Earning gold in Dressmaker, from burlap dresses to the brooch trick
Make dresses you do not owe anyone and sell them. Burlap is free, so a plain burlap dress costs you nothing but time. Once you have gold to spare, a burlap dress covered in expensive brooches can sell for more than it cost; check the sale price before you confirm.
The fastest routes, in order
- Sell burlap dresses Needs: time only. Buy burlap at no cost, keep the design basic so it sews quickly, and pick Sell dress on the finished box.
- Turn leftover fabric into dresses Needs: fabric you already bought. Metres left over from a commission, or bought in the wrong colour, still make a dress you can sell.
- Sell a dress instead of handing it in Needs: a finished dress. Any finished dress can be sold from the same box that completes a commission, including one you made for a card. You do not have to fulfil a commission straight away.
- The brooch dress Needs: a lot of gold up front, and it is a gamble with your savings. Cover a burlap dress in the most expensive brooches of one type, then check what Sell dress offers before you accept.
How the brooch dress works
Make the simplest burlap dress you can, then spend your gold on the dearest brooch in one style and place them all over it. Hold Shift to place several in a row instead of one per click (more placement keys are on accessories). Press Sell dress and look at the price before you confirm: you can still back out. If it pays more than the brooches cost, sell, buy more brooches with the takings and go again; if not, keep the gold for fabric.
Be clear about the cost. The big versions are expensive: a dress with about 1,000 brooches on it cost 42,000 to decorate. Do it when you have gold you will not need for the next card, never with the money for a commission’s fabric.
Why your wallet is smaller than the budget
The budget printed on a card is what the client pays you when they accept the dress. It is not handed over when you take the job. So early on it is normal to open a 500 card with less than 500 in your wallet, and nothing has gone missing. Buy fabric with what you actually have, and if it is not enough, sell a burlap dress or two first. Budgets for every card are in the commission finder.
Spend lightly early
The first few cards are where money runs out. Start with cheaper fabrics, buy only the metres the pattern asks for, and go easy on accessories until you have some savings. Money gets easier as the game goes on, especially once you sell dresses on the side.
An easy way to run out early is fabric bought in the wrong colour for a card, so read the card’s tags before you shop, and check a finished dress against its numbers in the dress check before you hand it in. More on selling, gifting and when off-the-rack dresses open up is on off the rack, selling and gifts.