How it started
School trousers first, then everything else.
The workroom began with one table and a second hand industrial machine, taking up school trousers and work uniforms for families Lorna already knew. Word spread from the school gates, then from the wedding shops on the high street.
Curtains are on our price list because Amara learned to sew on them. Between them they cover the pinning and the machines.
Small jobs are often finished between fittings. Bigger ones wait their turn on the rail, in the order they came in, and nobody is promised a date that might slip.
The story and the people are fictional, made up for this demo of The Tacking Room.
The room
Front of house, back of house.
The front room
A counter, a rail of finished work waiting to go home, and a curtained fitting room with a chair and a long mirror.
The back room
Two machines, an overlocker, a cutting table and a pressing board, where everything is unpicked, sewn and pressed.
The rail
Each garment left with us hangs on the rail with its numbered ticket until it is collected.
The team
Who you’ll meet.
- Sample portrait
Lorna Pell
Founder, fitting room. Usually takes the fit work and the big days work.
- Sample portrait
Amara Okafor
Machinist. Usually takes the lengths work and the fastenings and fixes work.
Reviews
A few words from people who collected.
Sample reviews made up for this demo: not from real customers.
- Sample review
Four bridesmaid dresses bought online in four sizes, none of them quite right. Lorna pinned all four of us on one Saturday morning and they matched in the photos.
Hannah, Boley Park
Done by Lorna: bridesmaid dress taken up
- Sample review
The zip on my favourite jeans went on a Monday. I walked in with them, Amara told me the price there and then, and they were ready that Friday.
Callum, Streethay
Done by Amara: jeans or trouser zip
- Sample review
New curtains that pooled on the floor. Amara came up with a plan to keep the weights in the corners and they now hang a finger’s width above the carpet.
Margaret, Whittington
Done by Amara: curtains taken up
- Sample review
My suit jacket sleeves covered half my hands. Lorna showed me two lengths in the mirror before chalking one, and explained why the cuff buttons could stay.
Dev, Burntwood
Done by Lorna: jacket sleeves shortened
When you’re ready
Bring us the thing that never quite fits.
Ask online when you could visit, or ring the workroom. We reply to say whether that time suits.
