Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers
Design, make, alter, repair, or fit garments.
Most important skills
- Time Management
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Monitoring
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Reading Comprehension
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Production and Processing
- Administration and Management
- Economics and Accounting
- Design
- Mathematics
- Sales and Marketing
What the work involves
- Fit and study garments on customers to determine required alterations.
- Sew garments, using needles and thread or sewing machines.
- Measure parts, such as sleeves or pant legs, and mark or pin-fold alteration lines.
- Take up or let down hems to shorten or lengthen garment parts, such as sleeves.
- Let out or take in seams in suits and other garments to improve fit.
- Assemble garment parts and join parts with basting stitches, using needles and thread or sewing machines.
- Remove stitches from garments to be altered, using rippers or razor blades.
- Record required alterations and instructions on tags, and attach them to garments.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Artistic, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (57.7% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (26.7%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (49.8%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very low | Lower on contact with others than 85% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 73% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 86% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 73% of occupations compared | 58% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 92% of occupations compared | 79% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 94% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 71% of occupations compared | 52% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Higher on consequence of error than 52% of occupations compared | 29% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: low
- Consequence of error: moderate
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 11.35%
- Occasional contact with others: 13.58%
- Contact with others about half the time: 6.49%
- Contact with others most of the time: 20.9%
- Constant contact with others: 47.68%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 13.5%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 10.85%
- Very important: 25.81%
- Extremely important: 49.85%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 20.63%
- Fairly important: 7.75%
- Important: 2.05%
- Very important: 22.9%
- Extremely important: 46.67%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 5.25%
- Limited freedom: 7.56%
- Some freedom: 29.53%
- A lot of freedom: 57.66%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2020
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 12.76%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0.21%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 8.23%
- Every day: 78.8%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2020
Conflict situations
- Never: 35.28%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 44.43%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 5.14%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 14.94%
- Every day: 0.21%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 13.98%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 52.26%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 11.44%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 22.11%
- Every day: 0.21%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2020
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 28.59%
- Fairly serious: 14.3%
- Serious: 9.48%
- Very serious: 22.9%
- Extremely serious: 24.73%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2020
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O*NET-SOC 51-6052.00 · SOC 51-6052 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8