I bought an Artisan 114W chainstitch machine here at the recommendation of my mentor. The sales team was super communicative and answered all of my questions. I needed a custom table that was a bit smaller than the standard size they sell, and they were able to accommodate for a moderate labor fee. I ordered my machine/table on a Monday, and it arrived on a Friday (table fully assembled!) Can't recommend enough, smooth experience and great product! read more

I have an 18 year old Janome sewing machine. It suddenly stopped as I was doing a simple straight stitch. I took it to a different place. They inspected it and told me they couldn't fix it, but I should take it to Apparel City; they might be about to repair it. So I did. The staff is very friendly. A few days later it was done, and they even put in a new needle. After I got it home, there was a new problem: the signal indicated there's a problem in the electronics. I took it back to Apparel City. While I waited (not too long) I found a chalk pencil that I wanted, but they wouldn't let me pay for it. The mechanic discovered that one of the screws was the wrong size and he explained it all to me. These folks know their stuff! I now have a machine that works as if new! The price was less than what the other place wanted. (There was no charge when I came back.) This is the place to go to if/when your machine needs some help. They also sell new machines and many do-dads a sewer might need at reasonable prices. Well with the drive to San Bruno! read more

100% Great repair shop. Look forward to doing business again whenever my sweetie's JANOME sewing machine needs it. 100% Recommended!

Well.. the sewing machine tech can be quite frank but he knows his stuff real well. Showed up early, looked at the machine and diagnosed/repaired the issues immediately. My cylinder arm machine has never ran better. Everytime i call apparel city the people are quite helpful. It was worth paying the trip fee for me because my machine is quite heavy. read more

I recently went in for a timing issue on my machine. The staff was so nice and helpful, and fixed my machine. A few days later, I had to go back for another problem. Turned out that I had used the wrong needle, which they discovered. They re-timed my machine while I waited. Everyone there made me feel at home and spent lot of time explaining the do's and dont's of my machine. i live in San Rafael; it is a fairly long drive to San Bruno, but for their great service and help, it is worth it. read more

Thank you! I brought my machine in because there was a burning rubber smell and a screechy whine...I got it back and she is purring...sewing better than when I first purchased the machine. The turnaround was also so much faster than they said it would be. I am very happy to have found you. read more

Have not checked out the new location but frequented this store when it was located in S.F. If you're a serious/professional sewer, tailor or need an industrial sewing machine, forget scouring Craig's list for machines and visit this store. I've read the reviews on how unprofessional the people are who run the store. They're not rude, just Asian who can seem to be very rude but that's just their way . . . unappologetically honest. There's no icing on the cake, just cake. Check them out and buy something . They have it all. read more

very disappointed i spent $100 tuning up my machine getting new needels and making sure it ws running properly. I went to use my machine and the first thing that happened was the needel fell out of the machine when I was sewing. read more

Only needed a few things and since it was difficult to buy from Amazon due to delivery delays and the usual fabric stores as they were all closed during this time, came here and Billy was so helpful. Thank you so much! read more

Extremely knowledgeable and helpful. This is an industry favorite. If you are a student or just a home sewist, apparel city has the notions, muslin and other sewing essentials you need. You won't find fabric but you will find all the things that can help you succeed. read more

Do not go here! They will scam you. I thought my sewing machine was broken so I brought it to Apparel City, turns out all it needed was to be plugged into a voltage converter because it was purchased in another country. My bad for not knowing this, but instead of them telling me this, they "serviced" the machine, and then charged me $70. When I called to ask what was wrong with it they just said it needed to be fixed. Then when I brought the machine home to use it and it still wouldn't work, I called back and asked if it had something to do with the voltage, only then did they say that it needed a converter... They will not give me my money back even though they charged me for a service that was not needed. read more

This place is AMAZING. Well, if you know what you want... Apparel City is a great place for scissors, getting your serger or industrial machine serviced, thread, zippers, marker paper, bobbins, needles, you name it, they've got it. The only problem is, you have to KNOW what you want. Everything they've got is in the back hiding in drawers of cabinets of some sort. This place is THE place to pick up all your commercial and serger needs. It's WAY harder to find home sewing accoutrements here. In terms of price, they are reasonable, if not cheap. Some other sewing machine shop tried to charge me $28 for a bobbin case! But the guy didn't have my bobbins so I came here and bought a notcher, 3 bobbin cases, 12 bobbins, and a french curve for LESS than $28. GO FIGURE. The moral to the story? Make a (detailed w/ model #s) list of stuff you need for your sewing needs. Take it to Apparel City and you won't be disappointed. read more

After some research on yelp, this seemed like the place for me. Fast service and the price is right, $55 per hour per machine. I have 2 singers- one new (5 yrs old) the other from 1953... The newer singer was having issues with the bobbin, and it turns out after a good oil and cleaning, the right sized bobbin made my machine usable again! Horray! Got this machine back after 6 days when they initally said 3-4 days, but it was memorial day weekend so the couple extra days didnt bother me. The vintage machine was missing the bobbin cover, and the part needed to be ordered. So glad they were able to find the part since the machine was so old I wasnt sure since I couldnt find it with my own research. Got this machine about 2 weeks after dropping it off. Labor plus part- $67 .... Priceless to have a 3rd generation family heirloom in working condition. Works well now and very happy to have both my machines home ! read more

Stay away.....their customer service is horrible and they're incompetent and lazy. Here goes the story. I brought in a sewing machine for repair and the owner told me it will be ready in 1 week. I call a week later and the first thing he says is "did we call you saying that it was ready" and I say "no, but you said it'll be ready in a week so I'm just checking in". He tells me that it'll take another week so I wait. I call a week later and he asks the same question and I have the same conversation again. He now tells me that it'll take 2 weeks because the parts have not come in.......WHY the hell did he not tell me this a week before. I final get my sewing machine 5 weeks after I drop it off and the owner does not even apologize for the delay. All he said was "the parts took longer than expected". It was as if he didn't even realize how inconvenient it was for me to wait so much longer for the machine to be fixed. Also, any semi-business minded owners know to set expectations so if you know you don't have the parts or that parts generally take a few weeks to get then let the customer know....this is small business ownership 101. read more

We used this place for our company sewing machine. After one of the main feeder gears went on our machine, it was the hardest thing to find someone who could help us. They fixed it within a week. And we were able to get our machine back and get our curtains completed for one of our campervan rentals. Woohoo. The price was reasonable too especially as it was an older machine. Nick www.lostcampersusa.com read more

I have purchased machines from Apparel City, and I have had them come to my studio to tune up machines as well. They are very professional, reasonably priced and efficient. But the thing that I am continually impressed with is how knowledgeable they are. They can figure out what is wrong with a machine practically by listening to it... amazingly skilled people. Highly recommend them. read more

One of the best resource for all your sewing and drafting equipment. They pretty much have everything you need at good prices. They are always reliable and helpful. They definitely cater more to industry professionals and design students so you have to be concise about what you are looking for or you might not get the best help if you are unfamiliar with the equipment. However, ask them good questions and they will be happy to help you. Also, they do place special orders and the turn around is quick. I ordered a roll of pattern paper and it arrived within a few days. I have yet to order more equipment from them but I'm certain they'll come through. This is a staple for any serious independent fashion designers. A must in SF! read more

i'm not the one to be writing this review... scatha is, as she's so much better known to them than i. However, i found mecca for thread, all kinds of thread- big, huge bins of threads!!! and cheap! needles too...all kinds of needles. I'd be willing to bet that they had my serger blades but i didn't know the model number so we couldn't find out. They sold me a totally awesome curved ruler and it was cheap, they have pattern hooks... they have anything you might need for sewing, home or commercial it seems, but you'd better know what you're looking for because as far as being salespeople, it's a DIY situation with all their stuff in the back where you can't see it ( apart from the thread cornucopia of goodness and a bunch of zippers) read more

(Does best George Clinton [or Prince, if you want] impersonation.) "If we cannot make babies, maybe we can make some clothes. Thoughts of pretty you and me, Apparel City come alive!" Yay. I'm grateful you are here Apparel City. This is the apparel construction supply mecca, though not for n00bz, as you have to know exactly what it is you're looking for. There's no visible merchandise or a menu, so one must walk the walk and talk the talk. San Francisco is not New York, but it'll have to do. read more

My serger took a turn for the worse. I did something stupid that jammed the machine and sent the timing into some kind of space/time continuum. A coworker told me about Apparel City and I took my machine in. They were professional and nice. I use my machine professionally, but it is a home machine---not an industrial one. They fixed it perfectly! For a reasonable fee. It worked better than it had when it was new and while they were fixing my error, they gave it a nice oiling and a little tune-up, too. They know sewing machines. The only reason that I give them 4 stars instead of 5 is that it took them a week to get to my machine and I was in heavy production at the time, so the time it took to fix my serger was a serious problem for me. While I was there picking up my now working perfectly serger, I picked up some cheap serger thread, too from the bins in the front where they had slightly used thread for cheap! I'll never go anywhere else. read more

I just bought an industrial Juki DDL-8700 machine from Apparel City. They were helpful and polite, and the price was much lower than competitors. After bringing it home I had difficulties adjusting to the speed. Apparel City responded to emails immediately and offered to switch the pulley of the machine to slow it down. They switched to pulley in 10 minutes and made the repair free of charge. After switching the pulley, the technician sat me down and showed me tips on controlling the speed better. They have the lowest prices on industrial machines, and also have good quality tag paper, dot paper, and muslin at very low prices. Easily the best sewing machine shop in the bay area! read more

Came to purchase a few materials for class. Upon arriving I was already so nervous about having to find a shopping list full of specific items by myself. Noob stats. So I hope you could only imagine how happy I was to find the woman behind the counter to be so helpful!!!! Went through my list one by one and she helped w selections and even eliminating a few to find else where - Cus they're a bit pricey. But do-able for the majority part. Will come again throughout my courses. Do they have student discounts? That would be awesome read more

I have been going here for years. No lie, when other members state the owner of this place is rude, no joke, he is rude. I put up with the guy because he has a few wonderful amazing women who work there who are so helpful, polite and love talking about any project you are working on. Bit the bullet and bought an industrial sewing machine last year and had it serviced last year, no problem really for $65.00. Last week make an appointment for a yearly tune up, no problem. They call me and set the appointment for Weds at 2:-230. Christine, or Christy, not sure who is very sweet, said that he should be there by 2-230, but no later. I said no problem, that's cool. So I rearrange my entire schedule for work, to work from home, moving multiple appointments around, meetings, and conferences to accommodate the 2-230 arrival time. So she calls me back again, the day before my appointment and asks if it is ok to actually move it from 3-330 instead because their tech has to travel some distance and could get caught in traffic. Not thrilled, but say ok no problem Ill just change my schedule again, that will work.....So rearrange all the appointments, meetings, conferences again to accommodate the 3-330time frame. Irritating, but manageable. So then the owner calls on the day of my appointment, states his name is Nelson, and wanted to ask if it will be ok to have the tech come to my place more around 5. At this point, I am pretty pissed and cut the niceties with him and asked if it really will be at 5 today, cause if it wasn't, I was going to be super pissed. Nelson stated and promised that he will absolutely be there at 5, no questions, no problems and will be there at 5. Reiterate to Nelson again that if the dude isn't at my place at 5, I'm going to be unbelievably pissed. Nelson again swore and promised that the guy will be by 5. So ONCE AGAIN had to rearrange all my appointments, meetings, conferences appointments to accommodated a third time for their lack of scheduling prowess. So day goes on, doing my thing, in the middle of a video meeting with some of my higher-ups at my company, and what happens around 245? My buzzer to let someone in to the apartment building. Not sure who is there, as the only person I am expecting is at 5, so I don't answer. Then I get a call on my phone, to a number I am not familiar with. I answer while my higher ups are discussing something, and guess who it is? THE TECH asking to be buzzed up so he can come service my machine. I LOSE MY SH*T and tell him I need 10 minutes to try and get out of this conference call. Give a lame excuse to my boss, who was less than thrilled of this situation. So finally have the guy come up, and I am fuming. So I call over to good ole Apparel City and asks to speak to Nelson, to understand why the hell this dude is two hours early. Nelson gets on the phone and I pretty much rip into him immediately. Ask him to explain to me why the hell this guy is here two hours early after I rearranged everything to accommodate the later time. Flustered that I was even calling, Nelson then says, " Well if you don't want him there, just tell him to leave." I said no, he didn't do anything wrong, he was doing what he was told, I am asking you how you are going to fix the mistake you made? He had nothing at that question. Just started to say well if you are unhappy with his service you can just ask him to leave. Apparently the simplicity of my statements confused Nelson, as I had to reiterate to him that I was not upset with the tech, I was upset with this completely huge inconvenience that he has cause me. I asked am I going to get a discount? " No". Am I going to get anything for this ridiculous situation? " No, but I promise we will make it better next time." So I ask him, what does that mean make it better next time? His response was " i already told you, we will make it better" My response was , you have already told me you are going to make it better, what does that exactly mean? What does it mean you are going to make it better? His response " He will be on time next time" Yup, that was his response, his interpretation of making it better is being on time. So I lose my sh*t again and say THAT'S NOT MAKING IT BETTER, THAT IS JUST A STANDARD, BEING ON TIME FOR AN APPOINTMENT IS YOUR JOB! Surprisingly, Nelson didnt have anything to come back with this other than his favorite go to" Well if you are unhappy with his service, ask him to leave." At this point, it was like talking to a dead deer on the side of the road and expecting it to start reciting lines from The Hobbit. Just finally relented and said you know what, you are just absolutely not understanding anything I am saying, You have a great day Nelson" And guess what his response was? " Oh ok, thank you." ****Click**** Winner of best customer service and making an impact with customers goes to Nelson! read more

I brought my small home machine by because it would no longer wind the bobbin. The man who helped me said that I could probably easily fix it myself, and described how to take the top off and check the gasket at home. If the gasket was damaged I could bring it in so he'd know what size to give me as a replacement. His description was great and I saw the gasket was fine, the metal spool just needed a little lubricant. They did right by me and I would definitely go back here. read more

Juki DNU1541S for $1,650.00 with only 90 days of warranty does not sound appealing to any customer, and $70 dollars an hour for servicing it neither. read more

This is one of the best most professional (in parts and accessories) sewing shop in the city. They know their stuff. I just wish they had stuff in centimeters as well. Kinda pricy though but the the women (who u had most of my contact with) were very nice and helpful. read more

I bought a brand new machine. It was broken. I went to return it and they didn't allow for a return so I had to exchange it and instead of giving me a brand new machine they gave me the model in the window... Very frustrated with their business. read more

update: wow. these guys don't go out of their way at all for the customer. i tried working on a project since picking it up, and couldn't make it through without the same issue coming up. i called apparel city and told them about the issue, and asked if they have some sort of guarantee or would look at it or something. "guarantee one month. so, guarantee already expire." "oh, okay, maybe---" "---okay?" click. in my last review, i thought the "briskness" was worth it. i change my mind now. it's not. read more

To be honest- this place confused me a little (old school ma & pa operation w/ brief counter service: I didn't get much info from them at drop off) but- they did quote me accurately, and did a great job fixing my machine! Didn't take too long either. read more

I felt compelled to write a review solely based on rude customer service, the kind of experience that dampens the rest of your day. The guy who helped me when I walked in was so condescending, belittled me, laughed at me when I asked questions AND pulled another coworker aside to tell me what I had asked so that someone else would laugh at me with him..??? After the third question he laughed me about, I was so upset and shocked that someone running a business would do that to a customer, I had to ask him, umm will you please stop laughing at me and just answer my questions? And I think he realized he was being rude and he did stop and seemed sheepish with me after that. Power tripping because you know more than a customer about what you should know about? Really dude? I hope I don't ever have to go back. read more

I walked in there on a friday afternoon, 4pm, without previous phone notice - my sewing machine had just let me down and I BADLY needed someone to fix it and like real quick as I had urgent sewing projects to be finished. I talked with a man who said the technician was not there but that I could give them my machine, it would be checked within 2-3 days. I said I really needed it urgently like the following day, saturday. He said the technician would check it out and that I could call back the following day at 11am to know if he was able or not to fix it - knowing that they're closing a 1pm on saturdays. As agreed, I called : the machine was repaired, I picked it up at noon and by 1pm, I was working on my machine again, perfectly fixed. Now, for a fixed $55 fee for repair, where else can you get that? I am extremely happy with the service I got there and will DEFINITELY be back in the future. Highly recommended, thank you guys. read more

Had them come to my house to service my industrial Juki. I meant to call them in the morning before they came over to tell them I was out of machine oil, and as I had just moved the machine in, it was totally dry, so could they bring me a bottle when they came.... but the guy showed up at 9:00 am so I didn't have the chance. He was very gracious, and as I live very close to the store, he went back and picked up the oil, no problem. House call, machine looked over, and one bottle of sewing machine oil ran me about 80.00. Not too shabby. I like them for industrial services, still not totally sold on their home machine services. read more

I am in the North Bay, and thought they were still at their old location in the city. When I called, the fellow who answered was super helpful and knowledgeable about ALL things Juki sewing machines. I inherited a couple of Juki machines and needed needles, oil, the teeeny screws to hold the needle, and of all things, a tension knob! He patiently helped me figure out how much of everything I needed, took an order over the phone, gave me a heads up about the shipping costs- and BOOM everything was on my doorstep the very next morning. Excellent, friendly service, fair prices, and every item I needed fit and was perfect for my needs. Recommend them highly. read more

Okay so I have and industrial sewing machine I purchased off of Ebay 4 years ago. Its never worked. I tried to fix it myself as there is no were local that I trust to work on my machines. Usually I can get them to work. But this Pfaff 145 is a beast and obviously with all my skills, research and fidgeting I just kept making it worse. I had to go on a trip to Paso Robles so I started looking up repair shops. San Fran is about 5 hours from my house but on the way to where I was going. I found Apparel City. I called they were super friendly. I showed up Its not a flashy shop but the staff was great. The gentleman asked what was wrong with my machine and I said EVERYTHING! I got into some specifics but essentially I had no idea. This was Friday at around 2pm. I told him I would be passing through again on Monday and if it could be ready GREAT if not then no biggie its been broken for years a few more months with out it won't hurt my feelings. He says Monday should be great. I was like " REALLY?" ANNND really it was! I stopped in 1pm and poof there it was with proof that it worked! I am not kidding that fast! AND cheap too! I live in Eureka Ca and I would drive 5 hours just to go here if I had too. WHAT a great great staff and how dreamy that I finally after 4 years get to use my industrial machine to sew sew sew! As other reviewers have stated its mostly industrial. BUT they know there stuff! GO here ! I mean it. read more

It's Sunday night about 7pm and I'm slammed trying to finish a sewing project. All of a sudden, my Singer sewing machine presser foot won't lift and the shank just won't move up or down....Ugh! Read the Yelp reviews and Yay! Also they are close to my work in the SFDC. I get there at 8:30 am Monday when they open and a young man helped me...said it could take 5-7 days to fix and would be about $75 per hour. I'm disappointed with the timeline, but let him know I've got an urgent project to finish and to call me when it's ready. Literally THE NEXT DAY I get a call saying my machine is fixed and ready for pick-up! WOW! So I leave work early and rush to get there before closing, and the older gentleman helped me. Said they fixed the problem, also oiled and tuned up the machine, which I didn't even ask them to do! AND, he only charged me $70....When I got home and opened the machine, they even had a scrap of fabric in the machine showing that it is working beautifully! Very happy with my experience at Apparel City, and would HIGHLY recommend to all you Sewing Genius's out there....Happy Stitching!!! read more

Went here recently to buy paper. No, dear reader, not 8.5"x11" paper. I bought a roll of 48" wide pattern paper, no dots (but they also carry dotted paper, if you prefer). I'm not sure how many yards in length this roll is -- perhaps several hundreds. I was directed here by my prof, and this place felt like heaven since I couldn't figure out where to buy this paper!!! (It also comes in 63" wide, but was out of stock and kind of out of my price range at the time.) Guess what? They also carry manila paper, pattern hooks, chalk, FRENCH CURVES, and zippers which I should have taken a closer look at. I'm not sure what else they carry in those nooks and crannies, but if you need drafting supplies in the Bay, check this place out. read more

Apparel City has a decent selection of sewing machines and light industrial equipment - but push low quality "Artisan" sewing machines because it's an in house brand. All the parts are made in China, then they assemble them there. Beware of the head sales man "Jerry" who will try and convince you that Artisan is an amazing brand. Internal Factory bolts loose after a few months says otherwise. Jerry is the type of salesman who will belittle your experience, talk to as if you're completely clueless, and attempt to convince you that you need machines you would never need. Buyer Beware read more

My industrial Juki 5550 finally needed professional help so I took it up the these guys, they did an excellent job. I've gotten Juki parts from them before for this and other Jukis I have and they've always been great. They charge $60/hour with a 1 hour minimum to fix machines - seems really fair. They seem to have fixed the problems and its running really well now. I took it in on a Monday and told them that I needed it for business - which I did - and they said they'd have it finished within the week, called Thursday with it finished. My only issue is that they seem to think a woman can't know how machines work and I felt as though they were talking down to me, but that may be because their English is not great so maybe there was just a cultural miss match. I'd recommend these guys for any non computerized sewing machine repair. read more

I was on the bus doing a search for 'Janome' on my phone and SURPRISE this place came up in the search and was at the very next stop. I jumped out and found the place easily. They had exactly what I was looking for and the man who helped me was VERY nice. I think I lucked out all around when I found Apparel City ;) Thank you! read more

Apparel City is the best! They have absolutely everything thing you need for any level of sewing, and I'm always impressed by their customer service. They offer continued service and support after purchasing machines from them, and they are always quick and efficient. read more