Position: Associate Tailor (with growth to Tailor)
At The Nest, we are passionate about quality, craftsmanship, and helping people feel their best in their clothes. We are looking for an Associate Tailor to join our creative team. This role is perfect for someone who loves sewing at a professional level, pays close attention to detail, and enjoys the art of garment transformation.
You’ll start by working closely with our Head Tailor on a wide variety of alterations and adjustments. Depending on your existing skills and confidence, you may quickly take on more responsibility, including conducting fittings, communicating with clients, and managing projects independently. For those still developing their skills, these opportunities will come naturally as experience and confidence grow.
The Nest is a sustainable fashion collective fighting the toxic cycle of overconsumption and textile waste through our secondhand store, tailoring services, sewing classes, knitting accountability club, and clothing swaps. Together, we inspire creativity, authenticity, and sustainability by encouraging slow consumption, shifting mindsets, and ultimately diverting textile waste from landfills. Based in Providence, RI.
This is a contract, part-time position with opportunity to grow as a tailor and grow your hours. Our tailoring service is growing quickly and there is opportunity to grow with the position.
What You’ll Do
- Work alongside the Head Tailor to complete alterations after fittings.
- Carefully follow fitting marks and instructions to bring garments to their best fit.
- Adjust and finish garments across a wide variety of fabrics and styles, from simple hems to complex bridal or tailored pieces (optional)
- Ensure that all garment alterations meet established standards at every stage, from initial fitting marks to final finishing.
- Keep stitches neat and professional by selecting the right needles, thread, stitch length, and tension settings for each fabric and seam type (straight-stitch and serger).
- Use both industrial and domestic sewing machines—including sergers—with confidence.
- Apply proper sewing techniques to guarantee consistent quality, emphasizing both craftsmanship and the value of each piece.
- Bring a high level of care, precision, and creativity to every project.
- Grow into conducting fittings, providing customer service, and managing projects from start to finish.
This Role Might Be a Great Fit for You If…
- You have professional sewing experience and love showing your work through a portfolio.
- You’ve studied tailoring, garment construction, patternmaking, or technical design—or you’ve gained strong broad-based knowledge/experience of clothing construction and fitting.
- You are skilled at noticing how clothes fit, can identify fitting problems, and know how to adjust garments to customize the fit to a customer’s unique body shape.
- You feel confident choosing the right thread, needle, and machine stitching settings to get a proper stitching quality on different fabrics.
- You’re confident in your sewing techniques and enjoy working with different types of garments.
- You work with integrity and consistency in your craftsmanship and problem-solving, with a genuine desire to help customers look and feel more confident.
- You enjoy working independently but also appreciate being part of a collaborative team.
Bonus Points
- You’ve altered specialty garments such as bridal gowns, evening wear, or tailored suits.
- You’re able to prioritize workload and manage multiple projects smoothly to meet deadlines.
- You are skilled in customer service—communicating clearly and warmly with clients, explaining alterations and price points with confidence, and making customers feel welcome and cared for.
Compensation
This is a project-based, percentage-pay position (not hourly). Work is compensated based on the value of each completed project:
- Earnings are typically split 50/50 between the Head Tailor and Associate Tailor, depending on the work completed.
- In cases where the Associate Tailor completes the majority of the work, the split may shift (e.g., 80% Associate Tailor / 20% Head Tailor).
- Final pay division is determined by the scope of work completed for each project.
- The more projects you complete, the more you can earn—your growth is directly in your hands.
- Our pricing menu for tailoring services is here
How to Apply
We’d love to see what you can do! Please:
1. Submit your resume to tailor@thenestpvd.com along with a portfolio or photos of completed projects (these can be personal or client work, constructed or altered).
2. Bring a sample garment you’ve created or altered to the interview.
3. Be ready to complete a small mock alteration after the interview. (As a part of interview)
