jobfacts

Sewing machinist

Sewing machinists — SOC 2020 8146

Sewing machinists sew and finish garments by hand or machine, rectify faults in manufactured textile goods and repair worn and damaged garments.

Also calledIndustrial sewing machinistKnitting machinistPleating machinistMenderHosiery machinistMachinistand 312 more titles
Typical full-time pay£24,8002025 Provisional
People in the job19,000across the UK
Demand for workersNot high
New adverts a month283↓ 5.9%on last year · 317th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025
What full-time sewing machinists earn, 2025
£24,800 typical£21,700lowest 20%£22,70025%n/ptop 10%
n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less thanNot published
Lowest 20% earn less than£21,700
25%£22,700
Median£24,800
75%Not published
Top 20% earn more thanNot published
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £24,800
North West!£26,800
Scotland!£26,700
London!£25,700
North East!£24,900
West Midlands!£24,700
South West!£24,600
Wales!£24,100
Yorkshire and The Humber!£22,500
South East!£22,100
East Midlands!£21,800
East of EnglandNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £24,800
North West£26,800 (small sample)
Scotland£26,700 (small sample)
London£25,700 (small sample)
North East£24,900 (small sample)
West Midlands£24,700 (small sample)
South West£24,600 (small sample)
Wales£24,100 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£22,500 (small sample)
South East£22,100 (small sample)
East Midlands£21,800 (small sample)
East of EnglandNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £21,400
  • 2024 £24,100
  • 2025 Provisional£24,800
↑ 16% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 283 jobs for sewing machinists are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as not high.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (1 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026298
Jul 2026254
Jun 2026305
May 2026310
Apr 2026313
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026294
Jan 2026331
Dec 202598
Nov 2025248
Oct 2025330
Sept 2025333
Aug 2025295
Jul 2025303
Jun 2025324
May 2025399
Apr 2025308
Mar 2025356
Feb 2025321
Jan 2025327
Dec 2024171
Nov 2024244
Oct 2024309
Sept 2024309
Aug 2024330
Jul 2024375
Jun 2024391
May 2024491
Apr 2024473
Mar 2024299
Feb 2024277
Jan 2024352
Dec 2023237
Nov 2023273
Oct 2023239
Sept 2023215
Aug 2023276
Jul 2023260
Jun 2023461
May 2023462
Apr 2023384
Mar 2023435
Feb 2023400
Jan 2023484
Dec 2022362
Nov 2022391
Oct 2022494
Sept 2022460
Aug 2022513
Jul 2022543
Jun 2022497
May 2022631
Apr 2022451
Mar 2022538
Feb 2022492
Jan 2022488
Dec 2021390
Nov 2021413
Oct 2021506
Sept 2021577
Aug 2021442
Jul 2021546
Jun 2021497
May 2021541
Apr 2021484
Mar 2021673
Feb 2021316
Jan 2021330
Dec 2020306
Nov 2020362
Oct 2020484
Sept 2020442
Aug 2020315
Jul 2020364
Jun 2020300
May 2020299
Apr 2020536
Mar 2020368
Feb 2020477
Jan 2020425
Dec 2019337
Nov 2019490
Oct 2019406
Sept 2019396
Aug 2019384
Jul 2019489
Jun 2019461
May 2019525
Apr 2019317
Mar 2019425
Feb 2019384
Jan 2019479
Dec 2018287
Nov 2018361
Oct 2018411
Sept 2018428
Aug 2018355
Jul 2018362
Jun 2018420
May 2018369
Apr 2018383
Mar 2018467
Feb 2018471
Jan 2018464
Dec 2017337
Nov 2017497
Oct 2017509
Sept 2017442
Aug 2017474
Jul 2017461
Jun 2017583
May 2017583
Apr 2017543
Mar 2017596
Feb 2017530
Jan 2017478
Is there a shortage of sewing machinists?
Not high

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment.

  • Visas grantedUsual
  • Online job advertsUsual
  • Wage growthAbove usual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedUsual
Note: uncertain in multiple indicators: change in hourly wage, visa density.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
54%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for assemblers and routine operatives, which includes sewing machinists. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London111
Dacorum32
Kirklees19
Leeds18
City of Edinburgh17
Glasgow City15
Manchester13
Bradford13
Leicester12
Birmingham10
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where sewing machinists are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. Fewer than 10 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of sewing machinists
n/p
n/p
n/p
36%!
28%!
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–24Not published
25–34Not published
35–44Not published
45–5436% (small sample)
55–6428% (small sample)
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent!44%
Higher education below degree!4.3%
A levels or equivalent!15%
GCSEs or equivalent!25%
Other qualifications!12%
No qualifications!14%
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent44% (small sample)
Higher education below degree4.3% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent15% (small sample)
GCSEs or equivalent25% (small sample)
Other qualifications12% (small sample)
No qualifications14% (small sample)

Main employers: repair of other personal and household goods (23%), manufacture of other furniture (11%), manufacture of other outerwear (8.8%), finishing of textiles (8.8%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
44%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
1
from level 2
Apprenticeships take
15 months
typically

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

College

You could do a college course to learn some of the skills needed for this job.

Courses include:

  • sewing machine skills
  • fashion and textiles
  • design and craft
Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

Apprenticeship

You could apply to a manufacturing company for an apprenticeship, such as:

  • Sewing Machinist Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship
  • Garment Maker Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship

This may be helpful if you want to get into other skilled work like sample machining and knitwear production.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship

Apply directly

You could apply directly to work as a sewing machinist. Employers would normally expect you to have basic sewing machine skills and the ability to read and understand written pattern instructions. Most companies would ask you to take a practical test at the interview.

Experience of using different types of industrial sewing or knitting machines may give you an advantage.

Registration and professional bodies

Career tips

You could get experience of using different fabrics and sewing techniques at home. Look out for short courses in adult education centres and online to help you develop your skills.

Further information

You can find out more about a career as a sewing machinist from UKFT Futures.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for sewing machinist. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Apprenticeships

1 for this job

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • operates standard and specialised machines to sew, finish and repair garments and other textile, fabric, fur and skin products
  • examines fabrics of all types to identify imperfections and determine best method of repair
  • performs hand sewing tasks in the making, trimming and finishing of fur, sheepskin, leather, upholstery, mats, carpets, umbrellas and other textile products
  • embroiders decorative designs on textiles with machine stitching
  • routinely cleans and oils machine and reports or remedies any mechanical faults

Skills

  • alter wearing apparel
  • coordinate manufacturing production activities
  • distinguish accessories
  • distinguish fabrics
  • embroider fabrics
  • manufacture wearing apparel products
  • operate garment manufacturing machines
  • sew pieces of fabric
  • sew textile-based articles
  • bundle fabrics
  • decorate textile articles
  • manufacture personal protective equipment made of textile
  • use textile technique for hand-made products

Knowledge

  • apparel manufacturing technology
  • buttonholing
  • manufacturing of made-up textile articles
  • manufacturing of wearing apparel
  • properties of fabrics

Suits people who like

  • Practical, hands-on work
  • Organising and following procedures

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for process, plant, machine and construction operatives, a group of 25 jobs that includes sewing machinists.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 19%about 142,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 2035496,000including people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.