Sewing Machine Operators

Key Responsibilities

• Perform equipment maintenance tasks such as replacing needles, sanding rough areas of needles, or cleaning and oiling sewing machines.
• Position and mark patterns on materials to prepare for sewing.
• Guide garments or garment parts under machine needles and presser feet to sew parts together.
• Record quantities of materials processed.
• Cut materials according to specifications, using blades, scissors, or electric knives.
• Remove holding devices and finished items from machines.
• Cut excess material or thread from finished products.
• Draw markings or pin appliques on fabric to obtain variations in design.
• Start and operate or tend machines, such as single or double needle serging and flat-bed felling machines, to automatically join, reinforce, or decorate material or articles.
• Select supplies such as fasteners and thread, according to job requirements.
• Attach buttons, hooks, zippers, fasteners, or other accessories to fabric, using feeding hoppers or clamp holders.
• Repair or alter items by adding replacement parts or missing stitches.
• Fold or stretch edges or lengths of items while sewing to facilitate forming specified sections.
• Tape or twist together thread or cord to repair breaks.
• Place spools of thread, cord, or other materials on spindles, insert bobbins, and thread ends through machine guides and components.
• Mount attachments, such as needles, cutting blades, or pattern plates, and adjust machine guides according to specifications.
• Position material or articles in clamps, templates, or hoop frames prior to automatic operation of machines.
• Turn knobs, screws, and dials to adjust settings of machines, according to garment styles and equipment performance.
• Perform specialized or automatic sewing machine functions, such as buttonhole making or tacking.
• Examine and measure finished articles to verify conformance to standards, using rulers.
• Baste edges of material to align and temporarily secure parts for final assembly.
• Match cloth pieces in correct sequences prior to sewing them, and verify that dye lots and patterns match.
• Inspect garments, and examine repair tags and markings on garments to locate defects or damage, and mark errors as necessary.
• Attach tape, trim, appliques, or elastic to specified garments or garment parts, according to item specifications.
• Position items under needles, using marks on machines, clamps, templates, or cloth as guides.
• Monitor machine operation to detect problems such as defective stitching, breaks in thread, or machine malfunctions.