Sewers and Tailors

Summary

Sewers and tailors may create new pieces of clothing from patterns and designs or alter existing garments to better fit a customer.

Quick Facts: Sewers and Tailors
2010 Median Pay	$25,850 per year $12.43 per hour
Entry-Level Education	Less than high school
Work Experience in a Related Occupation	None
On-the-job Training	Moderate-term on-the-job training
Number of Jobs, 2010	57,500
Job Outlook, 2010-20	1% (Little or no change)
Employment Change, 2010-20	400

What Sewers and Tailors Do

Sewers and tailors sew, join, reinforce, or finish clothing or other items. They may create new pieces of clothing from patterns and designs or alter existing garments to fit customers better.

Work Environment

Sewers and tailors work for textile and apparel manufacturers, department stores, and drycleaners. Many are self-employed.

How to Become a Sewer or Tailor

There are no formal education requirements for someone to work as a sewer or tailor. Most workers are trained informally on the job or through apprenticeship programs. Some take classes to learn how to sew and alter clothing.

Pay

The median hourly wage of hand sewers was $11.13 in May 2010. The median hourly wage of tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers was $12.77 in May 2010.

Job Outlook

Employment of sewers and tailors is expected to experience little or no change, growing 1 percent from 2010 to 2020. Growth will be limited as clothing continues to be made in other countries and the demand for custom clothing keeps declining. However, job prospects are good for skilled workers.

Similar Occupations

Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of sewers and tailors with similar occupations.

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Contacts for More Information

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What Sewers and Tailors Do About this section

Sewers and tailors who do alterations ensure that clothes properly fit customers.

Sewers and tailors sew, join, reinforce, or finish clothing or other items. They may create new pieces of clothing from patterns and designs or alter existing garments to fit customers better.

Duties

Sewers and tailors typically do the following:

• Measure clients to ensure that clothing will fit properly
• Cut and measure fabric according to the pattern or design
• Mark garments to note where alterations are necessary
• Open seams to hem garments and to make other alterations
• Sew clothing by hand, using a needle and thread or with sewing machines
• Fit clothing on customers to determine if additional alterations are necessary

Sewers and tailors can specialize in alterations or in sewing custom garments.

Those who do alterations ensure that clothes fit customers properly. They make changes to garments, such as hemming pants to make them shorter or taking in seams to make clothing smaller.

Some specialize in a certain type of garment, such as bridal gowns. Others specialize in a particular type of material, such as fur. Fur tailors may restyle older clothing, add a fur collar to a coat or a dress, or sew the inner lining of a garment to the inside of fur skin by hand.

Some dressmakers and custom sewers work with designers or customers to create new garments. They take orders from customers and help them select fabric and colors. When working with a designer, tailors help translate designs into finished pieces of clothing. For example, a couture dressmaker may work with a fashion designer to create exclusive custom-fitted clothing.

In addition to working with clothing, sewers may produce other items, such as textiles and quilts. Hand weavers produce custom-made textiles, such as placemats, napkins, and pillowcases. Hand quilters produce a bed cover or display item, traditionally composed of two layers of fabric.

Some sewers and tailors own their business. In these cases, they may do management and administrative tasks, such as managing the business’s finances and taking orders.

Work Environment About this section

Sewers and tailors are found in textile and apparel manufacturing establishments, department stores, and drycleaners.

Sewers and tailors held about 57,500 jobs in 2010.

Sewers and tailors work for textile and apparel manufacturers, department stores, and drycleaners. About 44 percent were self-employed in 2010.

Work Schedules

Most sewers and tailors work full time. Some work nights and weekends to accommodate customers’ schedules. Self-employed workers may need to work longer hours to run their business and complete customer orders.

How to Become a Sewer or Tailor About this section

Some dressmakers and custom sewers work with designers or customers to create new garments.

There are no formal education requirements for someone to work as a sewer or tailor. Most workers are trained informally on the job or through apprenticeship programs. Some take classes to learn how to sew and alter clothing.

Education

Generally, employers do not have any formal education requirements for positions as a sewer or tailor. Some sewers and tailors take classes to learn how to sew and alter clothing, but there are few formal programs to teach students how to become a tailor.

Training

Those interested in becoming a sewer or tailor are often trained while working in a tailor shop. Some are trained through apprenticeships, in which they are hired by a tailor and receive training to help them develop the skills necessary to work as a tailor. However, formal apprenticeships are difficult to find. Most of those interested in becoming sewers or tailors find employment working with a tailor and are trained informally on the job.

Important Qualities

Customer-service skills. Sewers and tailors need to meet customers’ and designers’ requirements while managing their expectations. If fulfilling a customer’s request is not possible, the sewer or tailor must be able to explain to the customer why that is so.

Detail oriented. Sewers and tailors must be precise. They need to take careful measurements and follow patterns. Paying attention to detail is essential to their work.

Sensitivity. Sewers and tailors often need to get physically close to customers to take measurements, and in doing so, they must be sensitive to the customers’ needs and personal space.

Pay About this section

The median hourly wage of hand sewers was $11.13 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $8.31, and the top 10 percent earned more than $17.57.

The median annual wage of tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers was $12.77 in May 2010. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $8.48, and the top 10 percent earned more than $20.21.

Most sewers and tailors work full time. Some work nights and weekends to accommodate customers’ schedules. Self-employed workers may need to work longer hours to run their business and complete customer orders.

Job Outlook About this section

Employment of sewers and tailors is expected to experience little or no change, growing 1 percent from 2010 to 2020. Growth will be limited as clothing continues to be made in other countries and the demand for custom clothing keeps declining.

Employment of hand sewers is expected to decline moderately by 5 percent as the production of clothing continues to move abroad. Fierce competition in the market for clothing should keep domestic clothing and textile firms under intense pressure to cut costs and produce more with fewer workers.

Although the industry is already highly automated, business is expected to continue increasing worker productivity by using laborsaving machinery. As a result, there will be decreased demand for sewers who specialize in working by hand.

Employment of tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers is expected to experience little or no change, growing 2 percent from 2010 to 2020. Many of these workers are self-employed or work in clothing stores.

Although custom home furnishings and clothing face strong competition from the cheaper off-the-rack products, there will always be some demand from upscale stores and certain clients. Made-to-order apparel and other handmade goods appeal to people looking for one-of-a-kind items, and tailors will continue to be needed to alter ready-to-wear clothing for a better fit.

Job Prospects

Job prospects should be best for highly skilled workers who have experience.

Contacts for More Information About this section

For more information about tailors, visit

Custom Tailors and Designers Association