The Williamsburg Seamster

Nayantara is wonderful. She really cares and does an excellent job. My wedding dresses came out beautifully. The fit was perfect and I could not have been happier.
Thank you!
Kristy

I will never understand bridal sizing. It’s frustrating and confusing and adds a lot of stress to an already hectic planning period in one’s life! It takes an expert eye for detail, and a really calm and understanding approach to navigate that system, and give back a sense of control when wedding prep can really overwhelm you. Nayantara provided that for me and beyond. Honestly, working with her was the smoothest part of planning my wedding. When I chose my dress from Lovely Bride I was pretty excited that the sample size I tried on was practically a perfect fit. Advised by their associates, however, they had me order according to the size chart of the designer, which I feared was two sizes too big knowing my own measurements and where my «natural» waist was compared to what the size chart was telling us. No surprise, when I picked up the dress and tried it on again I felt like a little kid in a big coat. They provided me a list of tailors, and doing a preliminary review of their recommendations I ditched the list. I found The Williamsburg Seamster on my own, and being the Type A person I am emailed her many months in advance (I believe our first appointment was around the end of July for my later October wedding, but I contacted her a bit before then to get the appointment on the books). This was great timing, and if you’re a proactive person I would advise the same as she takes a limited number of clients according to her scheduling needs. The actual process of the consultation and then our follow up fittings was a breeze. There is a magic to someone who can take one look at you and know exactly the plan of action, who can map the garment to the individual — and that’s just what she did. The most important thing, and what stands out as the best part of my recommendation, is her personality. Yes, I was planning a wedding, yes I was wearing a white dress, but I didn’t feel that the role of «bride» and a lot of that traditional baggage that goes along with it was authentic to me. I just wanted to feel like me in a nice white dress, and be physically comfortable at a pretty important party where all my loved ones would be there. Nayantara got that instantly. She is warm and approachable, and totally met me where I was at — no manufactured enthusiasm, totally authentic. This made the very vulnerable process of my fittings, and all the «body stuff» that goes along with it beyond a pleasure. I was confident on my wedding day and felt just like myself in a garment that previously could have fit two of me, transformed into something that was made for me.

She is nice and I really trust her fashion advice. Love how my dress is coming along.

Nayantara was a pleasure! Very professional, quick, and friendly. I would definitely recommend her wedding dress alteration services. My dress had sleeves which I wanted removed and was several sizes too large. She did a fantastic job in a timely manner. Her workshop space is adorable as well.

Nayantara altered my wedding gown this summer and she was one of the best people I worked with on anything to do with my wedding! The fit was perfect, and she was so relaxed and attentive throughout the whole process. I’d recommend her to anyone.

Nayantara was amazing. Due to some issues with my dress designer I had a tight timeline between starting alterations and the wedding, and she worked with me to scheduling fittings and to ensure I had enough time to get everything I wanted done. The finished product was stunning and fit me perfectly, and was completed with plenty of time before the wedding. I would trust her with any important wedding dress or big event alterations completely!

Nayantara created a dress from literally a bag. She is amazing! She took my comments and made them into my dream dress. Thoroughly recommend her! Five stars from me!

Nayantara is beyond amazing at what she does.
I found her through Unilocal and I took a chance and I’m glad I did it. My gown was a custom made couture gown, paid $ 12 000 made by the famous haute couture designer Steven Khalil. Since it was made in Sydney and I am in New York, the dress came a little smaller. I could not close my gown from the waist up. Nayantara walked me through the process, let me know how long it will take and started working on it. My gown is all beaded and all handmade and I was skeptical that the design could be altered if we add additional fabric. My end product could not be more fantastic. My gown looked like it was never altered and I could finally close it.
I have full confidence now that Nayantara can take on any project and will deliver to her promises.
I am so happy that I could work with her and I would recommend Nayantara to any bride who needs alterations to her dream gown.

Nayantara made what I thought was a wedding dress that «fit» me into a work of utter perfection. People kept asking me if I had my wedding dress hand made for me because she altered it to fit like a glove. I could not have been happier with her design input, professionalism, humor, and warmth. When after our first meeting I had a crazy idea to shorten my floor length dress and change the alteration plans we had decided on, she was so encouraging and accommodating. Working with her allowed me to walk down the aisle with confidence, knowing my dress looked fabulous.

I recently returned from our destination wedding and could not wait to write a review for Nayantara. I found ‘The Williamsburg Seamster’ through some research — including Unilocal reviews and I could not be more happy to have worked with Tara. Aside from the fact that she is an amazing seamstress, she is also very easy to talk to and to work with during the entire process.
I had a wedding outfit made from scratch and my wife had her wedding dress altered by Tara. I went in unsure of exactly what I wanted and Tara was patient and helpful throughout the entire process. We went and picked out fabric together and had several appointments/​fittings to make sure the outfit was exactly what I wanted. Tara was able to take my description of what I thought I wanted to wear and turn it into the ideal outfit for me. My wife’s alterations were also perfect and she was extremely happy with the way her dress turned out.
If you are looking for someone to trust with your wedding dress/​outfit/​clothing — look no further… could not be happier with our experience!

I bought a sample designer gown and was looking for a good skillful seamstress to make appropriate alterations i needed! The NYC boutique i bought my dress from referred me to their seamstress whom i have met and who gave me a very reasonable price (considering how much work i needed), but something just did not feel right, i was not getting a good vibe, so i decided to look elsewhere even though i knew it would cost me much more.
I was very nervous and was searching and reading reviews everywhere looking for a seamstress and this is when i came across Tara!
Based on the raving reviews I decided to schedule a consultation with her. Her studio is conveniently located and was close to my house in Brooklyn which is an added bonus. Also, she had weekend hours which is what i needed!
Tara is such a nice, sweet and warm person and when i met her for the first time i knew i felt really good about entrusting one of the most important dresses into her hands!
I had a total of 4 fittings in the course of a 5 month period.
When i finally received the dress, i could NOT believe when i looked in the mirror how amazing it turned out !!! It fit like a glove and i could not be happier! After all the alterations were done, i loved my dress so much more than when i first got it!
Tara was so great in helping me figure out the accessories (sash) for the dress and gave me some great ideas & recommendations!
Overall, this was an amazing experience and is WELL WORTH the money!
Thank you Tara for amazing work you have done with my dress, you truly have a talent!

I am so happy I brought my wedding dress to Tara for alterations! My dress was pretty simple and didn’t require drastic alterations, but I couldn’t wear a bra with it, plus the top of the dress had cut-​outs, so it had to be fit perfectly to the bust or else I could have very easily had a wardrobe malfunction and flashed all sorts of side /​under boob to my in-​laws! Tara fit the dress perfectly, and although she still recommended wearing double-​stick as a precaution, in the end, her tailoring was so great, i didn’t even need to (the tape wore off anyway). I wore my dress on the subway, to the courthouse, walking all over the city, and then the next day to a dinner and dance party. It held up perfectly over the course of two days, and in all the pictures, my boobs are thankfully covered.
Tara is smart, resourceful, cool, easy to talk to, and clearly a perfectionist. Throughout our fittings, she asked me all sorts of questions about the ceremony/​reception, making sure that I would be comfortable in the dress and that it would look flawless in different settings. She also had great recommendations for where to order the right undergarments for my dress. On the whole, a fabulous experience. Thanks Tara!

Working with Tara was one of the best, calming, positive experiences during my wedding planning process. She was always accommodating in terms of schedule and she made me feel like I was in capable hands. I loved my dress, which I purchased from a small NYC and LA based dress designer directly, but it needed a decent amount of work. And unfortunately, it ended up needing more work than planned. Tara had great ideas that made the dress finally look the way I had hoped when I purchased it, which included rebuilding the slip and creating a big sash and bow. I always left her shop feeling confident that I would look beautiful on my wedding day.
As far as prices, the rates she quoted me were inline with what I had heard from other places. Her estimated hours required were reasonable and did not change over time. She even gave me some of her personal fabric to help save me money on the additional fabric I needed to purchase. Overall, a fantastic experience. I wish her business was big enough that I could take all my clothes to her.

One of the first places I went wedding dress shopping was at Lovely Bride in Manhattan. While there the manager informed me that they didn’t offer alterations onsite and instead recommended two tailors. I looked up the two people they recommended and noticed very mixed reviews. How could I spend so much $ on a dress and then take it to be altered, spend more $, and then not have it be perfect?
I started googling around for seamstresses in Brooklyn (where I live) and noticed Nayantara’s glowing reviews. I also saw a dress she had done featured on Style Me Pretty.
When I did finally decide on a dress and picked it up, I reached out to Nayantara for a consultation. She does have certain parameters around scheduling, but I had no issues with her availability and was able to set up a consultation easily.
The entire alterations process was pretty effortless. I went to Nayantara’s studio with my sister and dress. She called out the obvious things that she needed to do to fix the dress (raise the hem, tighten the sleeves), but she also had some interesting suggestions as well including, keeping the back of the dress longer and lowering the arm holes so I wouldn’t have sweatmarks. She also has fabric and accessories at her studio so we even played around with sashes to help accessorize the dress.
Last thing, I want to call out is her pricing structure. What I liked a lot is that Nayantara doesn’t have bridal pricing. One thing I hated about the wedding planning process is knowing that I was paying more for things because it was bridal. Nayantara’s pricing is strictly based on her hourly rate. It’s such a pleasure to work with a vendor who is not trying to rip you off! ++ in my book!
Needless to say, the end product was great. The dress fit like a glove and I got a ton of compliments at my wedding. What more could any bride want?

I was incredibly happy to have Tara transform my mother’s wedding gown into my dream dress. The entire process was well organized, very straightforward, and beautifully executed. I was nervous to hand my mother’s dress over to be cut apart, but Tara took tremendous care in making it fit perfectly and look beautiful. I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. I cannot say enough good things about Tara!

My wedding was just 2 days ago so I was waiting to post this review to see how my dress turned out after wearing it for 10 hours!
Tara did such an awesome job on my lace dress. She was so nice, and so easy to work with over the past few months and I had no question that my dress would turn out exactly how I wanted.
She even made some suggestions about what she could do with the bottom of my dress (create a very mini train) which I hadn’t even considered beforehand, and it turned out perfectly.
I was very worried at my second fitting that the dress was too tight up top but she strongly suggested I leave it a little tight because she didn’t want to risk losing the perfect shape, and said it would also stretch slightly as I wore it, and she was totally right and it felt great the day of the wedding.
The cost came in at exactly what she estimated it would be too.
I would definitely recommend Tara for wedding dress alterations!

Tara was absolutely incredible to work with– skilled, professional and organized, but also kind and accommodating. Although the size alterations were relatively simple, I knew I needed someone I could trust with an antique lace attachment. The end result was so purposeful it looked like it was conceived as part of the dress. She paid amazing attention to detail, gave great feedback, and was flexible with my schedule (even fitting me in with one day’s notice). I knew from the start that my special gown was in great hands, and of course it turned out perfectly. Thanks so much, Tara!

I am so happy with my choice to have my wedding dress altered with the WIlliamsburg Seamster! After purchasing my dress at Lovely bride, it was up to me to find someone to alter it. Its a huge decision to take your wedding dress that you just purchased to someone and leave it in their care to alter it. I had many «what ifs» running through my mind.
After researching on Unilocal and reaching out to several people, Tara’s correspondence stood out to me immediately. She is the perfect combination of relaxed and calm (which you need as a stressed out bride!) but very detail oriented and thorough.
I ended up only needing my dress hemmed and a bustle added for the reception but the alterations on bias cut silk chiffon were handed seamlessly. It was a pleasant, stress free experience! Look no further!

Tara did an incredible job on my wedding dress, and I am so happy to have worked with her. We had 3 fittings to pull in the bust, let out the hips and shorten the length over the course of 2 months. Tara and her assistant were so friendly, patient, and flexible with scheduling I couldn’t have been happier. They were also a blast to chat with during my fittings. I also found her initial quote and final price very reasonable for the amount of work put into the job.
During one of my fittings, I cut myself on a pair of Spanx (watch out!) and got blood on the dress. In a situation that could have gone very wrong, Tara was so quick to respond to the situation, and fixed it without a hitch. I left laughing instead of crying!
Thank you Tara for helping make me look and feel beautiful on my special day.

Had a very uncomfortable $ 30 «consult» about wedding dress alterations with Nayantara. Spent weeks going back and forth about scheduling (expect no less than one week between emails) and was finally able to book an after-​work appointment.
I knew the job wasn’t going to be easy due to the beading/​appliqué around the hemline, and since it is such an important gown (and an expensive one at that) I wanted to make sure I had a full understanding of what Nayantara would be offering to me as a client. This is where things went wrong.
When I asked about her satisfaction guarantee she became flustered and turned red, instructing me to read her reviews, which speak for the quality of her work. Okay, great, thanks for the tip! I did that before going there! My question was specifically about what would happen in the unlikely event the job didn’t turn out as expected– because mistakes do happen. (As a disclaimer, my fiancé is a contract attorney, so I’ve become accustomed to taking note of liability statements, risks, contracts, etc. I was not about to act all carefree about my wedding gown.)
The reply I received from Nayantara was baffling. She said she guaranteed her work and would never let anyone leave her place without being satisfied with the job. Excellent! This is exactly what a client wants to hear. The next part? Not so much. To be 100% certain I understood what the policy was I asked if the guarantee was covered by her hourly rate and she said, no, she would continue charging the client until the work was done.
Um, what? Sorry, but while this so-​called «guarantee» might work for some people, it just doesn’t cut it for me. Why guarantee anything at all if the extra work isn’t covered by the fees I’m paying? Who pays more money to have someone correct their own mistakes?! That’s penalizing the client and that, to me, is bad business. Nice try seamster, but this is all kind of reminding me of that hipster grifter girl who ripped a bunch of people off, but was a hipster, so whatever.
Anyone looking to book Nayantara please beware. Make sure you understand her guarantee and what she is promising about her work. Don’t get screwed over.