Dressmaker Tips and Tricks

Updated October 2, 2026

Here's how Dressmaker scores a dress, how to reach 100% Quality, and 15 tips for the most common reasons a dress loses stars. Most of them are about doing the free thinking first — design, colours and layout — so the expensive part goes right the first time.

How Quality is scored, and how to reach 100%

The Quality line on every card comes from three things you control, and none of them is how much your fabric cost. Community testing on Dressmaker Wiki weighs them like this:

What makes up a commission dress's Quality score, per community testing.
Part	Worth	How to max it
Sewing	50 points	Stay on the guide line; slow down at corners (S lowers speed). Sewing Assist can steer for you.
Cutting	30 points	Turn each piece until its grain label reads 100% before you cut.
Fit	20 points	Set the mannequin to the client's true size from the measurements table.

Making money

Burlap is free. Use it to mock up a layout before buying real fabric, or sew whole burlap dresses and sell them for pure profit.
Sell leftovers. Fabric left over from a commission still makes a dress you can sell from the finished-dress box, which shows the price before you confirm.
Sew cleanly. Sale prices scale with Quality, so a sloppy dress can sell for less than its materials cost.

The International Emporium's fabric wall, with Blush Pink Velvet selected and its style tags listed — Every fabric lists its tags — filter the Emporium by the ones on your card. Image: Cozy Lives / Free Lives press kit

1. Solve the style tags before spending money

Swapping bodices, sleeves and skirts in the sketchbook is free. Keep iterating until every requested tag is met, then shop.

2. Treat explicit “no”s as hard rules

If a client rules out a colour (Prudence and black, Priya and anything bright), respect it — it outweighs small design wins.

3. Get the mannequin to a true 100%

Fit feeds into quality. Match all three dials exactly — see the measurements table.

4. Plan colours with the pencils

Colouring your sketch shows which areas share a fabric, so you buy the right amounts and don't waste budget.

5. Start with two or three fabrics

Fewer fabrics are easier to visualise, cheaper, and faster to cut. Add a third colour only when the request asks for it — Fiona's gardening dress does.

6. Use the Emporium filters

Filter fabrics and trims by the attribute you need instead of browsing everything.

7. Treat the budget as your pay

The budget on a card is what the client pays when you hand the dress in, pass or fail. It isn't a spending cap and doesn't affect the rating, but everything you spend beyond it is a loss, so use cheap fabric where the card doesn't ask for anything special.

8. Line up every grain arrow

A misaligned piece caps quality no matter how neatly you sew. Wait for every piece to turn green.

Cutting pattern pieces from Bridget Silk Brocade, each piece showing its grain-line arrow — Grain-line arrows on each pattern piece. Image: Cozy Lives / Free Lives press kit

9. Pack pattern pieces tightly

Nesting pieces close together gets more out of each length of fabric and stretches your budget.

10. Sew fast on straights, slow on curves

Straight seams tolerate speed; curves are where quality slips. Ease off before each bend.

11. Use accessories on purpose

Accessories carry tags too — a silk flower adds Flowers — and some cards require them (a brooch, feathers, tassels, bows). Beyond that, add them last and only if the budget allows.

12. Watch for caps and hard rules

Some cards cap a tag (Rose's Chilly Overtime: Cute 20 max) or demand a fabric share, colour or accessory count. Missing a rule fails the card however beautiful the dress — see every card on the commissions list.

13. Fix seams before you deliver, not after

Once a dress is handed in, the result is final. If a seam or piece is short, choose Keep working on the finished-dress box, unpick the panel with the seam ripper, scrap it in the basket at the cutting table and redo just that piece.

14. Never gift a commission dress

Gifting builds friendship, but players report that gifting a dress made for an open commission can stall that story. Gift spares only.

15. Match fabric to the occasion

Silk and velvet for formal events, wool for professional looks, cotton and linen for everyday and outdoor dresses.

New to the game? Start with the full Dressmaker walkthrough.

Frequently asked questions

How do you increase quality in Dressmaker?

Set the mannequin to the client's exact measurements, lay every pattern piece so its grain arrow reads 100% before cutting, and sew slowly on curves with Sewing Assist on if you like. Redo a weak seam with the seam ripper rather than starting over.

Why is my dress stuck at 80 quality?

If every piece reads 100% and the seams are clean but Quality sits around 80, the fit is the problem: the mannequin doesn't match the client's true measurements. Set the dials to the values on our measurements page.

Are there cheats in Dressmaker?

No. The game has no cheat codes or console. Sewing Assist in the settings takes over the steering while you sew, and players report it doesn't lower your score. Free burlap and selling off-the-rack dresses are the legitimate ways to get ahead on gold.

How long is Dressmaker?

The main story runs to about 35 hours of commissions, and finishing every achievement takes most players 40 to 50 hours.

Why did my dress get a low rating?

The usual causes are a style tag the client asked for that isn't met, a colour or fabric rule broken, pattern pieces cut off the grain line, wobbly sewing on curved seams, or a mannequin that doesn't match her true measurements.

Are accessories worth buying?

Yes, when a card needs a tag you're short on or asks for a specific accessory. Accessories carry style tags of their own, and some cards require a set number, such as a brooch or four feathers.