket that I wanted tailored to fit me better. Ellie listened to my ideas of how I wanted this jacket to fit, as I bought it with the intention of having my own copycat Katniss hunting jacket. She said it was doable and that she and her gal who handled menswear would work on the jacket together.
The end result came out looking pretty good. The only negative was the fact that the gal who handles menswear took a little too much in on the hip area of the jacket. (The hip area was perfect when I first got the jacket and I was able to zip it up without any problem.) Now its slightly snug around the hip area and I will not be able to zip the jacket and sit while wearing it. The rest of the jacket turned out looking pretty good.
I would come back to Ellie’s for more tailoring.

I am always impressed with this shop. The staff are so nice and attentive and most important, they do good work and have reasonable prices. I get clothes tailored fairly often and have been to a lot of tailoring shops over the years. I like Ellie’s best. There are numerous dressing rooms, not just one like most places, and the shop is very clean. Also, since they just do tailoring-​not dry cleaning, too– they get your clothes done pretty quick. Yay for Ellie’s.