Four Inane Questions with Fatma Konyalioglu of Fatma’s Alterations

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After 30 years, seamstress extraordinaire Fatma Konyalioglu—who owns Fatma’s Alterations in Overland Park—is hanging up her pinking shears.

And her tailor’s chalk, pin cushions, and stitch rippers.

The Turkish-born seamstress—who’s known simply as Fatma—is closing up shop and retiring at the end of the month. “I’m like Cher—does anybody even know Cher’s last name?” the one-named wonder jokes. “Everybody knows Fatma.”

Little by little, Fatma tells us she’s whittling away at the remaining clothes in her store, including two lucky brides who got their wedding dresses in just under the wire.

In fact, Fatma says there’s a bit of serendipity there—as she initially started her business tirelessly working on wedding gowns and prom dresses. As she built her alterations empire in JoCo, word of mouth spread. Suddenly she was inundated with reconfiguring fancy men’s suits and countless haute couture ensembles.

Oh, and let’s not forget the time she fitted a dog for a tuxedo. “Seriously. The dog was going to be the best man at someone’s wedding. I couldn’t say no,” she quips. “They were begging me. So, of course, I did it.”

Humor aside, Fatma got a bit nostalgic when she was reminiscing with us recently. “Over the years, it’s evolved to where I’m altering prom dresses and wedding gowns for daughters and granddaughters of my original clients,” she says. “Not many people are fortunate enough to be so close to the most meaningful events in people’s lives, let alone be in a family‘s life over multiple generations. I have truly been blessed with the relationships I’ve nurtured all these years.”

She was also a good sport when we hit her up with our heinously dumb questionnaire. We’re not sure if she appreciated us trying on her scarf collection, however.

The Pitch: Rough guesstimate—how many spare buttons are in your shop right now? And do you have a single favorite one?

Fatma Konyalioglu: This isn’t even fair. Although, I’m fairly confident in my ability to offer you $1 million if you can guess how many buttons I have in my shop. I’ve been collecting buttons for 30 years—and I have boxes upon boxes. Each box contains thousands of buttons. It would take me another 30 years to probably count them all.

One of my friends is an incredible jewelry designer—and she loves them so much. I’m going to give them all to her, and she’s going to turn them into jewelry. When another client of mine found out she was going to create jewelry, she got excited and offered to purchase them all.

That being said, if I had to pick one button—it’s the Chanel buttons I have. They’re magical.

What is the literal worst fabric to alter/work on in the history of fabrics?

My first thought was silk, but then I remembered organza is much more difficult to work with

See, organza is extremely thin and unforgiving. Silk is soft and flows easily under the machine like butter under a hot knife.

Under my sewing machine, organza is like a cowboy at the rodeo trying to stay on the bull for eight seconds, holding on for dear life. Despite being such a bear to work with, some of the most elegant and beautiful gowns to come to my shop have been made of organza.

If you were a planet, which planet would you be?

The planets were named after Roman gods, and the ancient Romans believed those gods ruled every aspect of life. Venus is the goddess of love and beauty. When we wear clothing elegantly—clothing that fits us perfectly—we feel more beautiful.

And I’m grateful to be a part of helping to create that loving, beautiful experience with people by altering their clothing just right. I see their happiness trying on finished products. One size doesn’t fit all! And I get pleasure out of helping fit them for the most important experiences in their lives.

Wait, what was the question again?

Why is Turkish coffee the best coffee, in your humble opinion?

The whole world knows about Turkish coffee—and that’s because of one female, the wife of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. During the Ottoman Empire, it became a tradition to have this delicious—and very strong coffee—after dinner.

I like to start drinking it in the morning because I have lots of sewing to do. It doesn’t take much to get me going. This is why it’s the best. The depth of flavor and strength makes it like dynamite. And a little bit goes a long way.

Bonus 5th Question: What’s the most expensive designer garment you’ve ever worked on?

For a client? It has to be an Óscar de la Renta or a Chanel evening gown. The design, the fabrics, the cutting edge artistic expression. There’s a good reason why they call it fashion.