The Gilded Thimble

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The Gilded Thimble is AMAZING! They worked with me to schedule my fitting consultation/alterations even though I'm from out-of-state and they were extremely friendly, but prompt! The made my alterations in less than two hours and I was amazed at how accurately they were done! The price was incredible and the atmosphere is so welcoming. The seamstress even helped me pick choose between a few pairs of shoes for my wedding day....Definitely 5 stars in all areas!

I wish I could give Carissa a 6th star! I am a bride from Pittsburgh, PA and after purchasing my dress from Church Street Bridal, I had a very difficult time finding someone back home who would even attempt to work on repairing my dress. It was a beautiful beaded and lace dress that came with a lot of holes in the netting due to the beads catching on the dress when people would fold it in half or drop it to the floor. I went to multiple seamstresses locally in PA and received very negative replies: 'there is no way these can be fixed without anyone noticing', 'even if we did try to fix these, the time and amount of money would be astronomical', 'I can't believe you bought this dress in this condition'. Needless to say, I was left feeling very defeated and upset. My cousin (who is from Virginia and had recommended I go to Church Street in the first place) suggested that I try to take my dress to the seamstress that the ladies at Church Street had mentioned before I go out trying to find a completely new dress. From the moment I entered The Gilded Thimble I felt completely at ease. Carissa was so positive and ensured me that my dress could indeed be mended. Since I was from out of town, I utilized her "sew while wait" option. This was fantastic for me. I was able to schedule a day to travel to the store and be present while Carissa and her incredibly friendly assistant, Yael, worked away at the dress. Carissa and Yael did an absolutely fabulous job with the repairs and at a very affordable price. Thanks to the talented and blessed hands of these two, I will be wearing the dress of my dreams next month! I would 100% recommend The Gilded Thimble to any bride needing a seamstress to work on their wedding gown.

Carissa is absolutely inspired. I purchased my wedding dress at Church Street Bridal in Lynchburg, off their mezzanine racks, and it needed a lot of creativity and vision to turn it into my dream dress. For starters, it was several sizes too large, it had tears in the lace and organza in places on the front and back, there was some staining, and it was missing about 99 of its 100 buttons. Not only did Carissa make it fit perfectly (and I really do mean perfectly, it went from shapeless to extremely flattering and supportive in the right places), she was also able to transform and repair the dress. You would never know that it was not purchased brand new! I actually like it BETTER than the original design of the dress. Check out the "repairs" section on the Gilded Thimble website -- it's documentation of miracles. On top of all this, Carissa is a joy to work with and she has created a beautiful, comfortable, well-lit sewing studio. On top of all of that, she was able to fix my mother's dress too while we were there!

Carissa comes highly recommended by this picky bride! She is willing to work with your schedule and makes you feel at ease from start to finish. I love that she schedules for all day fittings. The dress transforms to the perfect fit right before your eyes and any tweaks are made on the spot. She makes you feel at home while you're there and all of my dress requests were taken care of!

Carissa is a dream. I drove two hours from Charlottesville, and I would do it again every time. Carissa booked a full day for me so I wouldn't have to make the trip multiple times. And when the power went out the night before due to storms, she was actually ready to meet up with me anyway and hand stitch everything, just to be sure my gown was done in time for my wedding. Well, the power came back on, but she still hand stitched quite a bit-- with a really expert hand. She also offered excellent design advice when I needed to change some bulky cap sleeves into something more elegant. The bottom line-- I totally trusted Carissa with the most important dress I'll probably ever wear, and she exceeded every expectation. Love her, love her studio, and it was a perfect bridal experience.

Carissa has been a huge blessing for both me as mother of the bride and my daughter, the bride. After the first visit I kept thinking I must have met her before because both my daughter and I felt we had known her forever. She transformed an already beautiful gown into a breathtaking creation that made my daughter look like a princess. For the level of work and care she gives her prices are extremely reasonable and she came to assist us on the big day as well. That is when she truly turned into our fairy godmother! I can't thank her enough for all she did. From fixing one of the groomsmen's pants that were too big to helping me in what could have been an incredibly embarrassing situation! She will literally give you the slip she is wearing!! She even assisted the photographer! If you want to make sure your wedding day is perfect do not forget to include The Gilded Thimble and Carissa in your plans!!!

This is the best possible place to go to get your wedding dress altered. She is so very wonderful and professional to work with. Her work was flawless, very reasonably priced, and she is a genuinely kind hearted person. I do not think you could find a better place if you tried and I certainly could not be happier with the way that my dress turned out!

The Gilded Thimble rocks! She squeezed me in according to MY schedule and showed me extremely professional and kind-hearted service. My dress went from slight catastrophe to a beautiful masterpiece! I am now very excited about how I look in it! Her prices are very reasonable and she can work miracles!

Carissa is a gift from God. I had a very delicate alencon lace Pronovias gown and it needed to be taken in. I went from loving my dress to ADORING my dress with the Gilded Fit she gave me. Make sure you call early to book appointments because you won't find anyone better! She is such a genuinely sweet person and a pleasure to be with. If you want to look like a million bucks on your wedding day - The Gilded Thimble is the only place to go!

Carissa was so AWESOME!!! She worked with my schedule and fit me in when I could come :) I bought my dress from Church Street Bridal and she came highly recommended from them! I'm so glad they recommended her. I wouldn't have trusted my dress with anyone else. She did such a great job; she made my dress fit like a glove. She really made me feel beautiful and confident in my dress. I would recommend her above anyone in the Lynchburg and surrounding area. Her prices are also very reasonable! She does such great work, I just can't say enough about her.

We took my daughter's wedding gown to Carissa for alterations and she did an amazing job. We were both thrilled with the quality of her work and how quickly she was able to get it done. She was so very pleasant to work with and my daughter's face said it all when she saw herself in her finished gown. This mother of the bride will be forever grateful for Carissa and The Gilded Thimble for helping to make her daughter's dream day a reality!

The ladies at the gilded thimble are amazing! They made me feel so comfortable and made sure all of the alterations to my wedding dress were exactly how I wanted them. The finished product is exceptional and Carissa even took the extra time and effort to make me a custom veil that I couldn't have gotten anywhere else and exceeded any/all of my expectations. I am thrilled to have found them and will be recommending them to anyone looking for a bridal seamstress- she is the best!

I am one of THOSE brides who bought my dress online... 3 street sizes too big, and prayed that I would find someone who would help me make my dress fit the way I always hoped. Everyone I spoke with recommended The Gilded Thimble and I can now see why! I could not believe the transformation I saw in my dress- it went from 3 sizes too big to fitting me PERFECTLY! Even more, I wasn't in love with the fit when it arrived, but Carissa worked her magic and was able to make my dream dress become a reality! I cannot say THANK YOU enough and I cannot express how blessed I am to have found The Gilded Thimble!

I purchased my wedding gown at Church Street Bridal several months before my wedding date. The dress was beautiful, but it needed a lot of work, as it was several sizes too big. The ladies at the shop recommended The Gilded Thimble, so I called the number. I was met with the cheerful and reassuring voice of Carissa, who immediately scheduled an appointment with me in her quaint yet chic shop in downtown Bedford. She took one look at my dress (which was swallowing me) and listened to my feeble attempts at seamstress talk (words like crinoline, bustle, corset, boning) and began to work her magic. Carissa took the shapeless and large fabric of my dress and transformed it into a corset-backed, French-bustled, elegant work of art. Her eye for design and years of experience made my dress one of a kind, and made me feel like I was the most beautiful woman in the world on my wedding day. Oh, and then, of course, there was the wedding day... Carissa graciously agreed to attend my wedding for a small fee as my "seamstress on call." I wanted her to be there simply for the peace of mind, but she ended up literally saving my wedding. Not only did Carissa help lace me into my dress, but she also brought her sewing machine into the church and changed the size of one of my bridesmaid's dresses who had lost weight before the wedding and couldn't keep her dress from sliding off of her! Additionally, Carissa bustled my dress for me, had a granola bar for me to eat when I felt faint, AND, she provided my photographer with an extra memory card when hers ran out of space. Carissa is not only a talented seamstress, but also a friend, and an incredible help! She comes HIGHLY recommended!

I got a wedding dress that ended up being too big for me. I found reviews of people who got the dress in the right size who paid more than the cost of the gown in alterations at David's Bridal. Carissa took the dress in, let it out, re-sized the bodice, and added in a back for less than I'd ever expect all that to cost and it looked great. She was so nice, and six months later, I got a call from her warning me that my facebook had been hacked. Going anywhere else for alterations just doesn't make sense.

Carissa at The Gilded Thimble is an amazing seamstress! My dress came out perfect and on time, and she even took pictures of me at my last fitting and gave them to me. I would highly recommend her services for any alteration you need! Carissa is also very sweet and makes you feel comfortable and right at home! My whole experience with The Gilded Thimble and Carissa was very positive and I would definitely use her again!!

Carissa is absolutely wonderful! As a consumer, I except good costumer service from any buyer. (this includes a seamstress) And, I can honestly say that Carissa has wonderful customer service. Her shop is beautiful and cozy and very welcoming. My dress was done on time and the she did exactly what I wanted. The cost is very reasonale as well. Although her shop is 45 minutes away from where I live, it was worth it. If you live furher away, I suggest you bite the bullet and visit Carissa. You wont regret it. Thanks, Carissa!!

I'm so glad I trusted Carissa with my wedding gown! I chose my original gown because the embroidery accents matched my personality (and 2 of the 3 wedding colors we had picked out already :)). I really lucked out on even getting the gown because, according to my measurements, I was a size 10. The only size they had left in stock was a 6. Being a corset back, the shop owner suggested I give it a try. If it didn't work out, I could always use the deposit towards my back-up dress. Fortunately, after a little scare, the dress worked out almost perfectly! All I needed was a slightly wider modesty panel and to have the skirt shortened. Unfortunately for my wallet, the skirt has the gorgeous embroidery all along the trim. Being only 5' 3", I was fully prepared to pay $500-$700 to have the skirt detached from the bodice to shorten it. After putting on my dress at The Gilded Thimble, Carissa was already hard at work, thinking of ways to not only make me look fabulous, but also save me a TON of cash! She used pick-ups in my skirt instead of having to detach it; as well as switched out my corset strap, added an adorable sweetheart scalloping and lining accent to match my beau's vest, put in an insane amount of bustles and moved my modesty panel. I couldn't be more in love with my dress! It's even more a reflection of me and the immense joy I will feel on our wedding day!



Not only is Carissa an amazingly talented seamstress, she's a fabulous person to be around. In my second and final fitting (only 10 days after my first), the time in the shop flew by and I found myself nostalgically sad when it was time to go. Fortunately, my MoH (who came along to learn the intricacies of bustling me up) loved Carissa as much as I do and will be going to her for alterations on her MoH gown. I look forward to seeing Carissa again and to sharing the pictures of my gorgeous dress after my wedding day. :)

GO TO THE GILDED THIMBLE! I'm VERY thankful that I took my dress to Carissa for alterations. She helped make my wedding dreams come true! I was able to feel confident and beautiful in my dress because Carissa made it a perfect fit! I was so proud to show off my dress and the work that she put into it! 5 stars for The Gilded Thimble!!!!!!!!!!!

Carissa at The Gilded Thimble is the BEST!!!! She does wonderful work and is willing to work with you on when you need to come in and what you would like done. She is the sweetest person. I would recommend her to anyone. Thanks so much for everything you did for me