Repairs & Alterations
Private, spacious, air conditioned changing/fitting room
Unlike ordinary cleaners and some alterations shops, our fitting room is not a "platform with a curtain" situated in a store front window or a service lobby. In full view of passers-by or other customers filing in and out of the customer service lobby.
Nor does it consist of a changing room the size of a telephone booth and a separate "platform without a curtain" adjacent to the changing room. Again, in full view of passers-by or other customers filing in and out of the customer service lobby.
AT RAVE FabriCARE, our private, beautifully appointed combination changing and fitting room is spacious and fully air conditioned for your personal comfort as well as the comfort of any family or friends who might accompany you to the fitting.
This is particularly useful if you are altering a bridal gown and you're looking for a second opinion from that family member or friend.
Our fitting room is also handicap accessible and we have a wheelchair ramp at one of our two front doors to provide easy access and egress.
All our tailors and alterationists work on premises. We don't employ subcontractors or third parties.
RAVE FabriCARE can accommodate all your repair and alteration needs, from zippers and hems to adjustments and relines.
And there’s no need to get rid of fine garments just because you’ve lost a little weight or put some on. Or to banish that old favorite to the corner of your closet when a creative alteration (minor or major) can give it a new lease on life.
Our full-time, qualified, on premises tailors and alterationists deliver work of the highest quality with consistent precision and reliability.
By contrast, the overwhelming majority of dry cleaners in the metro Phoenix area have NO tailors or alterationists ON PREMISES.
That's right: NO tailors or alterationists. Even on a part time basis.
Of course, there are a few dry cleaners in the metro Phoenix area who claim to offer tailoring services.
Their websites feature a picture of a sewing machine or two in their store and claim that their tailors are "highly skilled”, "certified" and experienced".
They even have signs in their store front windows proclaiming “Expert European Tailoring Available Here”.
The problem, of course, no tailor or alterationist is ever available when you happen to show up at their facility and that technologically-dated, dusty sewing machine hasn't been used in years!
The fact that the overwhelming majority of the dry cleaners in the Valley have no tailors or alterationists on premises -- even on a part time basis -- begs the question:
How do you operate a dry cleaner with no tailors or alterationists on premises?
What happens to that slacks or trouser that came in for "cleaning" with a hem undone? What about an open seam in the crotch area or side seam? Or a dangling belt loop?
Appointments
At RAVE FabriCARE, you’ll be fitted by a qualified tailor or alterationist – most likely the same tailor or alterationist who’ll perform the work. Not some customer service representative who happens to have some free time on her or his hands.
For “basic” repairs and alterations (such as shortening or lengthening a hem or sleeves), an appointment for a professional fitting is not required.
Simply stop by our facility Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm.
For “more complex” repairs and alterations (such as tapering the width of a sport coat, blazer, dress or skirt), an appointment for a professional fitting -- even if it's to take place in a few hours or less -- is welcomed.
Just tell us what you believe is needs to be done and we’ll schedule an appointment with the tailor or alterationist who will actually work on your garment(s).
Wedding, debutante and ball gown alterations
For wedding, debutante and ball gown alterations, please make an appointment at least 6 to 9 weeks in advance. That's because alterations for wedding, debutante and ball gown alterations may require up to 3 separate fittings, typically 2 to 3 weeks apart.
Shoes and undergarments that will be worn with the gown must be brought to and worn during each fitting to ensure an accurate fit and successful outcome.
If the shoes and undergarments are changed after the first fitting, the fit and length of the gown may change. If the fit and the length of the gown changes, there will be an additional charge to modify the fit and length.
Furthermore, should it be necessary to let out the gown, there is a definite possibility of needle holes and seam impressions.
Needle holes and seam impressions can be minimized by gentle hand ironing but only rarely can needle marks and seam impressions be restored to original.
Our large, private, beautifully appointed fitting room is spacious and fully air conditioned for your personal comfort as well as the comfort of any family or friends who might accompany you to the fitting.
Button holes ... coming soon
Have you purchased a sport coat or blazer
* with no manufacturer-provided button holes, AND
* with a manufacturer-provided sleeve vent that allows for the addition of working button holes?
Considering adding buttons to the back pockets of that pair of trousers, slacks or jeans?
RAVE FabriCARE is the only dry cleaner in Arizona and among the very few dry cleaners in the USA that offers a range of button hole making services.
We offer the following button-hole related services:
Sewing Shapes
Without bartack, taper bartack, straight bartack, round bartack, circular stitch
Sewing Lengths
Eyelet buttonholes: 8 - 42 mm
Straight buttonholes: 5 - 42 mm
Shirts and blouses
We do not offer button hole services for shirts and blouses.
Our button holes are machine made
Just like 99% of the garments in your wardrobe, our button holes are machine made to ensure the most accurate and most consistent results possible.
And to do this, we employ a computer-controlled button hole machine that's typically only found in sophisticated apparel manufacturing operations.
The button holes in the vast majority of bespoke suits and coats and all made-to-measure suits and coats are machine made.
Hand-sewn button holes, such as those found on suits and coats from expensive bespoke tailors such as Savile Row's Huntsman & Sons, require an investment of skills and time and add to the significant cost of their garments.
Minimum requirements to add working button holes
Today, some off-the-rack suit jackets, sport coats and outer coats -- such as those offered by Canali and Hickey Freeman -- are pre-designed
(1) with no button holes (working or faux), and
(2) sleeve vents to accommodate working button holes, if desired.
In this case, we can add working button holes.
In those cases where the manufacturer has not pre-designed the cuffs for the opportunity to add working button holes, we can, in most cases, successfully "transform" the cuff to accommodate working button holes
In order to add working button holes, however, the suit jacket, sport coat or outer coat must have no pre-existing faux button holes. In other words, the existing buttons have been sewn onto the sleeve with no faux button holes under the buttons.
In all cases where where the manufacturer has not pre-designed the cuffs for the option of adding working button holes, our tailors need to open up the lining in the area of the cuffs (3" to 4") and "redesign" the sleeve vent to accommodate working button holes. Of course, the adds to the cost of adding working button holes.
Pricing
Suit jackets, sport coats, blazers and outer coats
If the manufacturer has has pre-designed the cuffs for the option of adding working button holes:
$25 per button hole (add $15 if you want the thread of the button hole closest to the sleeve hem to be a different color)
If the manufacturer has has NOT pre-designed the cuffs for the option of adding working button holes:
$40 per button hole (add $15 if you want the thread of the button hole closest to the sleeve hem to be a different color)
Jeans
$25 per button hole
We offer our button hole service worldwide
Don't have a button hole service provider in your area?
Consider our Nationwide Clean By Mail or Worldwide Clean By Mail services.
Pickup & delivery clients
If you’re a pickup and delivery client and you don’t need to try on the garment (for example, to close an open seam, re-hem a skirt, remove front and/or rear pockets on a trouser or slacks, etc.), please attach a detailed note to the garment specifying the repair or alteration required.
If you’re a pickup and delivery client and, you should be fitted by one of our tailors or alterationists, but you elect not to do so (for example, to shorten a trouser or slacks, to take in/let out the waist, etc.), please attach a detailed note to the garment specifying the exact repair or alteration required.
In this latter case, please be as specific as you can and include actual measurements (for example, “shorten trouser to 42 inch inseam with cuffs”).
If your “specifications” are of the “shorten as pinned” variety, we’ll take actual measurements based on your actual pinning.
When the invoice is made for the alteration, we’ll specify the exact measurements taken by us based on your pinning and include that information on the invoice. We’ll also retain the cut fabric for our records.
Please note that our exact measurements based on your pinning must be regarded as final as we cannot and will not be responsible for alterations made to vague specifications (such as “shortened as pinned”) that subsequently prove to have been inaccurately pinned.
For alterations that are “more complex” in nature (such as tapering the width of a sport coat, blazer, dress or skirt), an appointment for a professional fitting is required.
Just tell us what you believe is needs to be done and we’ll schedule an appointment with the tailor or alterationist who will actually complete the work.
We always recommend that repairs and alterations of a more complex nature be assessed and/or pinned by the tailor or alterationist who will actually work on your garment(s).
We don’t provide telephonic quotes
Here’s a fairly typical call we receive: “How much do you charge to hem a dress?” “How much do you charge to adjust the sides of a sport coat?” "How much to hem a pair of jeans?" “What’s the price fix some holes in a comforter?”
Unfortunately, there’s no way to accurately answer these questions other than to say that it depends on many different factors. These factors include but not limited to the type of fabric, construction of the garment or household textile, extent of required hand vs machine work, labor time required, and the like.
The problem with providing price quotes over the phone is simple: If we provided a specific price quote or a specific price range based on a client’s best attempt to describe the nature and extent of the repair or alteration, someone will drop off a garment or household textile and, upon picking up that item, inform us that he/she was told that the price would be xxxx.
How was that price determined? No one knows. Who provided that price? No one knows.
As a result, we do not provide specific price quotes over the telephone.
In this regard, a repair and alteration services are similar to dental services. Your dentist cannot provide a price quote over the telephone without first examining your mouth to determine the extent of the work to be performed.
That having been said, we’re happy to provide you with a specific price quote -- or, at the very least, a price range -- upon physical inspection of your garment or household textile. And we'll confirm that price or price range on the receipt we provide to you before you leave our facility.
Turnaround
For most garments, 1 to 2 weeks is generally required to provide these services.
The exact timing depends on the time of the year (November through April is, generally, the most busy time of the year; May through October is, generally, less busy).
For more complex repairs and alterations, an additional week or two may be required.
New Garments vs Previously Worn Garments
Please note that our tailors will only work on garments that are brand new (never worn) or have been professionally cleaned by RAVE FabriCARE.
If a garment has been previously worn, it must be professionally cleaned by RAVE FabriCARE prior to commencing work on the garment. Even if your garment has only worn for a few hours. Even if your garment has just been "cleaned" by another dry cleaner.
Here's why: The definition as to what qualifies as a "professional cleaning" can vary from extremely poor to extraordinary. The dry cleaning industry, just like most other industries, offers a wide range of quality on the quality-price spectrum. At RAVE FabriCARE, we've seen it all.
Simply put, we don't want to be put into a position of having to make judgement calls on the degree of cleanliness of every garment we receive for repair or alteration. That's potentially embarrassing to us and to our client.
There is an additional charge for the professional cleaning of any garment that it's not brand new. Our standard rates apply.
