What the work involves, what it pays, and real lines you can start from. Answer a few small questions and leave with a resume.
Also called alteration tailor, alterations and tailor shop fitter, alterations and tailor shop sewer and alterations tailor.
$41,640
Median pay a year
13,920
People do this work
6
Resume lines ready for you
Pay and headcount are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The lines are written from what the US Department of Labor records about this work.
An example
A Tailor, Dressmaker, and Custom Sewer resume, filled in
Every line below comes from the same public record as the rest of this page. The greyed parts are the ones only you can answer.
Tailor, Dressmaker, and Custom Sewer
Summary
Tailor designing, making, altering, and repairing garments, measuring customers and recording sizes, fitting clothes, and discussing materials and styles with clients
Experience
Tailor, Dressmaker, and Custom Sewer
Where you worked
Month Year to Month Year
Measured customers, using tape measures, and recorded measurements
Sewed garments, using needles and thread or sewing machines
Fitted and studied garments on customers to determine required alterations
Removed stitches from garments to be altered, using rippers or razor blades
Pressed garments, using hand irons or pressing machines
Conferred with customers to determine types of material and garment styles desired
Skills
Core Skills
Sewing clothing and articles, Measuring clients, Operating sewing equipment, Adjusting fabrics or materials, Reading work orders or instructions, Marking equipment with labels, Measuring indicators, Estimating materials, Designing templates and patterns
Hands-On Work
Repairing textiles or apparel
Education
High School Diploma Your school, Year
Yours will not say this. It will say what you did, in your own words, and Rung writes it with you one question at a time.
Nothing to write from scratch
What to put on a Tailor, Dressmaker, and Custom Sewer resume
Real duties for this job, already written the way a resume reads. Inside Rung you choose the ones that were yours.
What did you do each day?
Choose what fits, or say your own.
Measured parts for alterationsRemoved stitches from garmentsSewed garments with machinesLet out or took in seamsMeasured customers with tapeFitted garments on customers
becomes
On your resume
Measured garment parts for accurate alterations and adjustments
Sewed garments using sewing machines to ensure quality and durability
These are written the way a resume line reads. Rung asks which ones are actually yours, keeps your own words, and never claims work you did not do.
Then it asks for one more thing
The line that could show more, and the fact that lands it.
Make it stronger
A few lines could show more. Each one is asked, and answered by choosing.
Add how many measurements you took each day
The line
Measured several garment parts each day for accurate alterations and adjustments
Add how many measurements you took each day
Pick one that fits
Several each dayA few for each garmentMost garments needed measurements
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Show what improved in garment quality because you sewed them
The line
Sewed garments using sewing machines to ensure quality and durability
Show what improved in garment quality because you sewed them
Pick one that fits
Fewer returns for repairsBetter fit for customersIncreased customer satisfaction
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Every ready answer is in plain words, never a figure. Nothing is invented to fill a gap.
What it is made of
Skills for a Tailor, Dressmaker, and Custom Sewer resume
What this work is made of. Rung offers these and keeps the ones you claim.
What are you good at?
Sewing clothing and articles
Repairing textiles or apparel
Measuring clients
Operating sewing equipment
Adjusting fabrics or materials
Reading work orders or instructions
Marking equipment with labels
Measuring indicators
Estimating materials
Designing templates and patterns
Trimming excess material from workpieces
Cutting fabrics
The work itself
What a Tailor, Dressmaker, and Custom Sewer does
The public record of what this job is, in one paragraph.
Design, make, alter, repair, or fit garments.
What it pays
How much does a Tailor, Dressmaker, and Custom Sewer make?
Annual pay across the United States. The middle figure is the median: half earn less than that, and half earn more.
25th percentile
$35,230
Median
$41,640
75th percentile
$50,200
About 13,920 people do this work in the United States.
This page is about the occupation Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers. What this job involves and what it is made of come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupation database, refreshed July 2026; Rung writes those records into the plain sentences you see. Pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release for 2025. Rung is an independent service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by either agency. How Rung handles accuracy is on the accuracy page, and the full data credits are on the credits page.