Again, small towns don't need Yelp reviews, but when I saw two mixed reviews I thought I had to show my support. First, Shauna A. has a lovely review, but she got the shop name wrong. "Fabric Temptation" is what she is referring to in her review. Second, although I greatly respect every personal experience, I can't help but disagree. I was in a fire that destroyed two truck loads of very expensive, rare and beautiful articles of clothing. Because the artist (call a name what she is) was sympathetic to my situation, she probably saved a half of one more truck load. In my picture profiles you see me jump (ocean behind me) with a pair of Hot Knot jeans. The owner of Sew What fixed a rather embarrassing burn hole. During class one afternoon a Professor asked me to go home. I walked into the lady's room to notice my underwear were clearly showing. Those jeans were new and slightly over $200. Working her magic, they are worn regularly to this day, years later. Same with clothing belonging to deceased loved ones and from ex-fiances who used their graphic art training to stamp Hot Knot T-shirts. I quite literally cried at some of the clothing the owner or her workers salvaged. The fire was emotionally devastating to me, and people were asking for money to be greedy and profit off of my tragedy. My family considers it trashy to sue, so I remained broke and slowly struggling...added salvaged items, one by one to my growing wardrobe. Currently a orange printed silk dress that was cut into a shirt is being repaired. You get what you pay for. I save the tags because the owner's penmanship is a work of art in itself. I have become so enthralled with the work being done at Sew What, I may take up sewing classes myself. Something good always comes out of the ashes (literally.) I only wish my one week old $1,000 silk bed set could have been salvaged. Years after the fire, I still have plenty of clothes that are getting a makeover. For that I am grateful. Very grateful for everything I have in my life: material and otherwise Finally, my reviews are not mostly negative or bipolar reviews. And I don't praise what is "cool" and make passive aggressive stabs at people who don't see my photo or name. I am accountable for my actions/reviews. I am mature enough to know that owning a business is very difficult. It is unconscionable to trash a business because you have poor communication skills. If you are unhappy with her work, why go back over and over again? That's plain stupidity. And "trying" to be "nice" in a review where you repeat the same problems and immediately trash her store is not cute, nor funny. My final thought is that I don't act passive aggressively and write the lowest star review possible rather then talk to the owner. I would just as soon not write one, because a shop like Sew What is dependent on people to trust them. I have been going there for years and nothing has been "murdered" (such a imaginative phrase.) That review could have been boiled down into three sentences. Thank you. read more

I'm completely useless when it's comes to sewing, hemming pants; anything like that. So I take my stuff here. The woman who owns it is really nice and helpful. It's a bit expensive I think, but it's worth it for me not to have to sit down and miserably fail at properly fixing a zipper or sewing a button on again. read more

Very expensive. Also, she was late with my garment multiple times (one time without even telling me... I had to walk over and THEN find out that she hadn't finished it on time) and then never even offered a discount. Will not be going back. read more

I think the only sewing store in or near the plaza. great selection of fabrics. helpful staff. prices are okay.

Im sad Im moving to a new city soon where Ill be Sew-What-Less! The best custom sewing a girl could ask for. A wee bit spendy and sometimes slowly accomplished (plan ahead!) but always worth it. Miracles are worked by Carla- I have some amazing festival-bought tops that I bought knowing they didnt fit well and now they fit like a glove. My last 3 Halloween costumes had custom corset work done- then dismantled after Halloween so that my corset is wearable the rest of the year. Arcata is lucky to have this place xo read more

The owner of this shop is the sweetest lady. Goes over & beyond to help you out and make sure you get what u r asking for. My 14 year old son was getting 4 pairs of pants hemmed and she was very sweet to him. read more

Amazing work. I just got my first order back from Carla at Sew What and I couldn't ask for better work. I got a pinstripe blazer and a pair of pants done and it was spot on. The stitching is very high quality and the fit is exactly right. I'm really glad to find someone around here who can provide such high quality work on a reasonable timeline. I was so happy with how the blazer came out that I gave her the one I wore in off my back on the spot to have it fitted. I'll be taking all my alterations to her from here on out. read more

My experience with sew what was not good and I felt they didn't care if I were to return or not. I had to deal with a weird, patronizing kind of attitude from the seamstress. She asked me for two weeks, (TWO WEEKS!) to finish the job and said shed call me. NEVER called me. I had to call her a few times after the 2 week mark. Shed snarkily say 'I said i would call you.' She didn't have them done until a month later. The job was not well done either. I wonder if its because I'm college aged that I was seen as a temporary local and not a valued customer? It seems so many people felt cared for so I wonder if she just picks and chooses who shell give good service to? Anyway, I had to take them to another professional seamstress who had it done the next day, with no weird attitude. Never returning to sew what, but it doesnt seem like they care to give customer service anyway. read more

I have had multiple experiences with Sew What over many years, all positive, with different articles and different services from Sew What. I have been very pleased with the results every time. From hemming pants to tailoring jackets to converting dress shirts to "No Tuck" style to adding suspender attachments to sewing Kinetic Sculpture Race costumes using thick "furry" material (Pandamonium - Engineering Award & 2nd-place Art Award). I'm about to bring in a new blazer jacket for a tricky tailoring job and when I checked for the open hours on Yelp it seemed appropriate to take the opportunity to express my appreciation for Carla and all the excellent work she has done for me at Sew What, and all at prices that seem quite reasonable. Thank you, Carla! read more

Wonderful service here!!! This is such a great place and the owner, Carla, does such a great job on all of our sewing! It is such a pleasure to visit her shop and be treated so well, it is hard to believe how much time she spends getting hem lengths just right and matching the thread perfectly. My pant hems come out perfect every time and the job she did repairing our baby's beautiful crib bumper was amazing! I just dropped off another two pairs of pants for hemming and can't wait to go pick them up. Thanks Carla, your the best! read more

i brought in a bridesmaids dress a month before the wedding. the waist and hips fit perfect, but the bust was about 2.5 inches too tight. the owner was very friendly and we discussed how she would alter it by taking a little length off the bottom and inserting small triangles under the armpits. she kept the dress until two days before i had to leave for the wedding. when i came to pick it up, she had inserted two triangles on either side of the zipper in the back. it was an alarmingly obvious quick fix, but i didn't have to time argue (the wedding was just around the corner) and then she told me it would cost over $100! after much arguing and seeing her "true colors", she finally agreed to reimburse me $50... though i have yet to see the check! what a bitch, avoid this place like the plague! read more