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The Singing Seamstress

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North Bay, ON
The Singing Seamstress

Alterations and Clothing Repair
Located in North Bay, Ontario

03/17/2026

The age-old question: Should I wash my stuff before I bring it in for alterations? Well, if it's an item that will be going in the wash regularly, then yes!!
I'd much prefer that your pants don't shrink after I hem them, and on top of that, working on dirty stuff is NOT my favorite and means extra cleaning of my prep and work surfaces. Plus, if you've never Googled or seen factory conditions, I assure you some of them will make your skin crawl. Clean is best whenever possible and practical 🫧

I just washed a new pair of pants (my own, I don't wash clients' clothing, to clarify lol) and had a last second thought about throwing in some dye catcher sheets. They are available at Fabricland, if you're interested. It was a mixed load because I often do that, and I normally only use one sheet but I guess I accidentally grabbed two.......look how much dye came off in the wash...the catcher sheets trap the dye so it doesn't transfer to other items!! Plus, they did shrink a little 😅

So yes, wash them first if that's how they will be treated regularly, both for shrinking and for all of the icky stuff that may be on the fabric from manufacturing, shipping (consider how pest control happens in the supply chain) and maybe how many times they fell on the floor in the store 🫠

02/27/2026

Got an event coming up? Start planning ahead babes!!

No problem at all, I'm sure I can help 😊 I am a one-woman army, so I ask usually about 2 weeks from fitting to finish for most items, to be fair to everyone!
For wedding dress and suit alterations, I will refer you to a specialist, it's an area of expertise I'm more comfortable referring out for, and my recommendations come from good reviews from people I know and trust!

For bridesmaid dress and prom alterations, I recommend coming in for your fitting 3 to 4 weeks in advance of your event. You will need the right shoes (or at least a very close height), as well as whatever undergarments/bra/shape wear that you plan to wear underneath, as these accessories will be important for the proper fit. I will pin and assess your alterations once I see the work necessary, to allow me the opportunity to examine the construction, layers, fullness etc and give you the cost at that time so there are no surprises when it's ready 😊

02/25/2026

I honestly have the BEST, nicest, most good looking, funny, smart and interesting clients in the world, it really does make the hard days easier ❤️
Many many thanks to you all for leaving me these treats with your pickups ......this was all left for me today and absolutely made my day 😊
Treats for later.....back to the workroom!!

02/16/2026

I can now share some exciting news!
I am partnering with for a series of alterations tips and tricks 😊

Here is the link to her page to register if you're interested ✨️

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18Q2BYd3p6/

02/13/2026

I had fun revamping this very much loved sweatshirt for my client and he'll get many more years of wear out of it now 😊
Of course it's never easy to find a good color match at the best of times, and alas, this one proved to be impossible.....so I chose a dark khaki green ribbing from my own stash, which actually really picked up the right tones of the green stitching and the grey-green undertone of the old sweater. I trimmed all the old flatlock seams off and serged it all back together to get rid of some of the holes in the seams. My client is very pleased, and one less piece of clothing went to a landfill 😊

01/22/2026

Dance costumes: 10 of 70 ish
Needles broken on sequins: 3
Safety glasses: ALWAYS

Dance season is upon us and I am absolutely swamped with costume alterations, which I LOVE ❤️
So many sequins and sparkles and movement!! And broken needles lol......it's all part of the job.
✨️
Turnaround time is slow right now due to volume of workload, please plan accordingly 🙏

01/08/2026

It's always my own stuff that comes last lol.....I wore my sleeves clipped like this all day because I forgot to hem them for the hundredth time. I tell people if I was a chef, I wouldn't want to come home and cook dinner......... I don't want to hem my own stuff 🙃
Now if YOU need a hem, I've got you!

DM on FB and IG
Call or text 705 978 0774

01/07/2026

My kingdom for a seam allowance.....🤦‍♀️

I'm sure this multi million dollar very famous outerwear company is just protecting its shareholders the best way it can.......by using razor thin seam allowances (this was less than 1/4" 😳) and installing the cheapest, low quality nylon coil zippers money can buy....it sure would have been nice to have a proper half inch at least 🫠 I guess I shouldn't complain, because they're keeping me in business year after year but holy heck it's difficult to work with barely any room to catch the layers.

How can we as consumers protect our own pocketbooks when these products are designed to fail? The CEO with a third house and a yacht really likes the practice of using a lousy zipper and making you either buy a new one in a year or two or saving that extra little bit of fabric at the factory. The CEO doesn't care about you, they want you to buy and replace as often as possible.

Fight back. Choose quality over cheap manufacturing whenever possible, and trust me when I say that's becoming more and more rare. Repair your jacket, have a good quality zipper installed if it inevitably fails. Now you have a jacket with a zipper that will last you another 5, 6 maybe 10 years. That $200+ you don't spend buying a new jacket every 2 or 3 years adds up too.

Repair, restore, refurbish, upcycle. It's the future of sustainability, not constantly buying to replace!

12/24/2025

Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday!
I am closed for fittings, but contactless pickup and drop off is still available as always. In between work sewing, I'm going to try to do a little more fun sewing, like this beautiful dress I made just to see if I could work with sequins beyond just a hem! I like to test myself in my spare time and learn new things, that's what brings me the most joy 😊

I hope your holidays are filled with creativity, inspiration, and way too much food ❤️

Back to in person service appointments on Jan 5, 6 and 7th! Online booking is available by selecting a time slot in my calendar under the Book Now tab, or request by text or DM
705 978 0774
🎅🎄

12/02/2025

Don't use your good fabric scissors on paper (or for cutting fleece- fleece will dull them as badly as paper!)

11/29/2025

Lots of euro hems lately! Keeps the original worn look hem which some people prefer.....this service is $20+ hst 😊
There are a few different ways to achieve this look with a domestic sewing machine and/or serger but this is the method I was taught by my mentor. I have an industrial walking foot machine for this job, and for regular fold and sewn jean hems as well. I like that everything is neatly tucked inside the hem, no place to catch your toe or have anything sticking out! 😊

11/19/2025

What happens to the hems I've cut off?
For the most part, they are discarded unless they are big (and clean!!) pieces I can re use for something else. That's what happened here! I removed the perfectly good binding from the bottom of some snow pants and used it to reinforce some children's snow pants I was hemming. The fabric will be used for patches. I do my best to save what I can! 😊

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North Bay, ON

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