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O*NET detailed work activitySew clothing or other articles
Stays humanHands-on work
9 jobs21 tasks
This is physical, in-person work with real objects, tools, equipment and places that change from day to day. AI can't do it for you.
Part of Sew garments or materials, under the O*NET work activity group Handling and Moving Objects. Individual tasks below can carry a different label when their own wording calls for it (0 AI-ready, 0 AI-assist, 21 stays human).
Tasks built on this activity
- Sew, join, reinforce, or finish parts of articles, such as garments, books, mattresses, toys, and wigs, using needles and thread or other materials.
- Let out or take in seams in suits and other garments to improve fit.
- Take up or let down hems to shorten or lengthen garment parts, such as sleeves.
- Make garment style changes, such as tapering pant legs, narrowing lapels, and adding or removing padding.
- Use different sewing techniques such as felling, tacking, basting, embroidery, and fagoting.
- Dye, soak, polish, paint, stamp, stitch, stain, buff, or engrave leather or other materials to obtain desired effects, decorations, or shapes.
- Fit, alter, repair, and make made-to-measure clothing, according to customers' and clothing manufacturers' specifications and fit, and applying principles of garment design, construction, and styling.
- Sew buttonholes and attach buttons to finish garments.
- Re-sew seams, and replace handles and linings of suitcases or handbags.
- Sew rips or tears in material, or create tufting, using needles and thread.
- Prepare pointe shoes, by sewing or other means, for use in rehearsals and performance.
- Sew buttonholes, or add lace or other trimming.
- Form book bodies by folding and sewing printed sheets to form signatures and assembling signatures in numerical order.
- Sew ends of cloth together, by hand or using machines, to form endless lengths of cloth to facilitate processing.
- Mend and sew articles, using hand stitching, adhesive patches, or sewing machines.
Tasks where it is part of the work
- Sew garments, using needles and thread or sewing machines.
- Assemble garment parts and join parts with basting stitches, using needles and thread or sewing machines.
- Stitch or glue endpapers, bindings, backings, or signatures, using sewing machines, glue machines, or glue and brushes.
- Secure finished packaged items by hand tying, sewing, gluing, stapling, or attaching fastener.
- Align and stitch or glue materials such as fabric, fleece, leather, or wood, to join parts.
- Operate sewing machines or sew upholstery by hand to seam cushions and join various sections of covering material.