My cousin SWEARS by Maria and her work, which is why I went to her for alterations to my wedding gown in 2005. "Maria" (FYI, her real name isn't Maria...that was the previous owner's name and she uses it to save confusion! Can't remember her real name now to save my life though...) is an incredibly sweet woman. Her work was done promptly and at a very reasonable price. I however had some problems with a few things.

I wanted cap sleeves added to my strapless wedding gown and even after countless explanations of what I wanted (including pictures - a sheer, delicate cap sleeve) I ended up with what looked like mismatched fabric scrunched up into straps with beads sewn on to it. I purchased the exact fabric I wanted used (purchased by my grandmother who's an experienced seamstress herself, just couldn't do the work herself due to arthritis) but upon arriving to pick up the finished product I was told that that fabric I provided wasn't good enough and she picked something else to use at the last minute. In my opinion it didn't match and looked horrible.

I had several fittings and at each of them I expressed that I was not happy with the work being done but was told to just "relax" and it would be exactly what I wanted when she finished. It was not.

At my last fitting I just gave up and decided to let "Maria" do whatever she wanted - reminding myself the dress was not the most important part of the wedding. That's one of my biggest regrets. The sleeves were itchy, ugly (in my opinion), beads started popping off 1/2 way thru the day, and the stiches holding the sleeves to the dress were coming undone by the end of the night (one had to be safety pinned).

Everytime I look at my dress in pictures or in person I am saddened by the work that was done. Like I said, my cousin swears by her and takes her clothes there all the time - perhaps my project was just too much or too complicated. Or maybe I just got her at a bad time.

Maria is great! She's the only tailor I'll trust with my clothes. Her work is impeccable and she has a great eye for where the alteration needs to be made. She's done more than 100 pieces of my clothing!