A person whose job is sewing garments: assembling them, altering them to fit and repairing them, by hand or by machine.
A seamstress sews for a living, by hand and on the sewing machine. O*NET, the US Department of Labor’s occupational database, files seamstresses with tailors and dressmakers in one occupation, whose tasks include measuring clients, pinning alteration lines, letting out or taking in seams, taking up hems and sleeves, replacing zippers and linings, and pressing. Oxford defines a seamstress as a woman whose job is sewing and making clothes, and a dressmaker as a person who makes women’s clothes; it notes that many people now avoid job names ending in -ess.
The line with a tailor is drawn by the garment. Onisep, the French careers service, separates tailors, who make men’s clothing, from flou specialists, who make women’s. Inside a couture house, the French Ministry of Culture describes the flou atelier sewing soft dresses and blouses in mousseline, organza or crêpe with fine, discreet seams, and the tailleur atelier building structured jackets, coats and trousers.
In job listings
Seamstress titles appear in boutique and department-store alterations rooms, fitting and altering ready-to-wear for clients; in production and sample workshops, assembling garments from patterns and pre-cut pieces, sometimes on industrial machines; and in hotels, repairing guests’ clothing. Alterations listings often accept seamstress or tailoring experience alike. See current seamstress roles.
