Part-Time, Seasonal Alterations Team Member

Jun 3

About Us

Merci’s Tailoring is a family owned and family run small business in northeast Cedar Rapids. The shop has been serving the area for decades at the hands of our dear friend, Carmelita. Upon her retirement in 2020, the Dove family purchased the business, and we’ve been growing it ever since.

We prioritize high quality work, customer service, and a respectable work ethic. We also strive to provide a quality work environment for our employees by focusing on collaboration and kindness.

About the Role

Job Details:

Part time, temporary position
Hours can be flexible
Wages $12-15/hr depending upon experience and skill level
100% in person work in our Cedar Rapids based shop, no remote possibility
401(k) with 5% employer match

Job Responsibilities:

Perform quality and efficient alterations and repairs on ready-made garments with an industrial sewing machine. Specific garments to be worked on will depend on the applicant’s specific experience and skill, but some such garments include shirts, pants, blouses, formal dresses, casual dresses, and jackets.
Operate a gravity iron
Follow ticket instructions completed by co-workers based on customer specifications
Meet deadlines and customer expectations for garment alterations
Cooperate with other seamstresses/tailors in a shared working environment, providing feedback when asked, and instructing and educating when needed
Maintain a clean and organized work room environment

About You

You’ll have an opportunity to demonstrate your specific skills if you are called for an interview.

What knowledge and skills you’ll bring to the role

You can make some alterations and repairs to ready-made garments such as pant hems, patches, zipper replacements, and dress hems
You can operate a high-speed sewing machine and other sewing equipment such as seam ripper or razor blade, hand iron, steamer, and others with confidence
You have attention to detail and deliver a high quality and professional end-product to the customer
You work quickly and efficiently with minimal errors
You know how to make repairs to garments with techniques such as patching and both hand and machine darning
You can add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals

What experience & education you bring to the role

You have extensive sewing and garment fitting experience
You have extensive experience altering ready-made garments ranging from simple hems, taking in pants at the waist, or zipper replacements, to more complex jobs such as altering wedding dresses or reconstructing a suit jacket
You have worked in an alterations shop or department for 10+ years or you have been a reliable go-to for altering clothing of family and friends for 10+ years
You have prior custom garment construction experience
Prior design experience is an advantage

Things that will set you apart

You can alter and repair a wide range of ready-made garments
You have extensive experience altering formal wear
You have previous professional altering experience such as working in another tailoring shop or department
You’re extremely comfortable working with ready-made garments and taking them apart and putting them back together again with a professional finish as if no alteration had been made
You have completed some type of tailoring or alterations specific education, training program, or degree