Dressmaker
cozy dressmaking, guided stitch by stitch
Dressmaker is a single-player dressmaking sim from Cozy Lives, published by Free Lives: measure the customer, design in the sketchbook, cut the pattern, sew it at the machine and decorate it — then deliver the dress to earn reputation and coin. It released on Steam on September 21, 2026 for $14.99, with roughly 35 hours of story commissions, over 450 fabrics and over 350 accessories. This is the unofficial guide to it, and every fact here is cited.
- Steam reviews
- Overwhelmingly Positive
- Fabrics
- 450+
- Accessories
- 350+
- Story commissions
- ≈35 h
At a glance
- Developer
- Cozy Lives
- Publisher
- Free Lives
- Released
- Sep 21, 2026
- Price
- $14.99 USD
- Platforms
- Windows · Mac
- Languages
- EN · 简中 · 日本語
- Achievements
- 32
- Playtime
- ≈35 h of story
- Fabrics
- 450+
- Accessories
- 350+
- Steam Deck
- Playable
- Engine
- Unity
One dress, five steps
- 01
Choose fabric
Cotton, linen, wool, silk and velvet are officially named — and the shop stocks over 450 fabrics in total.
- 02
Cut patterns
Arrange the pattern pieces and cut on the grain or the bias — the choice shows in the finished garment, panel by panel.
- 03
Sew it together
Feed your fabric through the sewing machine and stitch the panels together, one seam at a time.
- 04
Decorate
Buttons, bows, appliqué and lace trims, placed with complete freedom — trim is tracked by the metre.
- 05
Deliver
Ring the bell to summon the next customer, then hand the dress over for reputation and coin — or sell it off the rack.
How it landed
A week after launch the game sits at Overwhelmingly Positive in Steam’s review summary, and the store page carries a five-star pull quote.
Dressmaker is a triumph of original game design that offers limitless ways to complete creative quests.
What the game actually confirms
Everything below comes from the official Steam listing or the developers’ own Steam announcements. Anything you have heard beyond this list — per-fabric stats, hidden achievement conditions, what sabotage does — is marked Unconfirmed until an official source states it.
A sketchbook before scissors
Design and colour your dresses in the sketchbook, pinning fabric swatches and appliqué ideas before you commit cloth to the cut. Component names are clickable, so the design is mapped out before you spend anything.
Grain vs bias cutting
Arrange and cut out patterns on the grain or the bias; the way you cut is visible in the finished dress. Each panel can use a different fabric.
Measured for every body
Every character is measured and the mannequin adjusted to their measurements, with pattern pieces drafted to fit that body — bespoke tailoring, in the developers’ words, rather than standardised sizing.
Mannequin preview
Check your assembled pattern on the mannequin before you sew, so a layout you dislike costs thread rather than a dress.
Free-form decoration
Buttons, bows, appliqué and lace trims go exactly where you place them — the game tracks trims by length, and one achievement asks for over 50 metres of it on a single dress.
450+ fabrics, 350+ accessories
The developers put the launch content at over 150 dress pieces, over 450 fabrics and over 350 accessories, all made in-house — and small updates keep adding more.
Commissions — and sabotage
Townsfolk commission dresses for events on their social calendar and for their own tastes, and the store page teases that you can satisfy (or sabotage!) them. What sabotage does mechanically is Unconfirmed.
A shop of your own
Display finished dresses in your shop window and sell off-the-rack designs alongside commission work — a deliberate feature, added so players could make their own designs to sell. And yes, you can pet the kitty.
Official screenshots
Straight from the Steam store listing, unedited. These are the only images on this site that come from the game itself.
The official roadmap
The launch announcement set out what the team is working on next. Interim patches fix bugs and sprinkle in new fabrics and accessories; the bigger items below are in development, not dated.
Online challenge mode
Compare your dress designs with other dressmakers and vote for your favourites.
Transparent fabrics
Left out of the launch build — layered transparency with double-sided meshes needs more work to look right.
Proper controller support
The game runs fast on the Steam Deck, but the team wants real controller support rather than emulated mouse input.
Mobile and Switch ports
Planned, and constantly requested on the studio’s social channels. No dates have been published.
Every page on this site
Eleven content pages across three groups — guides, tools and reference — plus the legal pages in the footer. Every claim carries the source it came from.
Guide
From your first commission to delivery: sketchbook, fabric, cutting, sewing, decorating and getting paid.
Read on →GuidesWalkthrough
The complete first session in play order, from the front door to the shop window — plus the story route and the roadmap.
Read on →ReferenceFabrics
The five officially named fabrics, the haberdashery, and everything the game confirms about lace trims and decoration.
Read on →ReferenceCustomers
The ten clients behind the storyline achievements, and how commissions actually arrive.
Read on →ReferenceCharacters
The ten named townsfolk, what the developers say about them, and the people who made the game.
Read on →ToolsCalculator
Pick a customer and a goal — satisfy or sabotage — and get a step-by-step commission checklist.
Read on →ToolsTier List
A subjective editorial ranking of the confirmed fabrics and decorations. No official stats exist.
Read on →ReferenceAchievements
All 32 achievements with official descriptions, hidden-achievement flags and global unlock rates.
Read on →ReferenceSystem Requirements
Official Windows and Mac minimum specs, plus the Steam Deck rating and the announced ports.
Read on →GuidesTips
Advanced techniques derived from the official mechanics: grain vs bias, per-panel fabrics, achievement hunting.
Read on →GuidesFAQ
Price, platforms, languages, playtime, Steam Deck, sabotage and the itch.io name collision — answered.
Read on →SteamDressmaker on Steam
Guides, reference and tools for Cozy Lives’ cozy dressmaking sim.
Buy on Steam →Dressmaker quick answers
Is Dressmaker out?
Yes. Dressmaker released on Steam on September 21, 2026, priced at $14.99 USD. A -10% launch discount ran at release; as of September 29, 2026 the store shows the full price.
What platforms is Dressmaker on?
Windows and Mac via Steam. There is no Linux build, but the developers have announced that mobile and Nintendo Switch ports are planned.
How long is Dressmaker?
The developers describe approximately 35 hours of story commissions, excluding off-the-rack dresses you make and sell on your own initiative.
How many fabrics and accessories does Dressmaker have?
Over 450 fabrics, over 350 accessories and over 150 dress pieces at launch, according to the developers, with more added in updates.
Is Dressmaker Steam Deck compatible?
Yes — Steam rates it Playable on Steam Deck, not Verified: the default controller layout works and performance is fine, but the interface text is small and the on-screen glyphs do not always match the Deck.
Is Dressmaker multiplayer?
No. The Steam listing classifies it as single-player, and no official source mentions multiplayer or co-op. An online challenge mode with voting is planned as future content.
Does Dressmaker have DLC?
No paid DLC has been announced. The developers said more free content and new features are coming, starting with small updates that add fabrics and accessories.
How many achievements does Dressmaker have?
32, per Steam’s official achievement statistics. Sixteen publish a description; the other sixteen are hidden.
Where these facts come from
This site is built from three official sources: the Steam store listing, Steam’s global achievement statistics and the developer’s own Steam announcements. Everything they state is quoted or paraphrased with the source cited; anything none of them states — per-fabric stats, hidden achievement conditions, what sabotage changes — is marked Unconfirmed rather than filled in. Nothing here is sourced from community wikis or datamining, and generated illustrations are labelled as such.
- Official Dressmaker on Steam (app 4019220) — The official store listing, read September 29, 2026. Source of the release date (September 21, 2026), the $14.99 price, Windows/Mac support, language support (English, Simplified Chinese and Japanese with full audio), the single-player/casual-simulation classification, the named fabrics (cotton, linen, wool, silk, velvet), the decoration types (buttons, bows, appliqué, lace trims), the sketchbook, mannequin, grain/bias cutting, window-display and "satisfy (or sabotage!)" mechanics, the official system requirements, the interface feature flags (Mouse Only Option, Playable without Timed Input, Custom Volume Controls, Steam Cloud, Family Sharing), the Steam Deck compatibility rating shown on the store page, the review summary (Overwhelmingly Positive), the six bundles the game ships in, and the Screenhub pull quote.
- Official Dressmaker — Steam global achievement statistics — Steam’s official global achievement stats for app 4019220, read September 29, 2026. Source of the full 32-achievement list, each achievement’s official description (where one is published — hidden achievements show none), the global unlock percentages quoted across this site, and the achievement icons displayed on the achievements page. The percentages are live and drift as more players unlock; the figures here are the ones Steam showed that day.
- Official Dressmaker — developer announcements on Steam — The Dressmaker team’s own announcement feed on Steam, read September 29, 2026. Source of the content roadmap from the launch post (September 21, 2026: an online challenge mode, transparent fabrics, controller support, and planned mobile and Switch ports), the price post (September 7, 2026: $14.99 with regional pricing and a -10% launch discount, approximately 35 hours of story commissions, over 150 dress pieces, over 450 fabrics and over 350 accessories, and more free content to come), the monthly development posts (per-character measuring and pattern drafting, custom fabric shaders, the off-the-rack feature, nine of ten characters illustrated, each with an over-the-top personality, and the team credits), and the two post-launch patch notes (Build 403 on September 22, 2026 and Build 410 on September 24, 2026).
- Press review Screenhub — Dressmaker review (five stars) — Leah J. Williams’ five-star review for Screenhub, published September 15, 2026 — the review quoted on the Steam store page. Source of the order of operations on a commission (measurements, design book, emporium, cutting, sewing on the mannequin), the brief-and-style-score system, the five-metres-per-dress guidance, the cutting and sewing mini-games, the note that sewing mistakes reduce dress quality, and the progression from opening dresses to tiered gowns.
Open your own dress shop
Start with the walkthrough for the first session in play order, check the fabric and character references when a request stumps you, and use the commission calculator to plan the next delivery.