Velvet Cherry

I came here after reading heaps of reviews on heaps of places. I have had clothes destroyed by other places so I’m very cautious and had a very precious dress than needed altering.Fiona made me feel confident about bringing my dress here, she understood exactly what I wanted/needed altered. She was really patient and talked me through what she’d do and checked what sort of zip/etc I wanted in the altered dress. I have honestly never felt better leaving an item with a seamstress. And I was not wrong to be confident! I picked up the dress today and it’s beautiful and fits me so well, the alterations were incredibly reasonably priced and she even finished them a week early. Highly recommend!!

Fiona helped make my plus size wedding dress dream a reality. I felt like a princess on the day. She worked closely with me to make sure it was perfect. She has a fine eye for detail, and her corset skills are impressive. Love her work!

I commissioned Fiona to make my green satin wedding dress. I trusted her with a very special job and she came out tops! She designed and hand sewed it. She was patient and I was delighted. Thanks Fiona for making my wedding day so memorable. I recommend you highly.

This is my favorite spot for custom clothing in New Zealand. She also does repairs, hemming, alterations, etc. One thing that I particularly love about this shop is that her range of skills includes everything that you'd need for every day life but she also does corsets, costumes including knowledge of historical fashion, and she's is wonderful to work with for eccentric pieces. Social anxiety friendly location.

This is primarily a review of Velvet Cherry. Anna Stuart Costumier simply failed to make anything she had taken on as commissions for 20 months, instead pursuing her own projects, so I cannot say anything about the quality of her work. However, she did recommend Velvet Cherry. This I now believe to have been a mater of plucking a name out of the phone book rather than a recommendation on the basis of proven quality.After being charged thousands of dollars for her work, I can say of some of it that it was ok, and indeed that she finished an item made out of difficult materials, which three other seamstresses had failed to do. However with regard to the items that should have been easy by comparison, Velvet Cherry produced only rough approximations of what was asked for, doing things which had not been requested, and not answering questions about what she had done, or commissioned (without asking me) others to do. The photographs we showed her of what we wanted clearly made very little impression, as was being told that a 1570s dress was wanted (the finished item was, she said, a 15th Century dress, which is a very different thing).We trusted her to search materials and details such as the number of buttonholes and their correct orientation, the correct buttons, and whether the materials chosen were appropriate.This did not happen.She also mixed the waist and hip measurements on a dress, making it unusable. We asked her to replace or correct the errors, or give a refund, but she said she would not give refunds on 'completed' work.Other costumiers who have seen her work described the sewing as 'crude' and 'entry-level'.I would hesitate to recommend her to anyone I thought of as a friend.

In NZ where all the clothes are simultaneously super expensive and terrible quality, Velvet Cherry is a godsend if you need the perfect dress. I’m a curvy girl and finding something that fits both my chest and my waist is a genuine struggle. I needed a nice dress for my cousins fancy wedding and trying to buy one in Wellington was hopeless. I didn’t like anything enough to justify how much it cost.When my mum suggested getting a dress made I was sceptical. Don’t you need to be rich for that? Turns out you don’t. Velvet Cherry made me exactly what I wanted, tailored to me, with quality fabric, for cheaper than a lot of the dresses I’ve seen in the Wellington boutiques. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not cheap, but for what it is the price was reasonable. As a uni student I’m not going to get all my clothes made for me, but the idea was good for something special and lasting.Overall, I’m very happy with the dress Velvet Cherry made me and would absolutely recommend them to a friend.

Fiona's work has been on the cover of ConArtist Magazine with her dr strange costume which was made purely from still images in the previews and was completed before the movie came out. I personally have had many different items made by fiona and have always been satisfied with the result.

Fiona is great and did a wonderful job on my wedding dress (and underpinnings) she has also made me some excellent face masks for the Bus

Fiona has tailored and sewn numerous items for me over the years (including my wedding dress and even thermal curtains for my van!), and I can absolutely vouch for her amazing work and personable character.