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Rossy (Rosie) the Seamstress


Zeb

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When I moved into my house here lower SAT almost 13 years ago, I wanted to get rid of the ugly drapes and have traditional bright colored Mexican/Aztec window dressings. I stumbled on her on Ocampo just West of Colon (mountain side). I brought her to my house (she does not drive) and we took measurements throughout the large house. We went back and I chose the fabric/colors and she went to work creating the window dressings. I am in my office now and can look into my living room and still admire the results, and at a great price. My highest recommendation! 

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1 hour ago, Zeb said:

I'd like to hear from people who use her services.  I thought it was odd that the times I brought her work she was unable to give me a price.

It depends on what work you were asking her to do. Not everything can be accurately estimated ahead of time. I'm a professional seamstress myself and I never give a contract price on a job, although I'm pretty accurate on my estimates. I never know ahead of time if the fabric a client chooses will be hard to work with, if it will require pre-washing and drying so it doesn't shrink the first time it's washed, there are some variables. And if a client just asks me for a ballpark figure on a set of cushion covers, for instance, I can't do that- I need to take accurate measurements myself, then do a drawing on graph paper to see how I can arrange the pieces I need to cut on the fabric, which is a specific width, before I know how much fabric I'll need and how much that will cost. 

It's like taking your car to a mechanic- he can give you a price on an oil change, but if there's something wrong with the way it's driving, he might be able to figure it out in 5 minutes, or he may need to take quite a bit of time to assess the problem, and then figure out what parts he'd need. 

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A couple of years ago, I took a pair of spectacular classic rayon tropical shirts to Rosy to be first repaired and then copied in terms of cut with cotton fabric I had brought with me from California.  It turns out that rayon somehow disintegrates just as if it had been attacked by moths, and I asked Rosy to patch the holes, for which she quoted a reasonable price, and to pattern match a new shirt with ample an amount of printed fabric with dinosaurs in a rich jungle setting.  For this, custom job, I think she quoted US$23, and I had to go scare up some buttons.  The final product of this project was excellent, but as I understood her, she found it difficult and might have changed more.  The patching repairs, which certainly arrested further disintegration, were quite crude and in no way resembled proper 'reweaving', which she never promised and I lacked the Spanish to discuss, and which would have been quite expensive if even possible.

There may be a sort of 'tailors' justice' at play here.  Once in Bangkok I picked up a 3-piece suit-length of Italian 150s pinstripe (superfine fabric, hard to work with) and the very friendly and suspiciously handsome Kashmiri salesman of the sort you see in the better tailor shops in BKK quoted me a good price and away we went.  For two fittings, they had to bring in the foreman from the Chinese workshops where the real work gets done, very hip guy, and they explained how the salesman had quoted way too low for the expert work involved.  They did a beautiful job, except for certain interior panels that they usually shower with handwork, the point being that they had to cut back on work somehow to lose less on what for them was a substandard deal.

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11 hours ago, mudgirl said:

It depends on what work you were asking her to do. Not everything can be accurately estimated ahead of time. I'm a professional seamstress myself and I never give a contract price on a job, although I'm pretty accurate on my estimates. I never know ahead of time if the fabric a client chooses will be hard to work with, if it will require pre-washing and drying so it doesn't shrink the first time it's washed, there are some variables. And if a client just asks me for a ballpark figure on a set of cushion covers, for instance, I can't do that- I need to take accurate measurements myself, then do a drawing on graph paper to see how I can arrange the pieces I need to cut on the fabric, which is a specific width, before I know how much fabric I'll need and how much that will cost. 

It's like taking your car to a mechanic- he can give you a price on an oil change, but if there's something wrong with the way it's driving, he might be able to figure it out in 5 minutes, or he may need to take quite a bit of time to assess the problem, and then figure out what parts he'd need. 

None of my items are custom made.  It's all alterations and very basic.

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17 minutes ago, Bisbee Gal said:

Rosy's never quoted prices in USD for me.  I try to avoid an locals who price in USD's.  

I don't the poster said it was quoted in US prices.  Probably he was just converting for the sake of explanation.

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24 minutes ago, bmh said:

quoting in dollar makes n sense, Rose only quotes inpesos and dollars makes  it more complicated for those who do not use dollars. It is Mexico the national money is the Mexican Pesos , so use it.

 

Sorry - Don't remember cost of sewing a suit in Baht, either.  Around US$100 at the time...

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45 minutes ago, bmh said:

quoting in dollar makes n sense, Rose only quotes inpesos and dollars makes  it more complicated for those who do not use dollars. It is Mexico the national money is the Mexican Pesos , so use it.

 

I find it disrespectful to quote in a currency other that the country it is in. Currency convertors are available for the individuals purchasing the items or services in their respectful currency of choice. 

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8 minutes ago, Alpha1 said:

I find it disrespectful to quote in a currency other that the country it is in. Currency convertors are available for the individuals purchasing the items or services in their respectful currency of choice. 

From your mouth to the local realtors' ears!

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10 hours ago, Bisbee Gal said:

From your mouth to the local realtors' ears!

It ain´t the real estate agents....it´s the seller/ lister. Real estate agencies will take a listing in pesos just as fast as they would in US dollars.

Sellers know that there isn´t any law saying it can´t be priced in dollars of any country.

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1 hour ago, slainte39 said:

It ain´t the real estate agents....it´s the seller/ lister. Real estate agencies will take a listing in pesos just as fast as they would in US dollars.

Sellers know that there isn´t any law saying it can´t be priced in dollars of any country.

So, as a renter it is your responsibility to demand the lease in pesos, or else you are a sucker!!!

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16 hours ago, utilitus said:

It turns out that rayon somehow disintegrates just as if it had been attacked by moths,

All fabrics eventually do. Most of us have some golden oldie clothes we'd love to be able to wear forever, but at some point you just have to decide to throw it away or frame it and hang it on the wall.

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10 hours ago, lakeside7 said:

Here we go again, down an other street with no relational to dear Rosie and the original question.....

Yes.  That was my point early.  Best to start a separate topic for those who want to discuss real estate and currencies.  This is about seamstresses.

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