I can’t stop playing this $15 cozy game that lets you design and sew your own clothes

I love a good farming sim, but there are only so many times I can start a new game, inherit a neglected plot of land, and spend the next 20 hours growing potatoes. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll happily lose an entire weekend to Stardew Valley. But with so many cozy games revolving around farming, decorating, and managing a little town, I’ve been craving something different. Apparently, what I needed was a sewing machine.

That’s how I ended up completely hooked on Dressmaker from developer Cozy Lives that lets you design, cut, and sew your own clothes. And I mean actually sew them. You’re choosing fabrics, cutting out patterns, feeding pieces through a sewing machine, and adding finishing touches yourself. I’ve already caught myself obsessing over the tiniest details, carefully arranging my patterns to get as much use out of every piece of fabric as possible and refusing to settle for anything less than 100% grain quality. I’ll spend way too long adjusting the placement just to squeeze out a little more fabric, but I can’t help it. I want every dress to turn out perfect.

What I love most is how much freedom I have with each design. Customers come in with their own requests and personalities, but I get to decide what their outfits actually look like. The only thing standing between me and becoming a decent dressmaker is my complete inability to sew a straight line. Thankfully, Sewing Assist has me covered.

Making dresses is surprisingly addictive

The shop’s customers also make things fun, especially when they start asking for some pretty unusual dresses. Rose initially needs something sensible for her library job, but later she’s asking for orange and black sequins. Prudence, meanwhile, wants a glamorous black dress for an occasion called “Never the Bride.” Neither customer tells me exactly how the dress should look, either. I get to pick the style, experiment with different fabrics, decide where the sequins go, and add whatever details I think work best. As long as I meet their requirements, the rest is up to me.

Of course, getting to make all those decisions for customers has only made me want to experiment with my own designs. Luckily, I can make dresses without taking commissions and put them up for sale. The problem is that I keep coming up with ideas I can’t afford yet. I’ll finish an order, earn some money, and immediately start eyeing another fabric I want to try. There’s no pressure to rush, either, which is probably why I spend so much time fussing over every little detail. I keep telling myself I’ll stop after one more dress, but that hasn’t happened yet.

The story behind Dressmaker makes me love it even more

I already loved Dressmaker before I learned why it was made. As reported by The Guardian, Jonathan Hau-Yoon and his wife, Sabrina Becker, developed the game together after a chronic illness made it difficult for Becker to continue sewing. She’d once hoped to pursue costume design professionally, so Hau-Yoon wanted to find a way for her to enjoy dressmaking again. Becker brought her own sewing experience to the project, helping turn an activity she missed into a game they could share.

I love knowing that Becker’s own sewing experience helped shape the game, especially when I think about how much time I’ve spent fussing over fabric placement and trying to get every cut right. I’ve never been much of a seamstress myself, but Dressmaker lets me enjoy everything about making clothes without buying a sewing machine or worrying about ruining several yards of perfectly good fabric.

If you’re looking for something different to play between farming sims, I’d definitely recommend giving it a try. Just be warned that you might end up spending 20 minutes arranging fabric for a dress that takes five minutes to sew.

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