It depends on what needs doing. A trouser hem can be turned around in a few days. A full jacket relining takes longer. Planning around a deadline starts with knowing which category your alteration falls into.
The other factor is how busy the tailor is. A quiet week means faster turnaround. A rush period — pre-wedding season, before Christmas — means longer queues.
Trouser hemming is the most common alteration we see. On most trousers, this is a two to three day job. The hem is unpicked, the trouser shortened to the agreed length, and the hem finished cleanly. Nothing complex about it.
Taking in a trouser waist falls into the same category. A few days for a standard adjustment.
Zip replacement on a jacket or trousers — again, a few days for a standard zip on a standard garment. More complex zips or unusual placements take a little longer.
These are the bread and butter jobs. Drop off on a Monday, collect on a Wednesday or Thursday. That’s typical.
Jacket sleeve shortening is a more involved job. The sleeve is taken apart at the cuff, shortened, and reattached with the original button detail preserved.The Woolmark Company notes that wool garment alterations require careful pressing at each stage to maintain the fabric’s integrity and shape — it’s not a job that can be rushed without affecting the result. Allow a week for this one.
Taking in a jacket body — the side seams, the back seam — takes similar time. More if the adjustment is significant or the fabric is delicate.
Full jacket relining is the most time-intensive standard alteration we do. The old lining is removed entirely, the replacement cut and stitched, and the jacket reassembled. A proper relining job takes the best part of a week or slightly more depending on the lining material and jacket construction.
Wedding dress alterations vary enormously. A simple hem adjustment is one job. A significant resizing involves multiple fittings and considerably more time. We assess these individually and give a realistic timeline at the initial appointment.
Specialist fabrics take longer. Cashmere, silk linings, very fine wool — these require more careful handling and pressing at each stage. What might take three days on a standard wool suit takes five on something more delicate.
Multiple alterations on the same garment add time. A suit needing trouser hemming, jacket sleeve shortening, and waist suppression all at once is more work than any one of those jobs alone — though doing them together is more efficient than multiple separate visits.
Busy periods extend everything. Before peak wedding season, before the summer school prom season in London, in the weeks before Christmas — tailors are busier and turnaround times stretch. If you have a specific event, don’t leave it to the last minute.
Tell us the date. That’s the single most useful thing you can do when dropping off a suit for alteration.
We work backwards from the event date to confirm whether the turnaround is achievable. If it’s tight, we’ll say so. If we can accommodate it, we will. Last-minute jobs are sometimes possible — but they need to be discussed before you leave the suit, not discovered at collection.
As a general rule for anything event-related — a wedding, a job interview, a formal occasion — allow at least two weeks from drop-off to event date. That gives comfortable time for the alteration, a fitting if needed, and any minor adjustments before collection.
Ourtailor in Angel at Arlington Way handles everything from standard hems to full jacket work. If the suit also needs dry cleaning before or after alterations, oursuit dry cleaning service is at the same address — one trip covers both. Alteration pricing is on ourprices page.
Simple alterations — trouser hemming, minor waist adjustments — can often be turned around in two to three days. More complex work needs longer. Always tell us your deadline at drop-off so we can confirm what’s possible.
Typically around a week. Shortening a jacket sleeve properly involves taking apart the cuff, adjusting the length, and reattaching with the original button detail preserved. It’s a skilled job that shouldn’t be rushed.
For most standard alteration jobs — yes, comfortably. For complex work involving multiple alterations or very delicate fabric, two weeks is still usually sufficient. For wedding dress alterations involving multiple fittings, allow more.
Come in and explain the situation. We’ll tell you honestly whether a rush turnaround is possible for your specific job. Some urgent alterations are achievable. Some aren’t — and it’s better to know that at drop-off than at collection.
If both services are needed, factor in both turnaround times — though in practice they often run concurrently. At Angelz both services are at the same Arlington Way address, which makes combining them straightforward.
