Stitch by stitch, Virginia Beach upholsterer has got it covered
Karin Rojas left her native Peru at 13 years old but she didn’t leave behind her homegrown artistic ability to knit, crochet and sew.
Rojas has been living the American dream for the past five and a half years as the owner of Zulema Custom Interiors & Covers in Virginia Beach.
“I love to sew,” she said. “It’s like therapy.”
She specializes in designing and fabricating high-end custom interior seating for collectible and standard automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, boats and aircraft using leather, vinyl, metal, plastic and composites all via hand tools.
Omar Griffin of Norfolk works in the automotive restoration industry and he said he won’t take his cars anywhere else.
Rojas reupholstered the interior of his 1984 Buick Regal and it won first place at the Rollin Legends Car Show in Portsmouth in June.
“That’s a win for both of us,” Griffin said. “Everybody wanted to know who did it.”
Passionate and meticulous about her work, Rojas remembers the difficulties she experienced breaking into the primarily male-dominated industry.
The single mother of two made a living doing visual merchandising at a retail store by day and alterations from home by night while she went to Tidewater Community College and then earned her bachelor’s degree in fashion merchandising from Old Dominion University.
Following graduation in 2012, Rojas received a message on Facebook from international fashion designer Lizzi London.
Starstruck, Rojas worked as her assistant for a year, learned the art of creating a pattern on a mannequin from scratch and explored the world of couture and runway fashion design.
When London left for the West Coast, Rojas took her seamstress skills into a local upholstery shop.
“They called me Speedy Gonzales,” Rojas said of her ability to work quickly and consistently.
Eager for more and the chance to showcase her creativity, Rojas asked her employer to transfer her to car upholstery.
“She said we only hire men because you need a lot of strength,” Rojas recalled.
Not easily deterred, Rojas reupholstered the seats in her 1994 Isuzu Amigo — adding piping, embroidery, binding and diamond stitching — to show her then-employer that she was more than capable.
While she didn’t get to break into car upholstery there, Rojas said Nick French, owner of Nick’s Upholstery in Virginia Beach, gave her a chance and taught her a lot of skills and tricks of the trade.
After a few months, in 2018, Rojas decided to become a solopreneur. She opened up Zulema Custom Interiors, named for her mother who died when Rojas was 6 years old. After a few months, her kitchen was filled with car seats waiting to be reupholstered.
“It was time to move to a shop,” Rojas said.
She operated from a location in Norfolk, specializing in boat covers throughout the pandemic as more people were redoing their boats. In 2020, Rojas moved to her current space at 1906 Virginia Beach Blvd. and work remains steady.
Rojas maintains her fashion sense and said she incorporates a bit of pizzazz into her work whenever she can. Customers requesting a new car interior get one of Rojas’ custom gym bags to match.
All of her hard work and determination continues to pay off. She bought herself a home and is paying off her student loans.
Rojas has made a name for herself in the industry — stitch by stitch — and she’s proud of where she is now. She even designed and sells a perfume, aptly labeled Zulema.
For more information, visit zulemainteriors.com.
Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@insidebiz.com
