Getting started in Dressmaker

Your first trip through the shop

1. Read the customer’s request and take their measurements. Note colour restrictions, style targets and budget separately.
2. Build the silhouette in the sketchbook. Compare the requirement bars as you change the bodice, sleeves, collar and skirt.
3. Choose fabrics for the panels. Check the actual item’s tags and price before buying.
4. Arrange and cut the pattern, then fit the pieces to the mannequin. Count the pieces as you move between stations.
5. Sew the seams, add required accessories and return to the commission hand-in.

Three checks that prevent expensive restarts

Make a brief you can read at a glance: required features, forbidden features and money available. Put upper limits in the forbidden column. It is easy to keep raising a style attribute when the customer actually needs it to stay below a ceiling.

Before purchasing a second roll, ask which part of the brief it solves. A different colour, a missing fabric type and a style target are three different reasons to change a panel. Changing all three at once makes it harder to identify what worked.

Before delivery, inspect construction as well as the green requirement indicators. Missing pieces are a separate issue from the requested look. Our submission checklist walks through that distinction.

No next customer?

Build 403 changed customer arrival: ring the shop bell to call the next customer. This is a documented change in the first official patch. Finish the current interaction before treating an empty counter as a progression problem.

Keep your first plan manageable

Use the planner to record the brief, planned purchases and your construction progress. It is a personal notebook: it does not read your save or predict the game’s score. For your first dress, a small set of deliberate choices is easier to revise than a design with many competing colours and decorations.