Sewers, Hand
Sew, join, reinforce, or finish, usually with needle and thread, a variety of manufactured items. Includes weavers and stitchers.
2,190 people do this job in the US. $36,480 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 0%
- 0%
- 100%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 0%. Today's estimate: 0%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 11 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sew, join, reinforce, or finish parts of articles, such as garments, books, mattresses, toys, and wigs, using needles and thread or other materials.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 25% | 38 min8 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Use different sewing techniques such as felling, tacking, basting, embroidery, and fagoting.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 21% | 38 min13 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Fit garments on clients, altering as needed.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 17% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Smooth seams with heated irons, flat bones, or rubbing sticks.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Sew buttonholes, or add lace or other trimming.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 7% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Fold, twist, stretch, or drape material, and secure articles in preparation for sewing.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Measure and align parts, fasteners, or trimmings, following seams, edges, or markings on parts.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 8 min3 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Select thread, twine, cord, or yarn to be used, and thread needles.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 4 min2 min to 8 min | Stays with people | |
| Trim excess threads or edges of parts, using scissors or knives.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 4 min2 min to 13 min | Stays with people | |
| Draw and cut patterns according to specifications.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 50 min17 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Tie, knit, weave or knot ribbon, yarn, or decorative materials.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 2% | 38 min8 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Sewing Machine Operators2% now, 2% by 2028
- Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers5% now, 10% by 2028
- Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairers2% now, 2% by 2028
- Shoe Machine Operators and Tenders6% now, 6% by 2028
- Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers32% now, 52% by 2028
- Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials2% now, 2% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).