Sasteria “El Chacho” Tailor

Even though Maria C.‘s review gave me pause, I brought my new suit pants to Sasteria to be hemmed and to have the waist let out one inch. As he was «marking» the hem, I noticed he didn’t use soap like tailors have in the past (he used a safety pin, which CAN’T be as accurate!), and when he squeezed my waist IN to attach another safety pin, faint warning bells went off. This worked on me overnight, so I called him the next day to making sure he understood I wanted the pants let OUT! When I went in to pick up the pants, the hemming was done adequately, though not first class. I paid him $ 15 (suspiciously cheap, but who complains about a bargain?), and left. Walking away, I realized I hadn’t checked the waist, so I sat down on a bench and took a look. He hadn’t let the waist out at all! What he HAD done, was cut the two stitched staples at the bottom of the waistband, which loosens the waist and seat a little. This is a tailor’s trick designed to fool the uninitiated consumer. I immediately went back, and he at first claimed he had taken them IN like «you asked», and attempted to find the evidence of his work, which, of course, was not to be found, but he insisted that «this is my stitching», pointing out INVISIBLE workmanship! I reminded him of my confirmation call, tried them on, and they were tight just like when I had first brought them in. THEN, completely forgetting he had just SAID he took them IN, he stuck his fingers in the waist and tugged them out about two inches to «PROVE» the waist had been let OUT (can you BELIEVE?). I argued the point, and he agreed to «do the work over», which took about ten minutes. This time he actually took measurements, and did an adequate (NOT excellent) job. The stitching at the top of the waistband was slightly loose, but I decided to get out of there with my pants rather than argue further. You have been warned!

I took two Uniform shirts that had been previously messed up by a «seamstress» in Hoboken, he did a good job, too the shirts in correctly, and listened to my concerns with the fit of the shirt, and did work to my satisfaction.
took my pants for my uniform too, to have them rehemmed with a «Military Hem. once I get them I will update this review accordingly. I am cautiously optimistic.

Not a great experience. I took in a pretty velvet pillowcase for a zipper replacement. I tried to pick it up yesterday and he couldn’t find it. Went back today and it was found, no problem. But he replaced the zipper with a zipper you’d use on some kind of men’s work clothes! The zipper he used on a velvet pillow case was a metal heavy duty zipper. Not only a bad choice (I’m sure he used whatever he had on hand), but the stitching was also funky, it wasn’t stitched properly all the way so it buckles up at the end, and isn’t stitched down all the way. So I’m out $ 10 for the repair and I’ll have to do it myself, or take it to another place.
He appears to do a lot of work, and maybe he’s really great. I suggest that you be super clear about how you expect the work to be done, and what products are acceptable for use on your repair. I won’t go back, I’ll find someone else who’s not going to hack the job.