I hope all is well and everyone is staying safe and sane. We at Silhouette cannot wait to get back to business and see our neighbors again, so I thought that today we would talk about just that–what we do (and don’t do!) at Silhouette, and some other wonderful local businesses.

Silhouette is a tailoring boutique and design studio, and tailoring to women’s bodies is clearly our specialty. We can expertly handle complicated alterations with delicate fabrics through the bridal/formal wear side of the business as well as making your everyday garments have their very best fit and proportions. We love to handle what others might not be able to, and our knowledge on knits, finer fabrics and vintage clothing is something that sets us apart. However, having a specialty does not mean that that’s all the services we offer (and of course, for clients we welcome non-binary and men as well!).

Did you split your jeans showing your dad you could move that piece of furniture without his help? We would love to patch, and machine darn them back to life for you. We do other repair services as well including sewing on/replacing buttons, hand darning knits, repairing rips and popped seams, fixing or replacing zippers, and replacing worn out linings. We don’t repair any shoes, bags, or purses but we recommend JD’s Shoe Repair over in N. Portland for those projects. 

We can handle the majority of menswear tailoring needs as well: we welcome alterations on pants, button ups and sweaters. For suiting from local favorite Wildfang, we have a partnership where you receive 20% off tailoring if you bring your purchased suit to us. To make your suit snazzy, we are happy to help with sleeve tapering and shortening, taking in at the waist and button replacement. For more extensive suit alterations, we recommend DZ Alterations (SW). 

Now for the not so great news: what we do not accept (besides the obvious such as dirty clothing or used undergarments).  

We often get approached for custom garments, garment recreations and sample sewing. We offered these services when we first opened in 2012 but have since ceased as it just wasn’t a good fit for where the business was going. If you are looking for custom sewing, you are in luck, because we are all-knowing (according to me) and have a couple references for that as well! We suggest Fine at Fyn Apparel on SE Division and Earl at The Sewing Man over on NE Killingsworth.  

We do not sew home decor or animal clothing/leashes. We DO make one exception for our neighbors at Green Dog Pet Supply by accepting new dog jackets in need of leash holes. But, beyond that, we firmly stick with human clothes. Our specialty and loyalty lays with garments and we are good at it. If you need some home décor or miscellaneous sewing, we recommend A1 Alteration Station over on NE Broadway.

We do not work on leather products (we make a special exception if its garments made of a very thin leather). Leather is its own game, and although we have industrial sewing machines, it really takes specialty machinery and tools to sew most leather goods properly. We recommend Miriam Enciso at Leather Sewing (SE) for your leather goods needs. Along the same lines of heavy-duty things made of special materials, we don’t do repairs or alterations on outdoor specialty outerwear. Did your snowboard jacket get shredded while shredding the mountain? So sorry to hear that, and there is a great company called Mountain Soles & Outdoor Threads that deals with these exact repairs. 

Alright, enough with the negativity, now we can go back to thinking about what we do sew. When all this is over (and you know what THIS is), we cannot wait to see you all again, and be a part of your everyday and special days through making your garments their best.  We hope to see you soon