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Tailor/Dressmaker - Personal requirements

Kaihanga Kākahu

Skills & knowledge

Tailors and dressmakers need to have:

sewing skills and knowledge of tailoring techniques
knowledge of different sewing equipment and methods
understanding of garment construction and pattern-making skills
knowledge of human body shapes
clothing design skills
knowledge of different fashions
knowledge of fabric types, colours and fabric care
cutting skills
maths skills for making calculations and measuring
good communication and listening skills, and the ability to interpret a client's requirements
organisational and problem-solving skills.

Tailors and dressmakers who run their own businesses also need to have accounting and business skills.

"Part of my job is grading then cutting patterns. Every pattern needs to be cut to different sizes, like size 8, size 10 and so on."

Chattar Sen - Tailor

Personal Qualities

Tailors and dressmakers need to be:

creative
quick and neat
accurate, with an eye for detail
practical
patient
able to work well under pressure
reliable
able to be honest with their clients about how clothes look on them.

"I draw the pattern for a dress and start to make the dress. My boss does a fitting with the customer, and decides what bits of the dress need altering then it comes back to me. After that there are more fittings, so you need to be patient because it takes quite a long time to finish one dress."

Seok Foong - Dressmaker