Maria learned to sew at the age of seven from her father who was a tailor in her small hometown Cervinara, Italy. By the age of sixteen she moved from Cervinara to New York to find work. She started out by creating custom fit womens' suits from her home, and in 1978, she decided to open her first sewing shop in downtown Troy, NY. 
 

Since then, she has created a community of loyal customers that love her not only for her work, but for her personality as well. More recently she has moved to a new location in North Greenbush where for the past seventeen years she has run and operated her business along with her three daughters, Angela, Anna, and Rita, and her granddaughter, Maria, as well.