Dressmaker Guides Hub
Prototype loop, Steam shop plans, and every how-to page in one index.
Dressmaker is a single-player sewing sim from Cozy Lives, the Cape Town label inside Free Lives. You run a small atelier: take a townsfolk request, sketch a silhouette, buy cloth, cut pattern pieces, feed seams through a sewing machine, add notions, and hand the dress back for quality, style match, and budget. This hub is the index for those how-to pages. It is written for two overlapping audiences: people playing Prototype 0.5.5 on itch.io right now, and people waiting for the Steam shop planned for 21 September 2026.
Do not mix the two builds in your head. The itch download is a name-your-price preview with unfinished seams. The Steam build is the full game the studio has been expanding for a year: measurements, a larger piece and fabric catalogue, and off-the-rack window selling. Steam lists Windows and macOS. Steam Deck compatibility is still unknown. Linux is on the prototype zips, not on the Steam platform flags.
Prototype versus the Steam shop
Prototype 0.5.5 was first sketched in about three weeks by Jonathan Hau-Yoon, Ruan Rothmann, Sara Laubscher, and dressmaking consultant Sabrina Becker, then patched through 0.5.5. It teaches the tactile loop well enough that you can learn grain lines and the red follow-dot before launch week. It does not represent final length, final mannequin sizing, or the finished accessory wall.
The Steam page (app 4019220) is the product you wishlist. Official news on 7 September 2026 set the price at $14.99 with regional pricing and a 10% launch discount. Story commissions are about 35 hours if you ignore off-the-rack dresses. The catalogue target is 150+ dress pieces, 450+ fabrics, and 350+ accessories, drawn in-house. Unity is the engine. Languages on Steam are English, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese, each with full audio. This wiki covers English and Japanese.
If you only want dates, price, and platform notes, jump to the Steam launch page and the prototype notes. The pages below teach the craft.
Start here if you are new
Getting Started is the day-one path: wishlist, download, first library client, leftover bolts, and petting the shop cat. It also flags what the Steam version adds over the prototype, including measurements and shop-window selling.
How to Play walks the loop in order without skipping stations. Use it as a checklist while a client waits at the counter. How to Sew is the mechanical deep dive: mouse drag versus Space plus arrows, the speed limiter, and why quality collapses the moment the red dot leaves the marching-ants line. Cutting Patterns is the other half of that score. The grain-line arrow must sit horizontal for a green outline. Bias is a legal advanced choice, not a beginner default. A grain mistake caps quality even if every stitch later looks perfect.
Taste, silhouette, and whether to wait
Customers and Commissions covers occasion, style tags, and budget. The first library job often lands near 300 coin and wants professional, work-appropriate cloth. Ball clients ask for glamorous or elegant work on larger purses, with 1000 as a useful example. The sabotage joke in the trailer is flavour; delivering a dress that matches the brief is how reputation and the newspaper actually move.
Sketchbook and Design is where bodice, neckline, sleeves, skirt, and collar are picked, style tags such as Cute, Elegant, and Professional are applied, panels are coloured, and fabric samples are pinned before you draft the pattern.
Measurements and Fit is the Steam fitting station: tape the client, set the mannequin, and expect fit to feed quality. Prototype 0.5.5 paused that research. Read it so you do not hunt a hidden tape in the itch zip.
Off the Rack Shop covers the shop window and selling finished dresses for coin outside named commissions. The about 35-hour story figure excludes that lane. Prototype play stays commission-first.
Prototype Review is an unpaid, honest split: who should download itch today for the tactile sewing, and who should wait for Steam if unfinished seams and a short story would sour the first impression.
Fabric shopping, accessory walls, keyboard maps, and a printable-style quality list live outside this category. From here you can still reach the fabric ranking, the quality checklist, keyboard and mouse controls, and system requirements.
How to use this hub during launch week
Read one craft page at a time. The sewing machine will not save a crooked grain. The sketchbook will not save a silk ballgown on a 300-coin library budget. If a sentence on this wiki disagrees with a later Steam patch, trust the in-game tooltip and the official news first. Music in both builds is by Meydän. Story writing for the full game is by Kerstin Hall. Sound design is Jason Sutherland. None of that changes the table rule: green outline, then slow stitches, then notions, then the counter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers for launch week, the prototype, and the sewing loop.
Is Dressmaker playable on Steam yet?
No. Steam lists a planned release of 21 September 2026. Wishlist the store page and use the Steam launch notes for price and platforms. Prototype 0.5.5 is the build you can play today.
Which guide should I open first?
New players should start with Getting Started, then How to Play. Jump to How to Sew or Cutting Patterns as soon as a score looks stuck.
Does the itch.io prototype match the Steam game?
No. The prototype teaches the loop with unfinished seams. Steam adds measurements, a much larger catalogue, and off-the-rack selling. Compare them in the prototype notes and the Prototype Review.
Is Dressmaker multiplayer?
It is single-player. There is no shared shop or second-player sewing station. Plan commissions as a solo loop from counter to delivery.
Where do fabrics and accessories sit on this wiki?
Use the fabric ranking for cotton through velvet, and the accessories list for buttons, bows, lace, and appliqué. Sketch choices are on Sketchbook and Design.
Where are measurements and shop-window selling explained?
Measurements and Fit covers tape and the mannequin. Off the Rack Shop covers window sales. Both are Steam-side systems, not complete Prototype 0.5.5 menus.