Dressmaker Guide
Dressmaker Beginner Guide
Learn the basic Dressmaker gameplay loop, make your first complete dress, and understand when patterns, fabrics, style scores and commissions start to matter.
One commission, start to finish
- 01Measure
- 02Sketch
- 03Choose Fabric
- 04Cut
- 05Sew
- 06Decorate
- 07Check
- 08Deliver
The game loop
The Dressmaker loop
Every commission runs through the same eight steps. Learn the order once and the later systems — measuring, fabric, style, Quality — each get a place to sit.
- 01
Measure
Take the client's measurements before building a fitted dress.
- 02
Sketch
Choose the bodice, skirt, sleeves and collar that shape the dress.
- 03
Choose Fabric
Pick fabrics that fit the look, style and commission requirements.
- 04
Cut
Place and cut each pattern piece from the fabric.
- 05
Sew
Assemble the cut pieces into the finished garment.
- 06
Decorate
Add bows, lace, trim and other accessories.
- 07
Check
Make sure the dress meets the active commission requirements.
- 08
Deliver
Submit the finished dress to the client.
The earlier a step goes wrong, the cheaper it is to fix: changing a pattern costs nothing, but fabric you have already cut is spent.
Step 1Meet the client and take measurements
If the commission uses the client's measurements, take them before you build anything. Fit counts towards Quality, and it is far easier to get right before the dress exists than to correct afterwards.
- Measure the client while the brief is open, not after you have chosen a design.
- Fit the mannequin to those numbers before the first pattern piece is cut.
Step 2Build the dress in the Sketchbook
The Sketchbook is where a dress starts. Patterns define its shape, and they carry their own style tags, so the pieces you pick here already decide part of the Style score.
Sleeves and collars may be optional depending on your design. A dress is not four filled slots — a bodice and a skirt are the usual core.
One sample from each pattern slot
BodiceRuched Sweetheart Bodice
SkirtCircle Skirt
SleeveBell Sleeve
CollarPeter Pan Collar
Step 3Choose the fabric
Fabric is the second half of the design. Three things change the moment you pick one:
- Colour — what the client and the commission are looking at.
- Style — every fabric carries its own style tags.
- Cost — cloth is priced, and the commission may have a budget.
Commission requirements may also ask for certain fabric types or colours, so read the brief before you buy.
Step 4Cut the pieces
Cutting happens in the Cutting Room. A panel is one cut piece of a pattern, so every dress becomes a set of panels before it becomes a garment.
- Watch the grain line: a panel cut against the grain costs Quality later.
- Check Fabric Usage for the pattern before you commit — cutting spends the cloth you bought.
Step 5Sew the dress
Sewing assembles the cut panels into the finished garment. This is the step Quality is scored on, so a slower seam is usually the cheaper one.
If one screen keeps failing, the beginner problems below cover the usual causes.
Jump to the beginner problemsStep 6Add accessories
Accessories turn a finished dress into the dress the commission asked for: bows, lace, trim, jewellery and buttons.
Some accessories are placed individually, while trims and similar decorations are applied along a path.
Step 7Check style, Quality and requirements
This is the step new players skip and then regret. A commission states what the dress has to be, and the check is where you find out whether you actually met it — before the client does.
Style and Quality are the pair beginners mix up most.
Style
What kind of dress you made
Cute, Formal, Romantic and the rest of the style list — decided by the pattern, fabric and accessories you chose.
Quality
How well the dress was made
Grain, fit and sewing accuracy — decided by how you cut and sewed, not by what you picked.
What the check looks at
- Style scores
- Colour
- Fabric
- Accessories
- Quality
Step 8Deliver the dress
When every requirement is met, deliver the dress and the commission is complete. If it is rejected, you have three ways out:
Check the requirements
See which line the dress misses instead of guessing.
Open the Commission SolverFix this dress
If one swap is enough, change that piece rather than starting over.
Open the Dress FixerFollow a complete recipe
If the design cannot pass as it is, copy a validated recipe for the commission.
Browse commissions with recipes
Keep learning
What to learn next
Five systems explain the parts of the loop above. Learn them in the order the game teaches them.
- MeasuringHow client measurements move fit, and how fit moves Quality.
- SketchbookChoosing patterns, reading their style tags, and planning a dress before you cut.
- CuttingGrain lines, rotation, and what happens when fabric runs short.
- SewingAssembling panels and finishing the dress cleanly.
- Style ScoresHow pattern, fabric and accessory tags add up, and how to move a score quickly.
As you keep playing
Your first dresses are this loop with one client's brief. Afterwards the same loop widens into a progression:
- Complete commissions
- Build relationships
- Unlock more patterns
Characters are more than commission clients — relationship progression can unlock additional patterns.
Tools
Beginner tool box
The Companion tools that help while you play. None of them replace the loop above — each one answers a single question inside it.
Beginner problems
Common beginner problems
The small things that stop a first dress. Most of them are solved by changing what you are looking at rather than what you are making.
- The mannequin will not turn
- Rotate the view first — placing and fitting usually need the mannequin facing you.
- The camera is too close or too far
- Zoom out for the whole silhouette, in for seams and trim.
- I cannot sew the back
- Turn the mannequin so the unsewn panels face you.
- I cannot change the thread colour
- The thread option belongs to the seam you are sewing, not to the dress.
- My dress still does not pass
- Compare the requirement list one line at a time: style, colour, fabric, accessories, Quality.
- The item I need is still locked
- Locked items are gated by Prestige or by a character's relationship level.
These are screen-level problems, so the answer is on the screen you are stuck on.
Before your first dress
Before you start your first dress
Five habits that save a first commission.
- 01Read the commission requirements before you choose anything.
- 02Measure the client first if the dress has to fit.
- 03Remember that Style and Quality are two different scores.
- 04Check that the pattern, fabric and accessories you want are unlocked.
- 05Use the check before you deliver, not after the client says no.
This page is one chapter of the Dressmaker guide, which covers the whole process from the first measurement to the finished dress.