Back in the day I was a parachute rigger in the US Army, and we would routinely do alterations for the grunts around us in the form of sewing modifications for various bits of gear that they had or wanted. I know there were several places that would also do that off post, but they always charged more than the beer that we asked for. I even personally added down from old pillows to an M65 Field jacket.

Fast forward 30 years later and I have a pack that I would like to alter for myself, but I no longer have access to the big honking sewing machines that we used to have.  Since I don't live within even a couple hundred miles of a base large enough to have that kind of cottage industry outside of it, I'm wondering if there's any online places that we like where I could for example send in a Maxpedition pack to have the shoulder straps converted to Alice Style loops, or have an actual padded laptop sleeve sewn into the pack.

I suppose I could buy a commercial sewing machine and do it myself but first I wpuld have to find a place to put the thing, then I would have to locate one that isn't totally trashed, and even at that it seems like a lot of expense to go to just for a couple of medium-sized projects.  So are there any reliable online places that except total custom work?

Tactical Tailor used to do gear mods, don’t know if they still do.

HSGI used to when it was owned by Gene but I don’t think they do now. Another place to try might be Extreme Gear Labs but any place might take awhile, like weeks to months

Tactical Tailor definitely still does gear mods. They put a plate sleeve, and a radio pouch in a chest rig of mine a couple years back. Turn around is usually about a month.

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Don’t know how it would work for someone outside the Tacoma area who couldn’t bring the gear in to the pro shop for the designers. I think you’d have to send some good detailed sketches. They do REALLY well working off sketches with a short description of what you want the gear to do

The tattooedtailor does some pretty good work for what you are looking for:

MK Schwarz

What you and I did for seemingly next to nothing (or for suds) costs a lot of bucks these days.  If you are not next to a base, or cannot mail order with someone, you're pretty much shit out of luck.  Most civvy tailors don't have a clue.  You might try your local DZ and see who does their re-packs but even that is hit or miss.  

I think you are not going to be happy paying big bucks for seemingly simple stuff that you did before.  I was the same way.  I'd say bite the bullet and get yourself a decent sewing machine.  If space is a consideration, something portable like the Sailrite's might be an option.  If you have the room, a Juki 8700 is the bomb.

If it was just for the simplest things, like fixing a blown seam or adding reinforcements, I might suggest tent and outdoor awning places, or shoe and boot repair places.

However, I think the other poster is right--you are going to be shocked and disappointed at the prices charged for customized tactical gear. I don't blame the businesses of course, they have to put the machines and the workers to the most profitable and consistent use, so slow and non-standard custom jobs just doesn't make a lot of sense, outside having idle capacity that can absorb the relatively inefficient custom jobs.

However, the shoe or awning places might still be a place to ask around for the machines themselves. Maybe someone has an extra in need of repair, or they know someone who got out of the business. After that I would try ebay.