Dressmaker All Patterns: Full List and Unlock Guide

Dressmaker has 155 clothing patterns split across four parts: 59 bodices, 46 skirts, 30 sleeves and 20 collars. A new game starts with 38 of them, and every remaining pattern unlocks by earning friendship stars with clients, not by raising shop rank. The well known ruffle skirt, the one tied to the Sew Long achievement, unlocks at Priya star 3.

• 155 patterns total: 59 bodices, 46 skirts, 30 sleeves, 20 collars, with 38 available from the start
• Friendship stars with each client unlock that client's patterns; shop rank only opens fabrics, accessories and sale bonuses
• The Ruffle Skirt sits at Priya star 3, so her early commissions are the shortest path to Sew Long

Official source: Dressmaker on Steam, which describes the loop as choosing fabric, cutting out patterns and sewing them together for each client, and the Free Lives games page from the studio behind the game.

How the 155 patterns break down

Every dress is a bodice and a skirt, plus sleeves and a collar when the bodice takes them. Some bodices skip sleeves or a collar entirely, and the picker offers a No Sleeves and a No Collar option from the start for exactly those builds. The four parts unlock independently of each other, so progress on skirts says nothing about how many bodices are left.

The totals come to 155, which matches the in-game collection and the fan database count of over 150 dress pieces quoted in the developer log. Bodices are the largest group and collars the smallest, which matters when planning: a single star with Rose can drop one pattern, while a single star with Fiona can drop three.

What you start with

A fresh save opens with 38 patterns, enough to sew complete dresses from the first commission. The starter set leans plain on purpose: Princess, Square, Princess Scoop, Milkmaid, Sweetheart, Strapless, Princess V, One Shoulder, Single Keyhole, Plunging Neckline, Elevated Scoop Ruffle, Scoop Ruffle, Cinched Keyhole Blouse and Kimono bodices; Princess, Circle, Gathered Ballgown, Pencil, Mermaid, Straight Long, Flare, Bias Cut, Puffy Gathered Tiered and Single Tiered skirts; Cap, Long, Bracelet, Butterfly, Peasant, Flounce, Short Puffed and Mutton sleeves; Peter Pan, Notched Shirt, Open Shirt, Pointed, Oversized Wing and Pussybow collars.

Commission cards list requirement lines such as quality numbers, style tags and trim lengths rather than naming a pattern, so no single locked pattern blocks the story. The starter pieces clear the early cards, and each client in the arrival order adds their own shapes to the picker. The characters guide maps that arrival order, and the quality guide explains what those requirement lines actually check.

Stars unlock patterns, rank does not

This is the mix-up behind most pattern questions. Dressmaker runs two separate unlock chains. Friendship stars with a client unlock that client's patterns the moment the star lands, and the new shapes appear in the picker right away. Shop rank, the 0 to 50 ladder driven by prestige, opens fabrics and accessories plus 1 percent of sale price per rank, and never hands out a pattern.

That split decides where effort goes. Grinding newspapers for prestige or selling off-the-rack dresses for gold moves rank, which buys a wider fabric wall but zero new shapes. Only finishing a client's commissions moves that client's stars, which is the only thing that widens the pattern list. The full rank mechanics, including why rank stalls late, are in the unlocks guide.

All 59 bodice unlocks

Bodices are the biggest group, and ten clients contribute to it. Rose opens the workwear end of the list, Vivian covers the gothic end, and Dorothy adds the jacket family late.

Dorothy star 4 and Alice star 2 are the densest single drops at three patterns each, so pushing those two clients to their next star is efficient when several bodices are missing at once.

All 46 skirt unlocks

Skirts hold the most famous single pattern in the game: the Ruffle Skirt at Priya star 3. Completing that skirt for the first time earns the Sew Long achievement, which sits at roughly a 10 percent completion rate, and community reports say the skirt cuts into a large number of pieces, so buy extra fabric before starting it. The full achievement list with real rates is in the achievements guide.

Priya is the client to prioritize for skirts: four stars cover the apron, tiered, ruffle and wrap shapes, and star 3 alone clears the Sew Long requirement. Adora's four stars arrive late in the story, so her wavecrest through odette run is strictly endgame cleanup.

All 30 sleeve and all 20 collar unlocks

Sleeves and collars are smaller lists, and several clients skip them entirely. Prudence, for example, grants bodices and skirts but no sleeves or collars, so a hunter missing only sleeves should not spend time on her cards.

Vivian owns the whole dark collar set from Widow's Peak through Gothic across her four stars, which fits her gothic client brief covered in the tutorial vocabulary. Vivian star 4 is also the only source of two sleeves at once, so her late cards pull double duty for both small lists.

Fastest way to earn every pattern

1. Play the story in arrival order and finish each client's open cards before chasing the next client. Stars track per client, so scattered progress unlocks nothing fast.
2. Treat each star ceremony as the drop moment. Open the picker right after and confirm the new shapes before spending gold elsewhere.
3. Spend gold on fabric for the next card, not on stockpiling. Patterns can never be bought in the shop, and a failed dress still pays its budget, so keep sewing rather than saving. The money guide covers the budget arithmetic.
4. Do not grind rank while hunting patterns. Newspapers and off-the-rack sales raise prestige and open fabrics, which never converts into shapes.
5. Push multi-drop stars first when several pieces are missing: Fiona bodice star 4, Dorothy bodice star 4 and Alice bodice star 2 each land three bodices at once.

The itch.io prototype page shows where the project started before the full Steam release, and the Day of the Devs feature page plus the prototype on itch.io both describe the same cut-and-sew loop the pattern system serves. Achievement hunters can cross-check progress against the Steam achievement stats, where Sew Long marks the ruffle skirt milestone.

FAQ

How many patterns are in Dressmaker?

155 in total: 59 bodices, 46 skirts, 30 sleeves and 20 collars. A new game starts with 38, leaving 117 to unlock through friendship stars.

How do you unlock new patterns in Dressmaker?

Earn friendship stars with clients by finishing their commissions. Each star drops that client's patterns into the picker immediately, with nothing to buy and no extra step.

Does shop rank unlock patterns?

No. Shop rank opens fabrics and accessories and adds 1 percent of sale price per rank. Patterns come only from friendship stars, so rank grinding never earns a single shape.

How do I get the ruffle skirt?

Reach Priya star 3 by finishing her commissions. Completing the ruffle skirt for the first time also earns the Sew Long achievement, so cut it with extra fabric on hand.

Can patterns be bought in the shop?

No. The shop sells fabrics and accessories gated by rank. Every pattern is either in the starting set or tied to a client's friendship star.

Do I need all 155 patterns to finish the story?

No. Commission cards check requirement lines like quality, style tags and trim lengths rather than naming a pattern, so the story is completable long before the collection is complete.

Related Guides

• Dressmaker unlocks: rank ladder, patterns and fabrics explains the rank chain that players confuse with pattern stars.
• Dressmaker characters and clients maps the arrival order that decides which stars are available when.
• Dressmaker money and selling covers budgets and sale prices so gold never blocks the next commission.
• Dressmaker quality and scoring guide explains the requirement lines that cards actually check.
• Dressmaker achievements: all 32 lists Sew Long and every other milestone with real completion rates.