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M & M Tailoring and Alterations

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Victoria, BC
M & M Tailoring and Alterations

Tailoring & Alterations
Professionally trained fashion designer and master tailor. Expert bridal alterations & restyling, Victoria BC. By appointment only

M & M Tailoring and Alterations specializes in wedding and formal gown alterations. We apply expertise and knowledge in dressmaking and perform the most difficult alterations with ease. We have been in the garment making industry in Europe and Canada since 1991
With passion for design and love for delicate and beautiful fabrics we deliver exceptional service altering and designing custom made go

wns. We pride and enjoy the hours we spend making special dresses that are unique and make them fit perfect.

01/22/2026

Today’s M & M Before And After is about pregnant bridal alterations
I so much love working on pregnant brides gowns. They sure are challenging at times but that’s the best part of my job, challenging projects allow me to be creative and use all my knowledge on designing and pattern making.
8 years in 2 different fashion design schools and 35+ years of hands on experience in the industry, those challenging projects are more like a game to me.
As someone who’ve seen all different scenarios and 100’s of pregnant brides in my shop I decided that this alteration is best to be done only few days before the wedding. Wedding was on Saturday, I asked the bride to come in for her first fitting on Monday only 5 days before the wedding, the dress was deconstructed, modified and completed by Wednesday. Leaving everything to the last minute is OK only if you are VERY PREGNANT and your baby bump is growing by the minute.
The bodice of the dress was completely detached from the skirt and redesigned to make room for the belly, certain boning was removed completely, other were shortened, bringing the new waist line higher, curved up so it doesn’t cut trough the belly.
Once the bodice was reshaped around the belly the skirt was sewn back to the raised waist line and dress was put back together.
The zipper was removed and replaced by a corset back since the dress was about 5” / 13cm too small on the bust and waist.
Nice bustle was put in to pin the train up.
After my work was done there was no sign of alterations and the bride was really happy with the results as she was feeling way more comfortable in her beautiful dress.

Oh , did I mention the entire alteration was done over the course of 3 days
I Love My Job ❤️

01/16/2025

Today’s we will be talking about the different ways to make a small dress fit.
I’ve seen this in my shop a million times.
I normally don’t question my clients why the dress is too small. There are many reasons for that. But if you buying a second hand bridal gown and the sales person is trying to convince you that everything could be fixed with alterations, you better consult with a bridal seamstress about your options and if you really have options.
Option 1: letting out the dress, if you have the seam allowance
Option 2: turning a zipper back into a corset back for extra room in the chest area
Option 3: adding panels into the side seams or any seams for that matter that would allow such thing
Each of the above options come with pros and cons. Some can’t be done to certain style dresses. You want to know what would happen to your dress if you pick one vs another.
When a sales person tells you an alteration could be done, ask them if they are professional dressmakers, if so, you could trust them, if they are not, you need to run the idea by an experienced bridal seamstress as letting out a dress is not always possible, it’s way more challenging than taking in a dress and not every seamstress knows how to do it.
The dress in todays post was 8”/20,5cm too small in the chest, 3”/8cm too small at the waist, needed to be let out at the hips too and had 0 seam allowance. Panels were put in the side seams to give extra room in the chest, waist and hips. The panels were covered with lace appliqués to camouflage the seams and the extra fabric. The dress originally had 3 beaded bands around the chest and waist but we choose to use one of the bands in order to add to the two left on the bodice.
The dress was hemmed and a lovely bustle was put into the train.
As you can see from the close up photos you can’t even tell where the panels were added.

❤️

07/15/2024

What a way to preserve your wedding dress ❤️

06/15/2024

Today’s is this beautiful and fun transformation.
My lovely bride saw a post on IG by Aussie singer & song writer Bianca and loved it so much she wanted to have the same dress.
She braved to contact the singer directly on IG and was lucky to get the details she needed about the outfit. So kind of Bianca to share all the information about her beautiful wedding dress with my bride.
After she had most things in place to have her dream dress made she found me way before the wedding and we started a lengthy discussion about the project, we did a in person consultation and we came up with a plan.
I wish all of my brides were this organized and run their ideas about “big alterations” with a professional dressmaker in advance.
I normally recommend starting standard bridal alterations 6-8 wks before the wedding (busy season) & 4-6 wks (slow season). For “big” custom projects I recommend contacting a professional min 6-8 MONTHS before the wedding. Sticking with such time frames is important as you don’t want to start the alterations super early as your body may change but also you don’t want to leave everything to the last minute as the stress from short deadlines is a proven mood killer for everybody involved in the process.
Back to my lovely bride from today’s post.
We had to find the exact fabric match, shortened the dress, added panels in the side seams to achieve the bell look of the skirt, we changed the straps to thicker straps for better bust support, also the square neckline seem to be a hit this season. Last but not least we made this beautiful additional removable half skirt, just like our inspiration model
I truly enjoyed working on this project. In fact projects like that put a spring to my step and make my heart sing 💖

💖💞💓

05/29/2024

For today’s I picked a seemingly easy project but something a lot of my brides ask for - changing the original look of the dress.
Many of you buy a dress that is not quite how you envisioned yourself as a bride. Often during the shopping process you are told by someone that certain part of the dress could be re-designed by a talented seamstress and by doing that you get your dream dress . All that is true, Yay 😀 BUT it comes at a cost ☹️
Why I chose this topic - the number of brides who’ve came to me with such request and later decided to abandon the project is quite high.
Reason #1 💰 - some of these projects are costly.
Reason #2 structurally impossible - want way too many elements of the dresses to be changed or like to add a whole bunch of additional stuff.
I am here to guide you trough the process and explain into details what could be changed, what could be done, what are the risks and how much it will cost you.
My recommendation is before you commit to a dress that is not quite what you want or a dress that would require a lot structural changes or re-designing, PLEASE consult with a professional dressmaker, often the ideas of your friends& family, and even the sales person who tries to sell you a dress have are not what could be done in reality.

The dress from today’s post was a nice and easy project.
We swaped the solid back of the dress with a see through mesh, changed it a bit and added some lace appliqués… 🥰
While we were playing with the lace appliqués, deciding together where exactly to place the lace I suggested to have lace appliqués crawling out of the mesh back covering the lower back and waist seam at the front of the dress and my bride loved the idea. The result … beautiful 🤩
Such a fun project.

❤️

02/08/2024

For today’s will be talking about completely deconstructing bridal gowns and putting them back together and still have them look like no work was ever done.
Yes, that happens every once in a while. A dress needs to be taken into pieces, pieces need to be slightly or majorly redesigned and then the dress has to come back into 1 piece. Whether the bride lost weight or purchased a sample dress/pre-owned dress where the size is quite a bit off but the price is the factor that drives them to say YES to the dress, or someone told you the dress could be altered 3+ sizes down, but that “someone” is not a professional dressmaker and has no clue about bridal alterations.
Whatever the reason if you got too big or too small dress, you will be facing very expensive alterations. It does takes hours and hours of work to reconstruct a dress
A dress could be nicely tailored if it’s closer to your size, 2 sizes difference is ok, but anything bigger is going to a challenge and you will have to compromise the look of the dress or pay a huge bill.
I like to think of myself as a magician as I often do the mind blowing bridal alterations in my shop but often there is not much that could be done without compromising the look of the dress.
- the bust points will never fit well, the cups are normally huge and can not be changed
- the bridal store clip the dress at the back but in reality taken in happens from the sides, huge difference when this is done as straps and sleeves look good when the dress is pulled from the back but when the side seams are pulled outward then straps and sleeves start shifting towards the edge of your shoulder and that adds extra work. At the end you are stuck with a hefty bill.
Please consult with an experienced bridal seamstress before buying a 2 sizes bigger dress.
I do get a lot of clients who come in my shop with the huge dress and they get upset when they hear the dress could not be altered or the cost
I like to finish this post that I would normally do anything for my beautiful brides to make your dress fit and I often agree to take and complete those impossible alterations as I love my job and I feel I have the necessary skill level for such jobs but everything comes with a price, so choose carefully when you are selecting your dresses
Todays post we have a dress that needed complete make over. The bride lost a bunch of weight and we needed to re size the dress from top to bottom, from the side seams and from the back centre seam, add hidden darts at the bust area to get the bust area fit the breasts better as they were smaller for the dress size, lift the shoulders, fill the mesh in the shoulder area with more lace appliqués, hem the dress and add a nice 8 point bustle.
I did enjoy working on this dress, I like to be challenged and have me dig for solutions, but what really make me enjoy this project is, this dress was golden glitter, sparkle and all 😍🥰
Girls love glitter that’s it
👗 by Essense of Australia

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01/01/2024

For today’s I’ve chosen this simple dress as many of my clients prefer to stay away from the elaborate wedding dresses or are bridesmaids, prom girls or have to wear a formal gown for an event.
I can’t tell you how many times I get a client walk into my shop with a formal dress and they wish the dress was slightly bit different than the original design but nevertheless they still purchased the dress. Often I am asked to add sleeves, straps, belt/sash, an embellishment, a flower, open/close the neck or the back, completely change the design of the dress. These are all doable but not everything is possible so I highly recommend you run your ideas by an experienced dressmaker to get a sense of what could be done and the cost of course. One of the most common problems I run to in my work is that, “someone” told my clients that “this and that” could be easily done and at some ridiculous cheap price. Remember, only a seamstress knows how easy/difficult a certain alteration is and what the cost is.
Please ladies, before you assume that some major changes could be done to your garments, run your ideas with the professionals before you spend your money on an expensive dress.
For todays post I picked this lovely light pink dress which along with the standard alterations like hemming and fitted trough the bodice also got brand new sleeves added, which in my opinion compliment the dress a lot.
👗 by

❤️

12/07/2023

Today’s I picked a dress with long sleeves as they’ve been trendy and I’m noticing similar issue happening over and over again. The issue is quite the tight sleeves or tight around the upper arm/arm pit area, often splitting the seams or the sleeves falling off the shoulders. This is a very common issue when it comes to skin tight long sleeves, made of non stretchy fabric. Unless the sleeves are made of stretchy fabric this will always be the case, often the only way this problem could be fixed is by adding extra panels in the arm pit area in order to give extra room for comfort. However even with added panels, if you’ve chosen a dress with skin tight long sleeves made of non stretchy fabric you will have some restrictions moving your arms.

The dress from today’s post was fitted from bust to knees, the shoulders needed to come up as the sleeves were not staying up, the tightness of the sleeves was adjusted hemmed and a multiple point bustle put in. There was quite a bit of gapping happening at the open back (very common issue in gowns with low or open backs). We fixed the gaping by adding some hidden darts in and after that we added extra mesh to the back of the dress in order to change the line of the open back as the bride wanted her open back to be less open as well as her shoulders less exposed. Once the dress fit nicely we covered the added mess to the back and the shoulders with lace appliqués, which changed the look of the open back quite a bit.
This was one very intricate and time consuming alteration, regardless of the long hours spent on this project the smile of my bride at the end of the alterations was all it counts
👗 by Essense of Australia

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01/09/2023

Today’s is another dog alterations
Todays post is about Leo, the super-duper hyper energetic a cross between the Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier and Poodle, this guy has endless reserves of energy, he plays hard and he plays all the time. He is very outdoorsy and he likes his long walks, rain or shine, he needs to be out and run or he will turn your house into post tornado scene. He is super soft and fluffy but guess what happens when he rolls in the wet grass few times… yup, one big wet mop, often very dirty. Wooohhooo , the ultimate dog owner “dream”.
Leo’s owner decided to try a doggy rain coat, but it was a bit too big on Leo, water could still get in trough the loose neck and leg wholes, also the belly portion of the coat was very long, covering his boy parts, so when Leo needed to go p*e, he was going to do his business inside the raincoat, yuck 🤢
Leo needed his rain coat taken all trough the body and the back shortened a little as the end of the coat was pressing his tail down, the belly part needed to be re-shaped a bit higher so this boy bits were exposed, just so he doesn’t p*e inside his jacket.
I love dogs but due to the nature of my main steam business, I can’t have hairy pets, as dog hair and bridal gowns don’t mix very well. But who said I can’t do doggy garments alterations when it’s really slow for bridal alterations. I just have to spend a little extra time to clean my shop spotless after the doggy fittings are over.
After I posted my first dog alterations here I start getting more requests for dog clothes alterations. Who knew that may turn into something 😀
I love the new niche for business I just discovered after more that 30 years working in the fashion industry.
❤️

01/06/2023

Today’s is about customizing bridal gowns.
I wish I had taken the photos for this dress, but it was one of those last minute alterations that needed to be done in no time so taking photos was not really on my mind.
The story of todays post is the bride purchased a off-the-rack dress as the time lines for ordering a dress were not working for wedding date. She did not really have a lot of selection to choose from, only options were the sample gowns and picked the closest to the look she was after.
She had requested to make the dress more modest, due to very conservative family members and religion, she wanted to show less skin, so we decided to cover the deep neck line, bring it all up and make some sleeves to cover the upper arms.
The result is beautiful, to be honest I like the new version of the dress more, the off-the-shoulder sleeves and the new neck line just flow so well together 😍
We also brought the hem up, the dress was taken in, bustle was put in place, custom made off-the-shoulder sleeves and customized neck line, some rips were fixed as the dress was off-the-rack sample dress that the bridal store was so generous to part with just so this bride can have a beautiful dress for her wedding.
I had a lot of fun working on this project.
1. the dress itself was gorgeous and the level of challenge with the alterations were just the way I like it, the more challenging, the better. Bring all the challenge to me, I will be smiling ear to ear while taking your order.
2. The bride was just a delight to work with, beautiful inside and out, gorgeous woman with such a sweet and kind personality, I loved every moment working with this lady 🥰
I love my job, but seriously it is my clients that make my job so enjoyable
👗 from
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01/05/2023

Today’s I like to talk about what it is like to have to alter a wedding dress that is way too big for you. Often brides go for the sample dress, or the pre owned or a floor model that is being discontinued and the price of the gown is significantly cheaper. Often you guys find your dream dress BUT it is 2-3 sizes bigger, sometime even larger.
When we are talking about such a big difference is sizes be prepared that not only the cost of the alterations would be more pricey but also the shape of the dress such as neck line, opening of the back, place of breast cups, cut outs are either going to change the entire look of the dress or if you want to keep the original look of the dress we would have to deconstruct your entire dress, re-size every detail and stitch it back together. The more elaborate the dress, the more time it takes to do the alterations and of course the higher the cost of alterations.

The dress from todays post was purchased from consignment store, it was in a great condition, like it was never worn before, clean, perfect shape, the beads & lace were in immaculate shape and of course the bride was very happy about the price she paid. The dress needed to be taken in quite a bit, the straps were shortened and the train was cut off, the bride wanted to be able to walk around in her beautiful dress without tripping on the train.

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Victoria, BC
V9B6C5

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