P A Jens Custom Sewing

Letting out my suit so I can look my best at the Opera; this place rocks! Fast, convenient and close to the UW main campus: so glad I found them! You will be, too.

I had my wedding dress alternations done by Trish, the owner of P. A. Jens Custom Sewing, at the recommendation of Belltown Bride, where I bought my dress. Not knowing anything about wedding dress alterations, I neglected my usual practice of researching all of my options and just went with Trish to keep things simple. I mean, she came recommended from people who knew a lot more about wedding dresses than I did, so who was I to argue with them, right?
In late October when I bought my dress, Lia ordered custom measurements for my Casablanca wedding gown because I was in between sizes at the time. By the time my dress arrived in early April, I’d gained about five pounds and had been working out in advance of my early May wedding, so my body shape had changed a bit. (I should also note that I’m on the short side [5’2″ on a good day], and wedding dresses seem to be made for women who are at least 5’11″, so of course my dress had to be shortened several inches.) I understood that my dress likely required more alterations than the average bride, but there was nothing I could do about it.
My first dress fitting with Trish was in early April. I arrived to my appointment on time with my shoes and undergarments, excited to see my dress and try it on again. I sat there awkwardly as Trish proceeded to ignore me, fawning over the other two brides getting their fittings done in the shop, gushing about how skinny they were, and what gorgeous brides they were going to be for a total of *forty-​five minutes* past my scheduled appointment. Finally, it was my turn. This was when I learned that my weight gain was going to be a problem because even five pounds made a difference in how my dress fit. I was heartbroken when I realized how tight my dress was in certain areas, but put on a brave face as I walked out of the fitting room into the store to meet with Trish. Instead of offering reassurance and comfort, as I was obviously upset, she proceeded to go on and on about how my dress was going to require considerable changes and, in general, made me feel fat and disgusting. I felt just awful when I left. I would’ve changed seamstresses right then and there, but with less than a month before my wedding, I didn’t think I’d be able to find someone who could handle such a work load in such a short period of time.
My next two appointments with Trish were much of the same; the only difference was that she was actually on time. She’d go on and on about how many more changes the dress required, tugging at my dress and muttering to herself as she went. I’d ask about certain things that I wanted changed and she’d completely ignore them. For example, at my first fitting, since my dress had a lace back, she suggested that she sew in bra cups so I didn’t have to worry about wearing a bra. This made sense to me, so I agreed to it. Then she says that she can sew in padded cups to give me a little more «help» in that area (and, as an added bonus, give the illusion of slimming other areas), which sounded like a great idea at the time, but at the next fitting, it was obvious I started miles beneath those things. I asked if it would be too much trouble to put in less padded cups and she made it sound like it wouldn’t be that difficult to change, but she never did, despite my repeated requests. At my third appointment, I requested that she shorten the hem more than she already had because I was afraid that I would be tripping on my gown the whole night. She said it was supposed to be that long and it didn’t need to be any shortened; yet, on my wedding day, I spent most of my reception tripping on the edge of my gown, just as I’d predicted. Additionally, I asked for an itemized receipt multiple times and she never gave me one.
I met with Trish for a total of five fitting appointments, right up until three days before my wedding and each time she was disorganized, rushed, pushy, and borderline rude. At some appointments, it appeared she hadn’t made any changes to my dress at all, and then would spend the whole appointment talking about the same things that needed to be changed as we’d discussed at our previous appointment.
Every bride should feel excited at each dress fitting, seeing how things are coming together and envisioning how she’ll look on her wedding day, but every time I met with Trish, I left more discouraged than the last time. Yes, I understood that, from the beginning, my dress required substantial changes, but it wasn’t necessary to make me feel guilty about it at every single appointment. In the end, things worked out okay and I admit that I did feel beautiful on my wedding day, but I can’t say that it was worth the stress that I felt from working with Trish. Do yourself a favor and get your alterations done somewhere else.

I can’t recommend Trish highly enough. Reading some of the negative reviews, I am shocked at people taking exception to her suggestions when 1) they say they know nothing about alterations and 2) Trish schedules plenty of fittings so if you don’t like something and let her know, it will absolutely be fixed. Like some other reviewers, we were referred by Belltown Bridal as well as Ania Collection in Portland. Thanks to both of them.
She altered my daughter’s wedding dress which started out significantly too large and had a lot of beading and an illusion back to address. Through numerous fittings, Trish was focused on getting it ‘just right’ both by appearance and feel. That focus resulted in perfection.
She is also altering my mother of the bride silk suit and immediately saw a couple of design issues and had suggested fixes for them. She knows her craft and is worth every year of her experience.
I will have no hesitation in referring friends to her for help.

If your wedding dress is precious to you and if you want to feel comfortable in it on your wedding day, do not go to Trish. Unfortunately, I know nothing about alterations so I was at the mercy of the business my dress boutique recommended I hire to alter my dress. Trish operates out of her home, it’s messy and disorganized, dirty and gross, unprofessional and awkward. Trish and her assistant were disruptive during multiple consultations and I was genuinely concerned about my dress being damaged or lost while it was in her care, luckily it was not. However, it was altered in such a way that ultimately ruined it on my wedding day. Again, like most brides I know nothing about alterations so I didn’t know when to say «no» or «stop» and Trish is VERY high pressure, she doesn’t want you to speak your mind and seems to take it very personally if you ask a question. I wish I had been more of a «bridezilla» and taken my dress somewhere else. In the end, the worst part, were the stays she insisted I needed extending from bodice to mid-​thigh that warped and bent when I sat down on my wedding day to eat dinner. Needless to say, all of the photos of me standing next to my husband while people gave toasts include lumps that resemble strange tumors on the front of my dress (the bent stays). The stays she insisted on also bruised my skin because they were in unnatural places that dug into me. I have a flat stomach and a trim waist, these alterations were over the top and unnecessary, the dress looked fine without them. I neither gained nor lost weight and certainly didn’t shrink or grow in height… I just didn’t know any better to try sitting in my dress for extended periods of time while in alterations and honestly I feel like that is the dress alteration specialists duty to ensure comfort and fit. Wherever you go to have your dress altered, make sure you can sit down before you are done altering it. In summary, Trish’s shop is unclean and unorganized (the floor is dirty and at one point my dress bag was switched… weird), Trish is high pressure and not consultative (she’s demanding and snappy), Trish’s alteration work is poor quality and in my case ruined some of the photos from my wedding.

I went with PA Jens Custom Sewing for my wedding dress alterations because they were recommended by Belltown Bride. I would definitely recommend looking around a bit before choosing PA Jens — it was the most stressful piece of my whole wedding planning experience, and I really tried to give them the benefit of the doubt.
I had 7 different fitting appointments, one where they didn’t show up (they rescheduled and forgot to call me), one where nothing on my dress had been changed since the last appointment and they had forgotten everything we talked about, and one where there were still pins/​unfinished alterations in my dress from the last appointment. The first time I met Trish, she seemed very professional and knowledgable, and I felt good about the choice. On subsequent visits she always seemed on edge and would frequently remark on how stressed out she was and how busy they were. I think they take on way more work than they are capable of handling in a professional manner.
The alterations to my dress in the end looked okay, although I was never very happy with the shape of the bust — it was shaped too small for my chest and I asked repeatedly if there was something they could do about it. They’d always assure me they’d fix it and then nothing would really change. The boning in the top ended up bending/​kinking in a strange way halfway through my wedding day, so that the top looked lopsided. Needing any kind of custom or uncommon alterations seems like a big risk with PA Jens.
We had scheduled my final dress pickup the week of my wedding. I arrived on time as scheduled and was told that my dress wasn’t ready because of a steamer accident, and my dress would be ready the next day. So I had to drive back the next day to pick it up. They gave me a box of chocolates as an apology which I did appreciate, but it was kind of too little too late. My dress thankfully appeared unharmed from the steamer accident but did have a weird sweat/​pee smell and I had to febreeze it before wearing it.
I was so stressed out after all of this that I’ve waited a couple months to leave a review just so I could be level-​headed about it. I give them two stars because it seemed like they were trying (and the assistants were all very nice and professional!). I think they need to lessen their work load so they can provide the quality people deserve.

I highly recommend PA Jens Custom Sewing and Trish Jens. I have been making my daughter’s wedding dress, but I needed help because I’m in NY state and my daughter is in Seattle. I needed the help of a local dressmaker/​seamstress to help me with fittings. Trish was recommended to me through a friend, and I emailed using the information from her web site to see if she would be able to help me by consulting with me and doing fittings. Her office manager was efficient and got back to me quickly with the information I needed. This was an unusual request, but Trish and her office manager were willing to try something new. Their help was just what I needed, and by following Trish’s advice, I have been able to make a dress that will be beautiful on my daughter as a result. She charged me a very fair price, too.
Trish has over 30 years of sewing and fitting experience, and she knows what she’s doing! She is able to quickly assess fitting problems and can communicate how to solve those problems swiftly and succinctly. Trish understands how to look at an individual body and knows how to adjust a garment so it looks good on the person. She assessed the fitting problems I encountered, pinned corrections in the muslin and the final dress so I could continue sewing. Her advice on how to finish and embellish the dress was spot on, as well. Trish’s manner is brisk and confident, but she has a warm heart and a willingness to help. She encouraged me to trust myself when I was anxious about my capabilities. I could not have created the dress without her help, and I learned a lot from her!
Her advice was incredibly helpful, and it allowed me to work on solving problems that cropped up. I was able to fly out for the second 2 fittings (the first was complimentary). Trish also has a network of contacts in the area, and she directed me to 2 fabric stores where I encountered wonderful people who gave great advice: Wendy at Pacific Fabrics and Susan at Nancy’s Sewing Basket. I’m sure those people are always helpful, but I think they bent over backwards because Trish sent me there.

Trish is an absolute miracle worker and does amazing work!!! I can’t imagine anyone else having even touched my dress. Her work is phenomenal and I was blown away by not only her work but the vision she had throughout the whole time even when I couldn’t see or imagine it. I bought a beautiful dress and Belltown Bride on New Years Eve and was leaving Seattle exactly one week later and she was not only able to turn the dress around in three days but she took time out of her busy holiday schedule to help me out and I really felt that she did it with the kindness of her heart. I wasn’t sure that the dress could be down so quickly but Trish did not let me down. She did beautiful work and did it all by hand, it looks even better after she finished with it. I really wanted something blue on my dress so I went to a fabric store and found a blue button and blue ribbon. I took these to Trish and asked her if she could do anything with them, she said she could but she had to think about how she would incorporate them into my dress. When I showed up the next day not only was the dress absolutely perfect and better than I could have dreamed of but she had sewn the button and the ribbon into the dress beautifully. I could not have even dreamed of how perfect and gorgeous it would be when she was done with it. Trish is truly amazing and a godsend, I would not recommend going elsewhere! I asked Trish if she could give my fiancé advice on how to fix his suit when we came back home, but she did one better, she altered my fiancé’s suit it one day! It was totally unexpected and much appreciated!!! She really came through for us and I am so thankful and appreciative and because of her my dress is perfect and so is my fiancé’s suit and we are stress and worry free. Thank you again Trish!!! We can’t say thank you enough!!! You really do work miracles!!!

Expensive, but worth it.
My Monique Lhuillier wedding gown was BUTCHERED by another seamstress. Trish let me know up front it may be expensive but the finished product was even more beautiful than the original design. She had a vision and was able to execute perfectly. Lifesaver.

I am sad to say that I do not recommend PA Jens. My first appointment with Trish went beautifully. I tried my bridesmaid dress on and she went on and on about how it would be an easy fix.
My second appointment was cancelled last minute by Trish due to a family emergency (undestandable). When I showed up at the rescheduled appointment however, I was told my dress wasn’t ready and that I would need to come back in a couple hours. I gave specific details as to when I HAD to have my dress by and was told «No problem! We will call you later today when it’s done.» She called 5 minutes before the time I was supposed to be LEAVING her house by and was told that she FORGOT to call me. My dress «had been ready for hours».
Then came the bill… While doing the calculations she said «hmm… how much did you pay for your dress?» I was then told that unfortunately when you «have to completely remake a dress, it often times costs more that the original puchas». What happened to «this will be easy»!!!
Without providing me an itemized receipt she then proceeded to charge be $ 296 for a $ 165 dress!!!
Never. Again.

Trish is absolutely phenomenal! The most skilled tailor I’ve met with and can do last minute alterations like its nothing!
I needed a dress taken in same day, and not only did she fix it in under 45 minutes, she’s a fantastic host! She really knows what she’s doing! I’d recommend her to anyone!

This was the most awful experience I ever had with a so called professional tailor! She was rude, pushy, and patronizing — had her own agenda as to what I needed to do to my garments and did not listen to a word I said. Trish was demeaning and criticizing of other clients and «seamstresses» in the community (even though she employs them to do the actual alteration work).
Although we had an appointment, she was overtly rough and rushed: did not bother to introduce herself or ask for my name, barked orders the entire time I was there, and stuck me with a couple pins during the fitting. I was so disappointed with her mannerism and lack of professionalism that I had to cut our meeting short, take my clothes and leave as fast as I could.
I do not recommend Trish (nor her business) to any self-​respecting individual. There are many outstanding tailors with excellent reputation and customer service skills in this city!

Absolutely amazing! Trish did exactly what I asked for, and in the exact time frame that she promised! My alterations were not simple, but they were done with the highest quality. Trish was fun to work with, and was up front about her fees and expectations. Highly recommended!

P.A. Jens was amazing. I would definitely recommend if you have really difficult alterations and time in your schedule to get it right.
I had a bridesmaid dress from hell; it was way way way too small and by the time I figured it out, there was (A) no way I could lose 30 pounds absent losing a limb and (B) the dresses in the size I needed were totally, utterly, and completely sold out. I was in major panic mode. Should I fake a loathsome disease and skip the wedding?
Instead, I was able to get a yard of fabric from the manufacturer, and, with a hope and a prayer, went to see Trish. Trish reassured me that all would be ok and said she was up for the challenge. She used my teeny-​tiny dress and the extra fabric and literally built a Frankenstein dress (the whole bodice was redone) using the old dress and the new fabric. But unlike good ol’ Frankie, no bolts showing on this at all. It was amazing. It was beautiful. It fit better than any of the other girls’ dresses. And most importantly, it was indistinguishable.
That said, that kind of craftswomanship was not cheap (counting alterations, that dress was the most expensive bridesmaids dress I have ever had to deal with) but when it came to either shelling out a few c-​notes or missing my friend’s wedding in shame, it was well, well worth it.

I met with Trish for a wedding dress consultation about a month ago and came away with several reservations.
I read the Unilocal reviews, and sure, Trish has a lot of good reviews, but also a lot of bad ones (check the filtered reviews at the bottom).
What turned me off is as soon as I walked in, she started talking about her «25 years of experience» and her «excellent reputation», before even giving me a chance to like her for myself. And then she started badmouthing other brides and said something like, «Just as long as you’re not one of the bridezillas I’ve had to work with, we’ll get along fine.»
She also seemed rushed and nearly stuck me with a couple pins during the fitting. And she handled my veil pretty roughly. She shoved it in the bag and I saw one of her long nails snag it!
I also don’t like that she lets people wear street shoes in the fitting room. Wedding gowns are expensive to clean, and it only makes sense that a bridal seamstress should take precautions when handling wedding dresses. Wedding gown trains should NOT be allowed to drag all over a dirty wooden floor.
And then when I asked if she includes a spot or steam clean, she said, «No, I only offer pressing, but we can get it cleaned for you at an extra cost.»
Lastly, she was VERY pushy about getting me to go with her. She said, «I offer a 10% discount if you get your alterations done before March 1^st.» And then she quoted me a huge range ($ 350-​$ 450) without showing me an itemized breakdown of costs, even after I requested an itemized breakdown via email several times.
I found a seamstress in Northgate that has a no-​shoes rule, was very gentle in handling my gown and veil, and only quoted $ 250 for all of the same alterations! I’m definitely going with her instead.
EDIT: I found out from an unnamed source that Trish doesn’t even do any of the sewing herself. She does the fittings ONLY, then has a team of seamstresses in the BASEMENT working on all the dresses. I definitely don’t want some person who hasn’t even seen how the dress sits on my body working on the dress. Whoever does the fittings should be the ones doing the sewing!

For me, Trish was a 5 star. I had a beautiful strapless dress I had gotten at the Bride’s Against Breast Cancer gown sale, and it needed a little work. We had about 3 months before my wedding when we started alterations. During that time we did three fittings, a last look, and on the day I needed to pick up my dress, two of my bridesmaids had finally made it to town so Trish and Courtney made it possible for us to duck into the fitting room and get a quick tutorial on how to lace my corset and do my bustle.
I was thrilled with the alterations that were made to my dress. Reading some of the other reviews, I think I had less work done than a lot of people, and I wasn’t making large artistic changes to my dress. Trish added some cushioning for «the girls» along with a support band inside the dress, she added some beautifully stitched layers of volume under the dress, and she created a beautiful French bustle. I danced HARD at my wedding. I had several people mention that they couldn’t believe how well I could move in my dress. My dress fit like a glove, and it definitely passed the day of the wedding test.
I would recommend Trish gladly to anyone who wants utter confidence that the person altering their dress is completely capable. Wedding dress alterations are not cheap, but my final cost came in well under the top quoted cost for the type of alterations I was having done, and I was able to rest assured that my dress was in good hands.
I’m in another wedding this October, and I will most certainly be bringing my bridesmaid dress into Trish for alterations!

I’d say 4.5 stars rather then five.
Trish Jens is an amazing seamstress. She knows what she’s talking about and she isn’t going to let you make silly mistakes. Fortunately for myself, I was a calm bride, and I started working with Trish in January, 6 months before my wedding. This way I didn’t have to stress about time limits or deadlines.
Fortunately, I came in with a dress that fit fairly well to begin with. It was of course too long so we hemmed it, and I have no boobs, so we added a strap to reign ‘em in and put pads in for extra cleavage. We also added a French bustle.
The real work began with the fact that we were adding beading and trim to the dress. My dress started out as a bridesmaid dress with no extra bling. My mom and I ordered some rhinestone trim to have added under my bust to create an empire waist, and we bought some jewelry to add to the side for a little bit more eye candy. Trish advised me to use the left over trim on the side, rather than the jewelery because then everything matched and there wasn’t too much going on.
To make things even more amazing, her helpers added extra beading around the trim to make it blend better. They just so happened to use the exact same beads that my mom used on my veil, without even knowing so. Here was the one and only issue I had with them: They started doing the beading without asking me and telling me what their bridal rate was. It ended up taking them 18 hours to do the beading, and would have normally cost $ 800 just for that work alone. The minimum cost for bridal alterations start at $ 200, so my alterations would have ended up being a bit over $ 1000. I only spent $ 160 on the dress to begin with.
However, Trish realized that she made a mistake in not talking to me first, and therefore dropped the price of the work to $ 400. I was incredibly appreciative of that because we were already out of budget there, and I obviously couldn’t say «undo it». I understand that Trish needed to pay her employees for their time and effort and I completely agree. I just really appreciated her admitting her mistake and taking care of it for me.
In the long run, my dress was amazing. Any small kinks were easily fixed, and my dress was amazing on the wedding day! Trish might cost a bit more than other seamstresses, but she is well worth the cost when you know she’s going to do a great job.

If I could rate the business separately, I would give Trish and her sweet mom 5 stars and give her staff a 3. This is why I gave P.A. Jens the average: 4 stars.
Her staff got my appointments mixed up a couple of times and sent me confirmation appointment emails with times that were off. A little annoying when you’re trying to juggle appointments in the busy weeks before your wedding. They were also supposed to email me a bustle card (a diagram of how to bustle the skirt), which I never received. When I realized that I was missing the card, I already had my dress on, on my wedding day. I called and left a message and although I didn’t receive a return call until after the wedding, I appreciated the sincere apology.
Trish was amazing to work with. She did a great job making the neckline of my dress sweetheart, taking in and hemming my dress so that it fit like a glove and made me look and feel sexy yet classy. She also worked within my budget and gave me and my mom warm peanut butter cookies at one of my fittings!
Even though I put her staff on blast, I want to make it clear that Trish did a GREAT job on my dress and I would see her again.

Not to hash this out on Unilocal,but I feel compelled to note that I did email Trish with pictures of the ill-​fitting bodice but never got a response. I also don’t recall her encouraging me to take it in more… I certainly would have taken her advice on proper fit.
The reason it took me so long to post a Unilocal review is that I was looking at my wedding pictures again on my 1^st wedding anniversary in August, and I still felt bothered by the way my dress looked in photos one year later. Seeing that others here have mentioned similar fit issues, I thought it was worth sharing my experience.

I came here because of the positive Unilocal reviews, and am so glad I did! I needed an Alfred Angelo bridesmaid dress altered because it was three sizes too big, too long, and the skirt was horrendous. For three fittings, taking the dress in, making the A-​line skirt into a pencil skirt, taking the hem up, and adding a sexy slit in the back, the alterations cost a mere $ 110 (plus tax). Granted, the dress itself didn’t cost more than that, but damn, Trish made me look good! She took a hideously huge frock that made me look like a shapeless eggplant (literally, as the dress is eggplant colored) and made it into the sexiest little pencil dress ever, that I could def wear again at a cocktail party. Now I just need to find someone who can lace up the corset as awesomely as her. I highly recommend her services.

I got a deal on a Vera Wang dress at a trunk sale and decided to try PA Jens after reading the Unilocal reviews. At first, I thought it was going to be great. I took my dress in and it didn’t need much. Trish really stepped up and made some suggestions I didn’t even think of. Even the second appointment was fine but we kept arguing over the fit of the bust.
For the record, I had just gotten over breaking my ankle so I had a bit more weight than normal on (which she knew) and I knew it would come off fast once getting cleared to workout hard again (she also knew). The trip before my «you get to take the dress home and play» visit, she kept telling me that I needed to stop losing weight. I had lost a lot of weight but NONE in my chest (same bra size and everything) and the truth is, she hadn’t altered the top to fit. All the weight I lost was in my legs and my dress was not cut so that mattered. On the following visit, I brought a friend because I thought I was taking crazy pills. I could see every part of my breasts from up top not to mention if I leaned back an inch. I was pretty pissed I was now going to have to buy «fillers» since she wasn’t listening to me.
Then I took my dress back for my «last look» and it was ridiculous. I already knew to top didn’t fit because she didn’t fix it from the time before. I wore my dress for 5 minutes and it fell down from the rib cage. It felt like she was rushing me out (I even called her on it since I made time to make a mid-​day appt). I simply stated that I wanted my dress to fit better than this and she said «she had no control over that». Actually that was what I was paying her to do. I left the dress with her to have the top brought in and cleaned.
I picked up my dress three days before leaving for my wedding. I should have opened it but I figured I would save myself the headache of it not being right and getting pissed off. I carried my dress on the plane and it was hung up the entire time (awesome flight attendants). When I put my dress on a few days before, it was definitely brought in by the chest (now I didn’t need the expensive fillers) but it was completely unfinished. There was also new rip in the underarm area and a stitch was through all the layers in the cleavage area and completely showed. The stitches were also falling out. I had to have a friend of mine (luckily she does embroidery work) re-​sew my dress the day of the wedding. She also re-​stitched all of the beads (singles beads, not intricate detail) that were falling off.
I teetered between three stars and two, maybe because she ripped me off less than the store was going to. Overall, I would never go back to her again, or recommend her. They are also really hard to get ahold of for appointment changes and such.