Alterations and recuts
Fit corrections, sleeve and neckline changes, dupatta reworks.
$35–90Final quote at fitting. See what is possibleServices
Thirty years of hands, in one studio.
Heirloom revival
Hand embroidery restoration. Your mother's suit, made wearable again, phulkari intact.
By consultationEvery piece is different. See the workMade to measure
Bring your own fabric or have it sourced. Your measurements, your silhouette.
$180–420Final quote at fitting. See the silhouettesHeirloom revival
The suit in the back of the closet, wearable again.
Most of what comes in was made well and simply doesn't fit, or was cut for a decade that has passed. The embroidery is almost always worth keeping. The rest can be rebuilt around it.
shot 10a
flat, square from above
flat, square from above
shot 10b
same distance, angle, light
same distance, angle, light
Recut from a 1990s salwar kameez. Bodice rebuilt, sleeves reshaped, original phulkari lifted and reset.
See heirloom revivalTwo ways to work
Bring your own fabric, or have it sourced here.
The studio
One pair of hands, decades of sewing, embroidery and garment construction. Fittings are by appointment and unhurried.
Greater Seattle
Made to measure
Cut to your measurements, not to a size.
Every piece starts with measurements taken in person, and a conversation about how you want to be able to move in it. Sleeves, length, neckline and fullness are all decided with you, not chosen from a template.
Silhouettes
shot 01
garment flat, full frame
garment flat, full frame
Salwar kameez
Straight or A-line kameez, salwar, patiala or churidar. Dupatta finished to match.
$180–320Final quote at fitting.shot 02
garment flat, full frame
garment flat, full frame
Anarkali and gowns
Fitted bodice into a full skirt. The panelling is drafted to your measurements, so the flare falls from where you want it.
$260–420Final quote at fitting.shot 03
garment flat, full frame
garment flat, full frame
Lehenga and sharara
Heavier work, more structure inside. Waistbands and linings built to carry weight without dragging.
By consultationBridal is not taken on yet.shot 01
alt crop, separates
alt crop, separates
Kurti and separates
Everyday pieces that hold up to washing. Often the first thing to order, because the fit carries over into everything after it.
$95–180Final quote at fitting.Two fabric paths
Your fabric
Shorter lead time. Labour only.
Sourced fabric
Longer lead time. Labour plus materials, quoted separately so you can see both.
Alterations and recuts
Modify.
The exact figure is settled at the fitting, when the garment is in hand and the work is clear.
What it costs
Hem and length
Kameez, salwar or churidar shortened or let down, finished to match the original.
Sleeve reshape
Narrowed, shortened, or reset at the shoulder. Embroidered cuffs lifted and put back.
Fit correction through the body
Side seams, bust and waist taken in or let out as far as the seam allowance goes.
Neckline change
Reshaped, raised, lowered, or a new facing and piping. Costs more where embroidery crosses the line.
Salwar to pant conversion
Recut into a straight or tapered pant with a proper waistband, using the original fabric.
Dupatta rework
Re-edged, re-sized, lace or gota moved, or one made from leftover fabric.
shot 04
hands, needle in
fabric under tension
hands, needle in
fabric under tension
shot 05
hands, close
hands, close
Turnaround, and what is worth saying up front
Simple work is usually a week to ten days. Anything crossing embroidery takes longer and is quoted as restoration, not alteration.
A garment can only be let out as far as the seam allowance inside it, and machine-made pieces are often cut with very little. That is checked in front of you at the fitting rather than discovered later.
Heirloom revival
Hand Embroidery Restoration
A suit that has sat in a closet for twenty years usually needs three things at once: recutting to a body that has changed, thread matched to embroidery that has thinned, and a repair that works around the damage rather than covering it.
Before and after
shot 10a
flat, square from above
same distance, angle, light
Before
flat, square from above
same distance, angle, light
shot 10b
flat, square from above
same distance, angle, light
After
flat, square from above
same distance, angle, light
shot 11a
flat, square from above
Before
flat, square from above
shot 11b
flat, square from above
After
flat, square from above
shot 12a
flat, square from above
Before
flat, square from above
shot 12b
flat, square from above
After
flat, square from above
What the work is
Matching what is already there
Thread weight, sheen and colour matched to embroidery that has faded unevenly. Hand and machine work both, whichever the original used.
Repair that does not read as repair
Worn ground fabric supported from behind, splits closed on the grain, and a break in a pattern picked back up where it stopped.
Working around damage
Where cloth cannot be saved, the pattern is re-planned so the loss falls in a seam, a pleat, or outside the new cut line.
Recutting to the body you have now
A mother's suit remade into something a twenty-six-year-old will actually wear. Length, sleeve, neckline and silhouette are all open to change.
Hand or machine, and why it matters
Machine embroidery sits flat and repeats exactly. Hand work varies stitch to stitch and catches light differently along its length. A machine-matched repair on hand phulkari is visible from across a room.
The garment decides which is used. Both are done here.
shot 08
embroidery macro
Hand
embroidery macro
shot 09
embroidery macro
Machine
embroidery macro
shot 06
interior — facings,
seam finishes
interior — facings,
seam finishes
shot 07
interior — hem,
lining join
interior — hem,
lining join
The inside
Most of what a recut costs is inside the garment: facings rebuilt, seam allowances bound, a hem that hangs level on a skirt that has been reshaped. It is the part nobody photographs and the part that decides whether the suit lasts another twenty years.
How it goes
-
01
Look at the garment together
Bring it in. What is possible depends on how much fabric sits in the seams and what state the embroidery ground is in — neither can be judged from a photograph.
-
02
A written plan and a range
What will be done, what will not, and what it will cost between. Nothing is cut before this is agreed.
-
03
The work
Restoration runs longer than an alteration and is quoted in weeks, not days. If something is found that changes the plan, you hear about it before it is done.
-
04
Fitting, then the final quote
Tried on, adjusted, and settled at the figure quoted at the fitting.
What cannot be saved
Silk that has shattered along a fold, dye that has run into surrounding cloth, and metal thread that has cut through its own ground are usually past repair in place. The embroidery is often still worth moving onto new fabric.
Your garment, your risk, in writing
Restoration always carries some risk to old fabric. What is being attempted, and where the risk sits, is written down and agreed before any work starts.
What it costs
Restoration is quoted by consultation, because no two garments have failed the same way. These are the ranges the work usually falls in.
Embroidery repair, localised
$90–240Final quote at fitting.Full recut, embroidery kept in place
$220–480Final quote at fitting.Embroidery lifted onto new fabric
$380–750Final quote at fitting.A qasida is an ode built on a single rhyme, held from the first line to the last.
The studio
One pair of hands, thirty years in.
Qasida is a boutique studio in the Greater Seattle area. Every garment that leaves it was cut, sewn and finished by the same person.
Salwar kameez and suits, anarkali and gowns, lehenga and sharara, kurti and separates. Alterations and made to measure across all of it, and hand embroidery as well as machine.
shot 04
hands, needle in
fabric under tension
hands, needle in
fabric under tension
shot 06
interior — facings,
seam finishes
interior — facings,
seam finishes
What you can expect
The price is on the website
Ranges are published before you walk in.
Fittings are not rushed
One appointment at a time, by arrangement. Nobody is waiting behind you and nothing is being sold to you.
Detailed assesments
What will be done to your garment, and how. Along with and assessment of risk on the cloth, before anything is cut.
Where
Greater Seattle
Contact
Coming soon.
Request a fitting
Tell her what you have.
Appointments in Kent. She will reply herself, usually within two days. This is a request, not a booking — nothing is confirmed until you have agreed a time.
Request sent.
She reads these herself and will reply within about two days, with a range for the work and two or three times you could come in.
Bring the garment to the fitting, and anything you were told about it by whoever made it.
What happens next
A reply, not a calendar
There is no online booking here on purpose. She replies with times that are actually free once she has read what the work is.
The fitting
Around forty minutes. The garment is looked at, the work is agreed, and the exact figure is quoted then.
No payment on this site
Nothing is charged online and no deposit is taken to make a request. Payment is settled in person.