Constructing garments – bringing the design to life, following specifications and quality standards.
Occupational Profile
This occupation is found in the manufacturing, creative and design sectors across the apparel (clothing) industry.
The UK apparel industry consists of mainly micro, small and medium enterprises, producing premium garments for various markets, including womenswear, menswear and childrenswear, for example from bespoke tailored suits, creative designer womenswear, and costumes for opera and theatre, to luxury fashion and couture pieces as seen on catwalks in major capitals across the world.
The broad purpose of the occupation is to construct garments – bringing the design to life, following specifications and quality standards. They may work on one-off products for specific customers or garment samples to be replicated. They help determine the best production method for each design, review fit, deal with manufacturing issues and monitor resources. Garment makers know and understand the end-to-end garment making process. They are extremely proficient sewers, operating sewing machines effectively and applying stitching techniques by hand. They work with different materials and trimmings, appropriate to the design. They work to a high level of accuracy; with close attention to detail, they apply efficient time management skills and may need to work under pressure to meet customer or season deadlines.
In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with personnel involved in garment design, development and production. It will vary depending on the business size, structure and working environment. Typically, in a small production unit, they would interact with the designer and pattern cutter. In a workshop producing couture or bespoke garments, they may interact with a tailor, cutter or the designer. In a wider factory setting, they may work as part of a larger team, this could mean working in a sample room or on the factory floor, interacting with production tailors, designers, product technologists, pattern cutters, fabric cutters, quality controllers and sewing machinists.
An employee in this occupation will be responsible for the pursuit of excellence in relation to the assembly, finish and look of the end product. Throughout the construction of the garment, they need to meet the design brief, which includes specifications and quality standards. They must work effectively on their own or as part of a wider team and must comply with health and safety requirements.
Summary of Standard
https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/garment-maker/
Full Standard
