I asked Cynthia to attach new pockets to a pair of sweatpants (I even brought my own fabric). She said it would take 1.5 weeks to alter. 3 weeks later, I messaged and found out that she hadn't even started yet. She then informed me that it would cost $48 to make the alterations... I used to make clothing as a hobby in highschool, and I know that it would take less than an hour to do the requested work. The price was ridiculous. I politely asked why it was going to cost so much and asked if I could just pick up the pants without any alterations (I wasnt about to pay more for pockets than i did for the pants!). But apparently, she had already taken off one pocket. I asked her to take the other one off as well so they would at least be even, and she charged me $15!!! Using a seam ripper to take off pockets would take less than 5 minutes, and 5 mins of work is not worth $15. And on top of it all, she didn't give me my fabric back and she cut a hole in the pants that was sewed up in a very slopy way.... Just be wary of price and ask up front before leaving your clothing with her (and make sure you're ok with possibly having your clothing returned damaged) read more

Took in two chiffon bridesmaids dresses. S she did a wonderful job. Very pleasant and helpful. Reasonable prices!

I brought my wedding dress to Cynthia several months ago, and I found her to be rude and unpleasant. While she did an okay job on the hem of my dress, she would not take in the bust of my gown, even though it kept slipping down. I ended up paying Cynthia for her work but then brought my dress to a seamstress in Rochester to fix what she had done to it. Overall, it was a bad experience, and I would not recommend that brides take their wedding gowns here. read more

Overall Opinion: Untrustworthy and unskilled, look elsewhere for your tailoring needs. I took a prom dress to be hemmed at Cynthia's in 2012, the dress consisted of layers of tulle and cloth. She charged over $100 (I believe she called it a rush order, as it was around two weeks before it was needed). What I received was completely unprofessional. The tulle was unevenly cut and the cloth layers were absolutely butchered - fraying, unevenly cut, and just a crappy amount of thread sewn on the end (it did not act as a hem and was more like an attempt a serger would make only without folding the cloth over). Overall the worst seamstress I have ever seen - I am honestly not sure how she has survived in Dover as long as she has. She was not very pleasant to work with and was rather rude during our intial visit to her business to inquire if she could hem the dress. read more

Cynthia is disorganized, incredibly lacking in punctuality, and not particularly skilled in her field. I ended up taking my bridesmaid dress elsewhere where another seamstress did what Cynthia said was impossible in two days for half the price. read more

Cynthia has done all kinds of different work for me and I couldn't be happier! And, has absolutely never been rude to me. Ever.

If you need a basic pair of pants hemmed, this is the place for you. But anything slightly more complicated....not worth it. I took military uniforms to get rank insignia sewn on and explained to her how to sew it on. When I went to pick them up, she had sewed the rank on totally wrong. I explained in great detail how to fix it again and even showed her a picture. When I went back to get them, they were completely wrong again (90 degrees in the wrong direction). She doesn't take directions. I couldn't afford to wait another week for her to try again so I'm fixing her mistakes on my own sewing machine. Plus, it wasn't worth arguing with her again about how she had done it wrong. This has been extremely frustrating and I will never go back there. Don't make my $58 mistake. read more

I brought a bridesmaid dress in to get a hem and a strap shortened. She wanted to charge me $90. I didn't ask about the cost before she worked on the dress (I expected $50 or under) and she didn't offer the amount. The dress had an outer layer, which she said was $30 to hem, $10 to shorten the strap (which was about 5 stitches), and $15 each for the slip layers (there were 2). Additionally, without telling me, she steamed the dress and charged $20 for this. I am traveling for the wedding and will be getting it steamed when I get there- so I paid this extra amount for nothing. I like supporting small, local businesses. The dress was done in a week as expected. The seamstress seems nice. When I went over the very high price for a hem, she took it down $10. If you think that's a reasonable price for a hem and a strap - then Cynthia's is fine. I feel it is too high. read more

Cynthia first altered a bridesmaid dress for me back in 2008, and since then has helped me with a few more dresses (one that she changed from looking absolutely awful on me to one that looked pretty nice). Most recently I entrusted her with my wedding dress, which she fit to me beautifully and for a reasonable price. She has also fixed up several beloved favorites of mine like old jeans and skirts. I trust Cynthia and appreciate her hard work and fair prices. read more

I went to Cynthia with my mother and sister in law to have bridesmaid and mother of the groom dresses altered. I had to have mine hemmed and taken out. Cynthia was friendly but there were several problems... She quoted $40 to take out and $10 per layer to hem. This would have brought me to $60 total. She said our dresses would be ready in 1 week and she would call. One and a half weeks later I called her and she said "Oh yeah, those are ready" Ummm, thanks for the call?? When I arrived to pay, she charged me $105!!!! I told her this wasn't the quote and she said she does better work than other local alterations. That doesn't explain why her quote was off so much. Then she said it was extra to steam the dress. I did not ask her to steam and charging $45 to steam a dress is ridiculous! I DO NOT reccommend Cynthia unless you get a quote in writing before you leave your items! read more

I can't attest to more "complex" alterations, but after recently losing some weight and not wanting to part with some favorite pieces of clothing, Cynthia did a fabulous job altering the waist of some pants (including jeans) and taking in some tops. She doesn't take formal measurements, rather 'eyeballs' her measurements, and takes notes. She gives an estimate of a time frame when the job will be completed, and sticks to it. Happy customer. read more

Cynthia is very disrespectful so be careful doing business with her. **Be sure to check out the HIDDEN reviews on yelp (the link is at the bottom of the page). You will see other numerous UNHAPPY customers, all writing about how she ruined their clothes with her unskilled and untalented workmanship, that she claims is "top notch" work, and will charge you a ridiculous amount of money. Some other customers have even spoken about how rude and disrespectful this lady is. She responded to my Google review by making personal statements about me and even said she will re-post our email correspondence (seriously, she will start an online war with a customer and threaten to post email exchange over a review). Sounds like a bitter person to me that haven't face the fact that she is just not skilled enough in her field to make a living out of tailoring people's clothes and taking people's hard earned money for it! read more

I sent them email (from their website) to get a quote on alteration service and they didn't reply. I guess they won't take a small job. Well, they're not the only one in town. read more

I had a great experience with Cynthia. She did a great job and I'll def go back. Work was not unreasonable and was tailored exactly how I wanted it. read more

Cynthia is a great seamstress, she's done all different types of clothing for me and I am always very pleased with the results. Highly recommend read more

This woman would have ruined my sister's wedding dress but she took it back before more damage could be done. Cynthia took on a job that she was not capable of doing, damaging the wedding gown and then telling my sister that it came in to her that way. She said that she did not want to point out these snags and a hole in the chiffon overlay to my sister because only my sister would be able to notice them and she didn't want her to feel self-conscious or upset about these 'minor' flaws. I believe that if my sister had not of taken the dress back it would have been destroyed by her trying to cover up her mistakes. The fit of the altering was also no where close at all, with the top still saggy and the bustle not in a correct placement. The hemming was the only ok work. Cynthia Design Studios should stick to her artsy designs and hemming pants and curtains. read more

I have used Cynthia's Design for many things over the years. It is always a pleasant experience with her, plus she is able to take my clothes and make them fit me well. I have brought her vintage fancy pieces, modern clothes, t-shirts, long underwear. The value of the work she puts into my clothes increases the value of my clothes tenfold. I would definitely recommend her, and have done so. She's very creative and can see a solution to a clothing problem that I can't even imagine, and then hand me back a dress that suddenly looks sexy on me, or a t-shirt that fits better, or a pair of long underwear with a new waist elastic. read more

Ok, so this is a two part review because there is a 1 star and a 4 star... One Star: My bridesmaid dress- All it needed was a hem. Went in, she pinned it, I left, she emailed me in a week to pick it up and told me it would be 56$. Cons: - I think 48$ to do a hem is REAL steep considering it was literally just a hem on your standard purple chiffon bridesmaid dress. -She steamed it for me, which I didn't ask her to as we were all planning on steaming the dresses once we arrived at the venue, so there was 8 bucks I could have saved. - When I went to wear the dress (and yes, in the same exact shoes I got pinned up in), the fricking thing still DRAGGED on the ground by a couple inches. To the point where I am not entirely convinced she even hemmed it. Once the ceremony/pictures/dinner was done, another bridesmaid ended up literally hacking off about 2.5 inches of material off the bottom so that I could dance. Basically for me it was a complete waste of money. Four Star: My boyfriends vest. He's had it for years, loves it, but the sturdy canvass material is finally fraying in some places. He dropped it off and requested she sew black leather patches on any areas that were fraying (near pockets, at the shoulders, on the lower back, etc). Imagine how damn annoyed I was after paying 56 bucks for nothing, when my boyfriends vest came out GREAT, was clearly a lot more of a time and effort investment on her part, and only cost 40$ despite requiring about 10 patches of leather. Not sure if this is due to the standard "anything wedding related" 50% markup that every industry applies, or if I have been lied to my whole life and a hem is, in fact, the most challenging of all alterations, but I was left with a pretty sour feeling. I'm really pleased my boyfriend is happy with his vest, and I'm almost as pleased that my propensity for wearing cheap, shapeless clothing means I won't soon need alterations done again any time soon. read more