Dressmaker/sewing school on... Bedford, I think?

apollonia666

So during the bar crawl Alafairnadia pointed out a place to me -- I *think* it was on Bedford -- that she said was a sewing school that does custom dressmaking on the cheap (much like you might go to a hairdressing school for a cheap haircut). I can't remember the name of the place -- we were drinking, after all!

Alafairnadia or anyone else who knows about or has used this place, can you tell us more about it? It sounded pretty cool.

apollonia666

Well, I'm gonna answer my own question, at least in part, because I went out for a walk this afternoon and when I passed by the place it was open so I stopped in.

They had several outfits in the window and the front of their shop, and in the back are lots of sewing machines and other equipment, shelves of fabric, and file cabinets full of patterns. The owner was super-nice. She's been there for four years. She offers classes, but I mainly asked about dressmaking. You just select a pattern and fabric and they measure you and make it to fit you. They give you the price based on the pattern and fabric, so she said it's hard to give specifics ahead of time.

One thing I wish I'd thought to ask about was whether you can bring in your own patterns, so I may call sometime to ask -- I'd love to find some cool old vintage patterns on eBay or something.

Anyway, here's the contact info:

Carla's Creative Workshop
1435 Bedford
718-230-0698, 718-693-6990

If anyone's ever had anything made there, let us know what you think. I'm totally tempted to try this when I get my tax refund.

pitu

Totally interested! And forget the pattern, I wonder if you can bring your favorite shirt or pair of pants and have it duplicated. (There used to be a lady across the street from me who did this.)

If/when you go, could you ask? Also, do you have to buy the fabric there?
Appollonia, take the plunge . . .

apollonia666

She said you could bring your own fabric -- sorry, forgot to include that.

alafairnadia

oh cool. my mom brought me some fabric from a fabric market in china. maybe I'll head over there next saturday and see what they can whip up.

bklynbonnie

They are on Bedford between Sterling and Park. I think it's called "Carla's" -- I have always wanted to stick my head in there and inquire about their work. Thanks for doing that.

whatchuwant

I love some of the dresses I've seen in there- quite sexy!

apollonia666

Whatchuwant wrote: I love some of the dresses I've seen in there- quite sexy!

They looked to be very well-made up close, too. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll get a big enough tax refund to get a dress or two made.

anonymous

Subject: Careful with Carla

I brought my wedding dress there to be altered and she did a terrible job. When I went to pick it up (a week later than she had promised), she had done such a bad job that I thought I'd have to go out the next day (the day before my wedding) and buy another one. Her assistant, a tall, soft-spoken man, offered to fix it if I could wait two hours. Five hours later, at 2 am, he finally finished. And to add insult to injury, Carla came out and told me that she's have to charge me more because it took longer than she had anticipated.

To be fair, I think she could do well with something very simple, but if you have fabric that has any sentimental or monetary value, be warned.

whatchuwant

Holy Cow- so, Guest- did she give you any reason as to what happened when she did the work? Did you actually pay for the "extra time?"
Thank God for the guy, right?
Congrats on the big day.