Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB)

Designation of occupation

Apparel sewer (m/f)1

Duration of traineeship

2 years
The venues for training delivery are the training company and the vocational school

Field of activity

Apparel sewers are skilled workers capable of carrying out, unaided, appropriately and to fixed deadlines, all duties required in sewing and pattern-making workshops which produce, mainly as collections or in series, garments and other textile products. The products concerned are ladies' mens' and childrens' outer garments, professional clothing, sportswear, leisurewear, linens, swimwear, foundation garments, headwear, accessories and home draperies. The work is highly specialized and shows a pronounced division of labour.

Occupational skills

Apparel sewers manufacture garments and other textile goods on the basis of the knowledge and skills they have accumulated and in compliance with industrial safety, commercial and fashion considerations. They carry out their work unaided on the basis of technical documents and job instructions. They subsequently appraise the finished product and initiate quality assurance measures. As a result of their initial training, apparel sewers are competent in assuming responsibility for their own field of activity and for ensuring cooperation within the enterprise.
The following skills developed during training are applied in their regular work:

• selection of textile materials, other inputs and accessories with reference to intended purpose and economic efficiency;
• planning and preparation of the work steps;
• setting up, operation and monitoring of plant and machinery in the cutting, pressing, sewing and quality control stages of production;
• application of various manufacturing technologies in the cutting, pressing, sewing and quality control stages of production;
• handling systems for the automated capture and evaluation of operating data and electronically controlled devices in plant and machinery;
• understanding of the correlations between design, manufacture and processing; assessment of product quality and initiation of quality assurance measures.

1 First stage of a graduated training in the garment industry;
    extension stage: apparel tailor (m/f)

Last modified on: December 12, 2006