Chalk, thread and handwork
A closer look at the cutting table, the machines and the small tools that give a well-tailored garment its poise. Close photographs of alteration tools and materials, licensed for commercial use. None is presented as work completed by this business.
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01 Heavy shears, a tape and reels of thread at the cutting table, where every commission and alteration begins. The shears are kept for cloth alone, because a pair blunted on paper chews through a seam allowance instead of cutting it cleanly. -
02 The feed dogs and presser foot of a straight-stitch machine. Their grip decides how evenly two layers travel, which is why a slippery lining is sewn far more slowly than a worsted wool trouser. -
03 A dress form with a tape over the shoulder. It holds a bodice or jacket in shape while a seam is opened, so the cloth can be read hanging as it will be worn rather than flat on the bench. -
04 Glass-headed pins in a pincushion, the same pins used to mark a hem break or a lace train. Pins hold what chalk cannot: a fold that has to survive being taken off, carried across the workshop and sewn without shifting by more than a millimetre. -
05 A four-hole button sewn onto blue cloth. A replacement, from horn to mother-of-pearl, is matched by size, shank height and hole spacing before colour, because a button sitting proud of the cloth pulls the whole front out of line. -
06 A wooden spool of red thread. Thread for invisible mending is matched to the garment before the machine is threaded, and the match is made in daylight, where a near miss shows up in a way that lamplight hides. -
07 A soft tape marked in centimetres. Every figure on a fitting ticket or a shirt pattern card comes off a tape like this one, taken over the clothes the garment will be worn with rather than against the skin. -
08 The needle and presser foot seen from close to the needle plate. Needle size changes with the cloth: bridal silk will not take a heavy point, and an overcoat seam will bend a fine one.
Pinned, sewn, tried on
Every alteration at Hem & Harbor Alterations passes through the same three stages, from the first reading of the garment on the body to the final try-on at collection.
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Pinned
The garment is read first. It is worn or hung in shape, the change is written on the fitting ticket, and the chalk marks are made on the cloth itself rather than taken from a size chart.
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Sewn
The seam is opened, the new line is sewn to the marks, and the layers are fed at a speed the cloth will take. Linings are altered with the shell, not after it.
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Tried on
The work is pressed and checked against the marks, then tried on again at collection and any minor fine-tuning is done promptly at no extra charge.
Ask about a garment
Name the garment, the change wanted and the date it must be ready by. The workshop replies with the times a fitting can be held.