Maddalena Alterations

Maddalena is absolutely amazing! I came to her with two dresses and only a week’s notice. She was so sweet and was actually excited for me when I told her that I was going to wear one of them to my prom. I could tell by our conversation that she genuinely loves what she does and that she cares about her customers.
Her prices were also very reasonable and the work was phenomenal! One dress was beaded, so she had to resew the beads on after altering the dress! I felt so bad for giving her such a short time to work with! But she brushed it off. She was just so sweet. She definitely deserves much more reviews because she is just incredible. I wish I could give her more stars!
(This review is wayyy overdue)

Maddelena is wonderful! I snagged a lace dress on a nail, and I needed to get it repaired fast. Maddelena made time to do it, and she did it so perfectly I cannot even find the hole! And it was very affordable to boot.

Someone called Maddalena a fairy godmother and I could not agree more!!! She was one of our «MVP“s of our wedding for sure! She did my husband’s suit as well. My mother in law bought my dress for me online and I LOVED it but it needed a LOT of work… and not just any alterations professional could have made it work like she did!!! She put SO MUCH care and love into making my dress perfect on my special day — it was PERFECTION. I also felt like she truly cared about her work and making my dress perfect because she knew how special it was to me. She came recommended to me by a friend and finding her was a blessing! She is also very affordable. She is amazing. I will be going to her for all of my special alterations as long as I am living in Southern CA!!!

Maddalena is the very best! I took my wedding dress to her after what can only be described as a botch job and Maddalena worked on it until it fit perfectly. Her skill set is over the top, but the best part of the experience was getting to know this wonderful woman who genuinely cares about her customers! I am so grateful to have found her and will go back again and again!

I brought my wedding dress into Maddalena after reading a few reviews on Unilocal.I was nervous as it was my wedding dress but she put me at ease, let me know what she was going to do to the dress, did a phenomenal job with alterations and worked around my schedule. I would recommend maddalena to anyone getting clothes altered– she was fantastic!

Fairy godmother about covers it here– Maddalena is amazing! I had to have a dress altered (down at least one size maybe two) within five days for a formal event for work with tons of ruffles and seams all over it. Two other tailors turned me down (one in person after looking at the dress and the other just based on how quickly I needed it) — so I went on Unilocal and read Alexander K’s review– and she is so close to where I live I figured I had nothing to lose. Maddalena said yes, fitted me in about five minutes and called as promised on Friday to tell me the dress was done. It fit PERFECTLY, and I can’t tell that it was altered at all. She even added little hanger ribbons to the inside of the dress without mentioning it because she thought the thin material at the top of the dress wasn’t made to carry the weight of the whole ensemble– I guess this is a small thing, but it kind of made me feel like it really mattered to her that the dress was well cared for. Her shop gives off a sort of chic/​open feeling– I think it is partly to do with how sophisticated she seems while still being warm (socially graceful would be a good description), and the décor is simple with some nice elegant touches. She seemed genuinely happy/​proud to see me wear the dress and explain to her the event I needed it for. We talked about accessories to go with the dress too! After I picked up my dress on Friday night (she stays open after workaday hours which makes life easier when you’ve got a 9 – 5), she stood outside her office door to see me to my car.
I told her about my trouble with the other tailors and she said when she has a customer she does her best to complete the work even when it means losing a little sleep to finish the job because she doesn’t see why she should say no. (I think this is an amazing attitude, if you read this and call her, please do not abuse this and make Maddalena lose any sleep.)
This lady is a gem and obviously takes pride in her work– it is hard not to adore her a little!

I can’t believe nobody has rated Maddalena yet! She is hands down the best alterations tailor in San Diego. Sure, any dry cleaners can hem your trousers or take up the sleeves on a jacket. But if you have something more challenging and you want it done right but don’t want to drive a half hour to a super high end custom tailor who is going to charge you a few hundred dollars, call Maddalena!
Slimming the waist on a tailored jacket without throwing off the balance of the garment is a very hard thing to do. She did a stellar job, pointing out where my waist differed from the waist on the jacket and correcting it, etc. While I was picking up my suit, she showed me a pair of trousers that she was working on for another customer. In some cases, just taking in seams here and there won’t ever yield a quality garment. Thus, she was recutting the trousers entirely, essentially making a new pair of pants custom for the customer out of the fabric of the old pants. This is the kind of service you do NOT usually expect from a streetcorner alterations tailor.
Basically, if you take your clothes seriously but don’t have the money to buy custom Brioni suits, you have to check this place out. The prices are a little higher than that guy you’ve been going to for years who usually does an okay job on the second try, but you’re paying for the expertise not just in sewing but in knowing what looks good, and the prices are still very reasonable when compared to the styleforum-​approved super premium tailor who’s more interested in making a $ 1000 suit from scratch for Mitt Romney than in letting down the legs on a thrift store suit.