Blue Serge

This is more of a 3.5 rating. Here is my breakdown:
Service and consultation 2 stars
Actual work: 4.5 stars
Price: 5 stars
I am under 5 foot 3 and constantly getting pants hemmed. I always do original hem on my jeans, as anyone who is petite knows that it looks terrible when it’s a fresh new hem that does not have the matched distressing as the original hem. I’ve paid anywhere from $ 25 – 30 for this and do not care about the price — I just want it done correctly.
My usual tailor in NE (Altug, who is AWESOME!) does not do original hem (and politely explained what he could do and what it looked like). He was totally cool with me going somewhere else for the service. Rather than drive all the way to Uptown (where I have paid $ 28 for the service, in addition to fighting traffic), I googled original hem services and found Blue Serge. It had pretty high reviews, so I took a chance and went in.
If you are from around here, you know Dinky Town’s parking sucks. When the U is in session and depending on what time of day you go, traffic can be pretty bad. That day, it took me a while to find parking. When I went in, I explained what I wanted to the tailor.
Here is where it gets weird: she proceeds to argue with me that original hem is NOT what I want, that a regular hem is just fine. She almost challenges me with the price ($ 20). I don’t bat an eyelash and say that’s fine (as I’ve said, I’ve gladly paid more). She then proceeds to argue with me for ten minutes with these arguments:
1) «It’s more expensive.» (Yes, I don’t care. I almost blurted out that I am not a student at the U and actually have an income and can pay the $ 20 just fine.)
2) «You can’t tell the difference.» (Yes, I pointed out, I can. I admitted that it is a small difference, but I can tell. I also pointed out to her that I have made the mistake of not getting original hem service on a pair of jeans because a tailor said the same thing, and I hate those jeans and never wear them. I even said to her that yes, I may be nitpicking, but they are my jeans, I have to wear them, and this is what I’d like.)
These were repeated in different variations for ten minutes. I felt like I was arguing with another version of my Asian mother, and it was infuriating. All for a stupid pair of pants.
I then told her that if she won’t do the original hem, I will go somewhere else. It was only then that she said okay. My head exploded inside. I don’t get it. If you offer a service, a customer wants to pay for a service, why would you argue them out of it? I wondered how dramatic it would be to grab the jeans out of her hands and walk out. The Minnesotan in me decided against it.
The tailor then continued to argue with me, «I only want to save you money.» Again, not listening to anything I had to say, and I pointed out, «You have been arguing with me for ten minutes to do something I know I do not want to have done. I don’t see how you are being helpful at all.»
Because I did not want to drive to another location, I decided to leave the jeans there and see what happens. Oh, and by the way, you can pay for it by check at the time of leaving the item (s) — so basically she can see if it clears — or pay for it using cash when you pick it up.
Fast forward 2 weeks — I had been traveling a lot and was not able to get my pants when they were promised (a week later). I don’t know if she remembered me, but she seemed pleasant when I paid her. I examined her work — it’s actually quite good for $ 20. Sigh.
I have no issues with her work — she clearly knows how to sew. Her customer service was terrible, however. I work in the customer service industry and try to be pretty patient with people I encounter, as I know it sucks to be on the receiving end of a rude customer. I felt like I was pretty calm and direct with what I wanted and why, and she just ignored it until I finally threatened to go somewhere else.
I am debating whether it’s worth all of that hassle to go back again. I really don’t relish looking forward to arguing with a doppelgänger of my Asian mom who thinks she’s saving me money when I know clearly what I want.
I’m sure if you’re going in for a simple hem, replace a zipper, sew and stitch an item, she’s fine.

I get my pants hemmed their all the time as I am in between a petite length and regular length. The service is impeccable and the fast turn around is great and the pricing can’t be beat. Highly recommended. If you buy expensive designer jeans — she’s able to to hem them keeping the original stitching in tact so you can’t tell that it was even fixed. It’s amazing! Done perfectly to my specifications every time.

I needed the sleeves on my suit coat altered. I went to Blue Serge and was told it’d take a week — the charge was $ 20. She did a fantastic job! I’d definitely go back and I highly recommend it.

Some of us are oblong sizes and need a Taylor to make it right. Enter Blue Serge a long time Dinkytown business that sort of minds it’s own business. A quiet totally utilitarian shop that is serious about adjusting your items to fit our strange frames. The owners may have changed through the years but the shop looks the same with older sewing machines, materials and clothes scattered and a dressing room with a loose curtain flying, move quickly. The prices are reasonable and service quick. Actually one time I went in with a broken button and the Taylor fixed it on the spot for a few dollars. what decade are they in? Highly recommended. see that I said ‘mended’.

I acquired a nice used coat for my Grandson. It had a rip in the shoulder so I sewed it as best I could. It didn’t look great, but the hole was gone. Then I noticed the zipper pull was missing. I could not handle that so I took the coat to Blue Serge. I asked her to replace the zipper pull and mentioned I had sewed the shoulder. She quoted me the price of the zipper pull replacement. When I came in to pick up the coat, she had not only replaced the zipper pull, but had redone the shoulder beautifully! And she was still going to just charge me the original price so I gave her extra for the kind gesture. The coat is as good as new now! Highly recommend! Cash only.

Highly recommended — great price, very quick turn around. I really like Mary, the woman who works there.
My mother wanted an embroidered piece of fabric from one dress made into a piece of a new dress. I brought Mary a puzzle — the fabric, a photo of my mom, some measurements I had taken, pictures of some similar dresses. Mary is clearly smart and knows her work well. She suggested some great details (a pocket, using another detail from the original dress). She was very patient. It came out beautifully.

Cozy little place, tucked away in Dinkytown (across the street from The Library).
Run by a little Korean woman (I am Korean and tend to gravitate toward fellow Koreans for certain services, namely alterations), led there by Unilocal — I was not disappointed.
Came in on a Saturday and brought a pair of jeans to get the waist and seat taken in — no small job and she turned it around in 3 – 4 days for $ 20, a steal. Highly recommended — she will be my tailor for as long as I live in the Twin Cities area.

The owner did a fantastic job making my button up work shirt to be more fitted. She was even able to take material out of the arms so that they weren’t so baggy anymore. I would give her my business again.

Amazing prices, the nicest lady, AND it’s always perfectly done. Why would I go anywhere else!!!

I’ve been coming here to get my pants hemmed for years because I’m short. This one-​woman shop is owned by a tiny Korean lady who always has a smile on her face. While I have no knowledge of sewing like Melissa L (very impressive I must say), I know this woman knows what she’s doing. She has a super fast turnaround & charges around $ 10 for a simple hem. If you want the original hem, it costs a little extra.
Although I no longer live in Dinkytown, I still come here. It’s much cheaper & faster than most places in the area which makes it worth the drive. I highly recommend coming here!

I’ve got stumpy legs, which makes any pair of pants automatically too long for me. I’ve tried on some pants that fit just right, but then I realized they were supposed to be those cropped pants that hit above the ankle. Sad.
Hemming blue jeans is not tough, but it’s tough to make the new hem look like the old hem. Matching thread weight and color seems to be a huge obstacle for a lot of people. Additionally, depending on the type of jeans you have, sometimes a regular sewing machine doesn’t cut it; you require a chainstitch machine of some kind that gives that slightly ropey effect that mimics the original hem. Also, if the jeans are stone washed, the original hem has spots of darker indigo so when you hem them up, it definitely looks like you hemmed them.
I have some dark denim jeans that don’t have the twisty hem. They’re also pretty worn so I decided to sacrifice them to experiment at Blue Serge. It ended up costing me about $ 10 to hem them. I was pretty pleased, she managed to match the thread weight and color. While the sewing machine was a lock stitch, it worked well for my jeans. I might ask her next time to try re-​attaching the old hem.
Service was quick, about two days, but if you’re in a hurry you can ask for next day service. The shop is run by a small Korean lady, and she’s pretty nice. I was also pleasantly surprised by the price.