BUSINESS IS SEW, SEW
Mexican immigrant becomes U.S. citizen, turns childhood chore into a vocation
TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. » Maria Cabrera does not remember when she learned to sew as a young girl growing up in Mexico, but she never wanted it to be the way she earned her living.
Now, though, Cabrera owns her own alterations and tailoring business on Ulster Avenue and has a waiting list of projects to work on when she has the time.
“I always, in my head, said I would never sew for a living,” Cabrera said recently, sitting in her shop, Maria Cabrera Alterations & Tailoring. She said she never considered her ability to sew to be a talent because it is something she learned to do as a child and it was a chore, much like sweeping the floor would be for another person.
It was not until later in life that she learned to appreciate her talent and skill, turning it into a business that has been growing steadily based on word of mouth from her customers.
“I’ve been blessed,” Cabrera said. “It’s just been so busy.” She said this is her busy season, working with brides in preparation for their weddings, but she also has projects for the winter that include custom sewing jobs and pattern creation.
Cabrera said she learned to sew because her family owned a small factory at the back of their
home in Mexico, where they created special occasion dresses. She said the house was filled with fabric, lace and beads, and her parents would tell her when she was growing up that some day she would be in charge of the factory. That scared her because she saw how hard her parents worked, getting up at 4 a.m. and not always being able to be with their children, Cabrera said.
When she was 15, Cabrera said, she asked her parents if she could go to the United States with her cousins. Her parents agreed, she said, because it was at a time when corruption was on the rise in Mexico and the economy was declining.
So, in 1989, Cabrera crossed the border illegally into California. For the next year she lived there, cleaning houses.
Cabrera said she then moved with family to Texas, and her parents came to the United States with visas. They then moved to New York, where she began working in the factories that then existed in Kingston, she said. Cabrera joked that she worked in most of the factories in the area, despite the fact the older Italian women there did not like her because she knew how to sew and was trying to get their jobs.
Even then, she did not want to be simply a worker and started thinking about educating herself, Cabrera said. She said she went to Kingston High School and found an English as a second language program. Cabrera said she then earned her high school equivalency diploma.
At 18, she got married and began having the first of her three children, Cabrera said. It was around that time, she said, she met Robert Tonner, owner of the Tonner Doll Company. Tonner hired her and began to give her more projects because he liked her work, Cabrera said, adding that he was a mentor to her.
“I wanted to be more than just the helper and the sewer, the girl who knew how to sew,” Cabrera added. “I wanted to become a professional in the field.” She said she approached Tonner about furthering her skill, and he agreed to send her to school, so long as she kept up with her work.
It took her five years, working and raising her children, but Cabrera completed a certificate program through the Parson’s School of Design in New York City. She had also become a United States citizen in 2005.
After 19 years with the Tonner Doll Company, though, Cabrera said she began to question herself and wondering if she could survive if she left. She said things started to go wrong for her and she became disconnected from the job. Leaving the company was the hardest decision she made, but, as a human being, Cabrera said, she wanted to expand and experience new things.
After struggling for a year, working four jobs, the sewing started coming back to her, Cabrera said. She said she made the decision to rent a space where she could do
her work because the sewing would no longer fit in her home. Cabrera said she borrowed $500 from her parents and opened her office, after which the work just started to flow in.
“And the minute I opened my office people were coming from out of nowhere,” Cabrera said. In no time, she said, she had to buy clothing racks and then, after a year, she realized she needed a bigger space. Cabrera said her current landlord, Joe Mesuda, approached her about the space at 900 Ulster Ave. After thinking about it for a few days and wondering if she could pay the rent, she said, she decided to move her business, and it has continued to grow.
The business takes a lot of her time, but it is rewarding, according to Cabrera. She said she makes sure each of her customers is satisfied with her work, even if it means having to redo something.
“Right now this is my baby,” Cabrera said. “This is the child that needs me.”
Her three children are all off to college, pursuing their education, she said.
As for the future, Cabrera said she is in the process of becoming a full quinceañera boutique. A quinceañera is a Hispanic tradition in which a girl’s coming of age — her 15th birthday — is celebrated. With the boutique, Cabrera works to provide the dresses and accessories young girls would need for their parties.
She said it is too early to tell if that will be successful, but she is hopeful.