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Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers

Design, make, alter, repair, or fit garments.

What you’d do

  • Measure parts, such as sleeves or pant legs, and mark or pin-fold alteration lines.
  • Remove stitches from garments to be altered, using rippers or razor blades.
  • Sew garments, using needles and thread or sewing machines.
  • Let out or take in seams in suits and other garments to improve fit.
  • Measure customers, using tape measures, and record measurements.
  • Fit and study garments on customers to determine required alterations.
  • Trim excess material, using scissors.
  • Assemble garment parts and join parts with basting stitches, using needles and thread or sewing machines.

Skills that matter

  • Time Management
  • Active Listening
  • Critical Thinking
  • Speaking
  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Judgment and Decision Making

How to get there

Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

Also called

  • Alterations Sewer
  • Dressmaker
  • Seamstress
  • Tailor
  • Alterations Expert
  • Bridal Designer
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