Silk & Seam — a free sewing and dressmaking game online
A cosy seamstress game: read your clients' letters, sketch the dress, cut it, sew it on a vintage machine, trim it in lace and pearls and reveal it on the mannequin. Then walk into town and win grander work. Free, in your browser, no download and no sign-up.
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How to play: from a letter to a finished gown
Your aunt has left you her dress shop: an old sewing machine, a few bolts of cotton and a desk that is never short of letters. Every dress goes through the same five steps, and each one is a small game of its own.
- Read the letter. Each client asks for a feel - romantic, elegant, playful, gothic, glamorous - names what she will not wear, and gives a budget and an occasion.
- Sketch the dress. Choose the bodice, collar, sleeves and skirt, the fabric and up to three dyes. Every piece carries tags, and the meters show how close the design is to what she asked for.
- Cut the pattern. Draw the scissors along the chalk line on the cutting table. Neat cuts make a neat dress.
- Sew the seams. Start the machine, steer the cloth to keep the chalk seam under the needle and ease off on the curves. The fabric drags a little, as real cloth does, and the bobbin runs out at the worst moment.
- Embellish and reveal. Add lace, seed pearls, bows, rosettes, gold embroidery or ostrich feathers, zone by zone. Then the curtains open on the mannequin and the client says what she thinks.
Get paid for getting it right
A client who wanted something romantic for a garden party will not pay full price for a gothic corset, however well it is sewn. The fee depends on how closely the dress matches what was asked for and on how cleanly it was cut and stitched, and a dress that delights earns a tip on top. Good verdicts build your reputation, from an unknown atelier to the talk of the town and, in the end, a couture house.
Design your own dress, one piece at a time
There is no single right answer to a letter. Nine bodices, from a laced corset to an empire waist; collars from a Peter Pan to a Medici lace collar; puff, bishop, angel and Juliet sleeves; and eleven skirts, including an A-line, a ball gown, a mermaid, a bustle and a high-low hem. Clients come in six body shapes, and the dress is cut to fit each one.
Into town: gossip, friends and bigger requests
Leave the shop and walk into Thimblebury, a busy, many-cultured town of five places: the Market Square, Spice Row, Lantern Street, the Harbour, and the Opera House and grand houses of the Crescent. Fifteen townsfolk live there - a baker, a sari merchant, a chop-house cook who leads the choir, a tea-house owner, a flamenco dancer, a retired tailor, a laundress, the opera's wardrobe master and its prima donna.
Talk well and they ask you for work. Every person likes some ways of talking and dislikes one, and the gossip you pick up tells you which. Charm the wardrobe master and you sew an opera costume; win over the Crescent and a lady asks for a noblewoman's gown. There are society debuts, stage costumes and wedding dresses too. And at the Harbour, where people work hardest and earn least, you can make a dress for free - it pays nothing, but the town notices, and notice opens doors that money does not.
Sarees, pha sin and dresses from many cultures
Not every client wants a ball gown. Drape a saree over a choli blouse in Banarasi silk for Onam, Diwali or a cousin's sangeet night; wrap a Thai pha sin with a sabai in shot silk for Songkran or Loy Krathong; or cut an Ankara wax print for a harvest thanksgiving. A visiting Rani wants her banquet saree finished in town, so that it belongs to both places.
Fabrics, the market and the seasons
What you earn buys better cloth at the fabric market: cotton lawn and gingham at first, then duchess satin, velvet, silk charmeuse, chiffon, crystal organza, sequins, gold brocade and couture lace. The market has sales, the offcuts become scrunchies, pouches and cushion covers, and workshop upgrades - pinking shears, a daylight lamp, an electric machine - make cutting and sewing more forgiving. The year turns through spring garden parties, midsummer revels, harvest balls and a winter masquerade, and each season brings its own clients.
Tips for a new dressmaker
- Read what she does not want. A single piece she dislikes costs more than a perfect hem earns back.
- Slow down on the curves. Sewing speed is yours to control; a wandering seam and loose threads cost you at the reveal.
- Do not over-trim. Lace and pearls add romance, but pile on too much and a gown becomes unwearable. Watch the meters.
- Listen to the gossip. It tells you how each person in town likes to be spoken to, before you spend a conversation on them.
- Get the machine serviced early. It is one of the first upgrades on sale, and a more forgiving seam pays for itself within a few dresses.
Questions
Is Silk & Seam free?
Yes. It is free, with no sign-up and nothing to download or install. It opens in the browser tab you already have.
What do you do in Silk & Seam?
You run a small dressmaking atelier. Clients write letters asking for a dress; you sketch it, cut the pattern, sew the seams on a vintage sewing machine, embellish it with lace, pearls and bows, and reveal it on the mannequin. The closer the dress is to what the client asked for, and the better it is made, the more she pays. In town you gossip, make friends and win bigger requests.
Can I design my own dress?
Yes. Every dress is built from your own choices: nine bodices, eight collars, eight sleeves, eleven skirts, nineteen fabrics, seventeen dyes and fourteen trims, unlocked as you level up. The client sets the mood she wants; how you get there is up to you.
Are there sarees and dresses from other cultures?
Yes. You can drape a saree over a choli blouse in Banarasi silk, wrap a Thai pha sin with a sabai in shot silk, or sew an Ankara wax print, for occasions such as Onam, Diwali, a sangeet night, Songkran, Loy Krathong and a harvest thanksgiving, alongside ball gowns, wedding dresses and opera costumes.
Does it work on a phone or tablet?
It runs in any modern browser. On a computer you steer the sewing machine with the mouse or the keyboard; on a touch screen you hold a finger on the cloth and drag. It plays best on a tablet or a computer, where the cutting table has room.
Is Silk & Seam the same game as Dressmaker?
No. Dressmaker is a paid game on Steam by a different studio. Silk & Seam is a separate, smaller game by Magestican Studios that is free and plays in a web browser, so there is nothing to buy or install. If you like one, you may well enjoy the other.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no account to make. Your atelier is kept in your own browser, so it is there when you come back on the same device. The site sets no cookies and keeps anonymous counts only.
Can I play with a friend?
Not yet. Silk & Seam is a single-player game.
More from the studio
For something slower still, Moon Life is a cosy life game on a tiny moon with an orchard and a cat landlord. For words, Wordburrow holds five puzzles in one place, and the board games - Rookwise, Jumpwise and Pawnrush - have big pieces and no clock. Every game is listed on the home page, and the reviews page says what is good and what is not about each of them.
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