Tips
Design faster
Click the piece name
Instead of the arrows, click the name (Bodice, Sleeve…) to see every option at once, with style filters.
Variants
Small dots under a piece name mean it has variants (straps, bows, waistband…).
Several open commissions
You can page through the sketchbook to see your other open commissions. If the pink tab takes you to an off-rack dress instead of the story commission, click the bottom-right corner of the page to flip back one page.
Colour the sketch
Colouring pieces does not change scores, but it helps you picture the dress. Build 443 added a button to randomise the pieces.
Click fabric in your inventory
In the shop, clicking a fabric you already own jumps straight to it, so you can buy more without searching.
Putting the dress together
Put everything on the mannequin before sewing
That way you see the full dress and the real fabric percentages (for example "50% velvet") before closing the seams.
Short on one tag?
Re-cut a discreet piece (laces, small ruffles, a back panel, an underskirt) in a fabric that has what you need, instead of redoing the dress.
Seam ripper
The yellow tool in the corner unpicks a piece. If you cannot unpick it, something may be pinned on top.
Sleeves last
If sleeves get in the way while decorating, take them off or leave them for last: you do not need every piece on while you decorate.
Hidden accessories
According to the achievements guide, a required accessory that clashes can go inside the skirt, shrunk and lowered as far as it goes: it is invisible but still counts.
Can't finish?
Almost always a piece is missing (check the cutting table) or a seam is not sewn.
Working with trim
Trim (lace, braids, piping) is what changed most in build 443. These tips are for when you are not using Fast Trim Placement.
Short runs
Move a little at a time and click to drop a pin. More pins let the trim follow curves and folds.
Fix without deleting everything
Hover over the red pins: the run turns yellow. Click to select it; right-click deletes back to the previous pin.
Upside down?
If the trim comes out upside down, drag in the opposite direction.
Clipping
Use the tilt buttons to raise or lower it slightly. Since build 443 you can go below zero, and there is a button to duplicate a trim with the same height, size and tilt.
Cuffs
They are the hardest spot: zoom in and rotate around the cuff as you go. The team said they are working on it.
See it without pins
Trim is sewn on automatically at the end. Go back to the fabric tab to see it without the pins.