Annette is a dress magician and the sweetest person. She was one of my favorite vendors to work with for my wedding. I bought my dress at a sample so there were a few areas that needed work. Annette listened to what I wanted, made some great recommendations and showed me what she would do. She did a fantastic job making the neckline a little less revealing, hemming and putting in a bustle that was super easy and straightforward. Mind you she worked with me during the height of the pandemic when scheduling wasn’t the easiest. I can’t say enough about Annette’s talent. Also her price was very reasonable, especially for the quality of work.

I brought my mother’s 1992 wedding dress to Annette to see if we would be able to use it to custom make a dress for my own wedding in 2022. My mother didn’t professionally preserve her dress but it didn’t yellow, it had some staining, a drop waistline, and silly puff sleeves and giant white bows down the back of the train. Annette looked at it, looked at me and said - “there’s enough fabric to work with here”. She gave me a number of options based on my inspo pics and we decided to use the existing train of my mother’s dress, and remake the top to be more modern. 3-4 fittings later and Annete worked pure magic! I had the wedding dress of my dreams. It was an absolute pleasure to work with Annette - everything from fitting to pickup was flawless. I received so many compliments on my dress on wedding day - people could not believe it was (mostly) my mother’s dress! Friends of friends who posted photos to social media also raved about the dress’s beauty. It was fantastic to be able to honor my mom in this way. Yes, she cried when I put it on. To top it off, when my fiance had last minute problems with his suit - she helped him in a pinch where the original suit company could not. Honestly I cannot stress enough how amazing Annette is - her work is unmatched - she was the only seamstress on Long Island willing to work with an existing dress. The dress transformation is one of the greatest joys I will cherish from my wedding day. 100000000000/10 Annette is the best!

Annette is amazing, I'm so lucky I found her! I knew I didn't want to use the alterations department at the boutique, and was recommended to Annette by another seamstress. Not only is she so nice and professional, but she goes above and beyond to make sure every detail is perfect. She altered the hemline of my dress which had a delicate and complicated lace border, and it came out perfectly. She makes the whole process seem easy and her prices are beyond reasonable. Highly recommend!

I have never done a review before, but Annette is worth writing about. She is amazing and made my wedding dress, and day, really special.

My mother saved her wedding dress, in case I ever wanted to use it. I loved the idea of using my mom’s dress, but she had worn it to a winter wedding in the 70’s - and I had a very different idea for my dress. I provided Annette with some pictures of the look I wanted. Annette took those pictures and that dress, and made my vision come true. She worked her magic and changed a 35-year-old, long sleeve, high necked, winter wedding gown into the sexy halter dress (with a corset back) that I wore to my destination beach wedding. It was stunning and fit me like a glove! Everyone loved it.

Annette went above and beyond anything I could have expected. She personally cleaned the dress. She hand stained the lace so that the newer additions to the dress matched the aged fabric. She cleverly addressed every challenge that came up, and her creativity and professionalism made the whole experience fun and exciting.

As I said before, I never did a review before, but Annette made this a wonderful experience for me and I cannot recommend her highly enough.

Annette makes magic with Broadway theater costumes every day so I was thrilled she had time to alter my new concert gown. It was two sizes too big, strapless, voluminous, and so heavy. I never wear strapless gowns because they never stay up. With Annette's creative problem-solving, attention to detail, and incredible engineering, I could finally wear a strapless gown with confidence. Did I mention she is really nice, too? She makes the whole process fun. I can't recommend her highly enough.

I wanted a knee-length dress for my wedding and I couldn't find one anywhere. So I decided, fool that I am, to make my own. I soon realized that I was waaaay out of my league and was freaking out. At the time I worked on Broadway in Phantom of the Opera, where Annette is the Production Tailor.
I was teetering on the edge of insanity, one week away from my wedding, (I know...) contemplating duck tape and I'll never forget what Annette said: "Wedding dresses are what I do."
She saved me! She listened to what I wanted, and didn't push her own agenda. She was kind, precise, fast, affordable, and did an impeccable job, down to the tiniest detail.
She is amazing!!!!
Honestly, I wouldn't have known what to do without her expertise.
In her home studio you'll notice she's worked with Broadway & Film stars from: JLo, Beyoncé, Selena Gomez, Kate Winslet, Justin Timberlake, John Legend, & Miley Cyrus, to name a few; but she's still down to earth and one of the gals!
I can't thank her enough for saving my bacon!! She ROCKS!!!

Specialty Sewing LI/ Annette did an awesome job for my wedding dress. I had a lot of specific alteration requests, specifically a dramatic, Victorian-esque bustle and an over-sized bow on the back of the dress. She totally got my vision and my dress came out beautifully!

After going to three bridal salons to find my "perfect" wedding dress, I knew what I really wanted to wear but thought it would be nearly impossible - I wanted to wear my mother's wedding dress. Annette made my dreams come true and the only thing I regret is wasting time shopping the boutiques. My mother's dress was handmade by my great aunt and it wasn't in the style I was looking for nor in the best of condition but I was determined to walk down the aisle in it. I had a specific dress style in mind and then let her go to work. She patiently met with me several times to review my vision of how I wanted to dress to look. She took every note and added some other professional suggestions that would make the dress even more special. We had several fittings after that initial meeting to make sure that it was everything I had hoped for. The end result was an absolutely stunning dress that possessed the heritage of my mother and style of me! 

I entered the wedding planning process having a vague idea of what I wanted my wedding dress to look like. The owner of SpecialtySewingLI, Annette Lovece, helped guide me to that perfect dress. She asked specific questions that it immediately clear that I was working with an incredibly experienced seamstress. What I absolutely LOVED about working with Annette was she heard my answers about fabric, silhouettes, etc. and offered suggestions to further compliment my body type, my style and the practicality of my big day (outdoor venue in the summer). And Annette had such creative ideas to incorporate fabrics that had special meaning to me and my family. SpecialtySewingLI made this dress so intensely personal. It was truly a work of art that I will treasure forever. I remember on my wedding day feeling comfortable AND beautiful... ON MY WEDDING DAY! How many brides can say they didn't compromise on comfort for beauty? I got both because of this masterful seamstress. I cannot recommend her enough!

Annette was perfect. Kind, genuine, really did the right thing, had an insane need to do right, and very fair pricing.