Sewers, Hand

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

• Draw and cut patterns according to specifications.
• Fit garments on clients, altering as needed.
• Select thread, twine, cord, or yarn to be used, and thread needles.
• Sew buttonholes, or add lace or other trimming.
• Measure and align parts, fasteners, or trimmings, following seams, edges, or markings on parts.
• Measure and align parts, fasteners, or trimmings, following seams, edges, or markings on parts.
• Tie, knit, weave or knot ribbon, yarn, or decorative materials.
• Use different sewing techniques such as felling, tacking, basting, embroidery, and fagoting.
• Fit garments on clients, altering as needed.
• Trim excess threads or edges of parts, using scissors or knives.
• Fit garments on clients, altering as needed.
• Sew, join, reinforce, or finish parts of articles, such as garments, books, mattresses, toys, and wigs, using needles and thread or other materials.
• Fold, twist, stretch, or drape material, and secure articles in preparation for sewing.
• Smooth seams with heated irons, flat bones, or rubbing sticks.
• Draw and cut patterns according to specifications.

Skills

• Science
  • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
• Service Orientation
  • Looking for ways to help people.
• Judgment and Decision Making
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
• Technology Design
  • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
• Time Management
  • Managing your time and the time of other people.
• Speaking
  • Talking to others.
• Operation and Control
  • Using equipment or systems.
• Quality Control Analysis
  • Testing how well a product or service works.
• Critical Thinking
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
• Management of Financial Resources
  • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
• Active Listening
  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
• Systems Analysis
  • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
• Equipment Maintenance
  • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
• Mathematics
  • Using math to solve problems.
• Instructing
  • Teaching people how to do something.
• Negotiation
  • Bringing people together to solve differences.
• Writing
  • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
• Installation
  • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
• Programming
  • Writing computer programs.
• Management of Material Resources
  • Managing equipment and materials.
• Operations Analysis
  • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
• Management of Personnel Resources
  • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
• Operations Monitoring
  • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
• Coordination
  • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
• Troubleshooting
  • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
• Reading Comprehension
  • Reading work-related information.
• Equipment Selection
  • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
• Repairing
  • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
• Monitoring
  • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
• Systems Evaluation
  • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
• Social Perceptiveness
  • Understanding people's reactions.
• Active Learning
  • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
• Persuasion
  • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
• Learning Strategies
  • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
• Complex Problem Solving
  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

Abilities

• Hearing Sensitivity
  • Telling the difference between sounds.
• Control Precision
  • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
• Speech Clarity
  • Speaking clearly.
• Sound Localization
  • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
• Oral Expression
  • Communicating by speaking.
• Number Facility
  • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
• Inductive Reasoning
  • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
• Written Comprehension
  • Reading and understanding what is written.
• Deductive Reasoning
  • Using rules to solve problems.
• Time Sharing
  • Doing two or more things at the same time.
• Memorization
  • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
• Static Strength
  • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
• Response Orientation
  • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
• Extent Flexibility
  • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Glare Sensitivity
  • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
• Depth Perception
  • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
• Speed of Closure
  • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
• Gross Body Coordination
  • Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
• Information Ordering
  • Ordering or arranging things.
• Reaction Time
  • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
• Dynamic Strength
  • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
• Originality
  • Creating new and original ideas.
• Speech Recognition
  • Recognizing spoken words.
• Manual Dexterity
  • Holding or moving items with your hands.
• Spatial Orientation
  • Knowing where things are around you.
• Visualization
  • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
• Visual Color Discrimination
  • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
• Night Vision
  • Seeing at night or under low light.
• Flexibility of Closure
  • Seeing hidden patterns.
• Selective Attention
  • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
• Explosive Strength
  • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
• Trunk Strength
  • Using your lower back and stomach.
• Wrist-Finger Speed
  • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
• Near Vision
  • Seeing details up close.
• Far Vision
  • Seeing details that are far away.
• Rate Control
  • Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
• Speed of Limb Movement
  • Quickly moving your arms and legs.
• Written Expression
  • Communicating by writing.
• Category Flexibility
  • Grouping things in different ways.
• Gross Body Equilibrium
  • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
• Stamina
  • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
• Auditory Attention
  • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
• Oral Comprehension
  • Listening and understanding what people say.
• Fluency of Ideas
  • Coming up with lots of ideas.
• Perceptual Speed
  • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
• Peripheral Vision
  • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
• Mathematical Reasoning
  • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
• Dynamic Flexibility
  • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Finger Dexterity
  • Putting together small parts with your fingers.
• Problem Sensitivity
  • Noticing when problems happen.
• Multilimb Coordination
  • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

Knowledge

• Education and Training
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Economics and Accounting
  • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• Communications and Media
  • Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Computers and Electronics
  • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Engineering and Technology
  • Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Design
  • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• Foreign Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
• Telecommunications
  • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
• Public Safety and Security
  • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Geography
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
• Chemistry
  • Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• Fine Arts
  • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• Sales and Marketing
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Customer and Personal Service
  • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Personnel and Human Resources
  • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Psychology
  • Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Administration and Management
  • Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Building and Construction
  • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
• Administrative
  • Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
• Physics
  • Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
• Sociology and Anthropology
  • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
• Mathematics
  • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• English Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• Biology
  • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• History and Archeology
  • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
• Therapy and Counseling
  • Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
• Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Philosophy and Theology
  • Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
• Law and Government
  • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Food Production
  • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• Medicine and Dentistry
  • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

Education

Education

No formal educational credential

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

×

Education and Training Opportunities

Close

Pay

U.S. Annual Salary

33760/yr

U.S. Hourly Wage

16.23/hr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

4,900

Yearly Projected Openings

600

Personality

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

• Attention to Detail
• Dependability
• Achievement/Effort
• Integrity
• Initiative
• Independence

Tools

• Awls
• Domestic clothing irons
• Dressmakers ruler
• Embroidery making machines
• Fids
• Laser printers
• Needle threader
• Notebook computers
• Punches or nail sets or drifts
• Seam gauge
• Seam ripper
• Sewing needles
• Shears
• Squares
• Straight pins
• Tablet computers
• Tape measures
• Thimbles
• Utility knives

Technology

• Computer aided design CAD software
• Graphics or photo imaging software
• Office suite software
• Optical character reader OCR or scanning software
• Presentation software
• Spreadsheet software