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OaSIS 2025 Version 1.0
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94132.00 – Industrial sewing machine operators

Industrial sewing machine operators operate sewing machines to sew fabric, fur, leather or synthetic materials to produce or repair garments and other articles.

Overview

Example job titles

  • Fur sewing machine operator
  • Leather products sewing machine operator
  • Lining stitcher
  • Sample sewer
  • Serging machine operator
  • Sewing machine operator
  • Shoe sewer

Core competencies

  • Operation Monitoring of Machinery and Equipment to monitor sewing machines and investigate machine stoppages
  • Arm-Hand Steadiness to thread and operate a variety of sewing machines and perform minor maintenance and repairs on these machines
  • Finger Dexterity to position articles and materials in sewing machines
  • Near Vision to examine finished products for defects and to assemble pieces of garments by matching patterns and dye lots
  • Attention to Detail to carefully compare and select threads according to specifications and colours of fabric
  • Knowledge in Manufacturing, Processing and Production to understand the production process and how different materials behave under various conditions, such as tension settings, stitch types and drape

Main duties

This group performs some or all of the following duties:

  • Assemble pieces of garments by matching patterns and dye lots
  • Operate single, double or multi-needle serging, flat bed felling, banding and other sewing machines, to join sections of garments or other articles into finished products on a piece-work or production basis
  • Operate fur sewing machines to join fur pelt strips to required size and shape and join pelts into garment sections or shells
  • Operate stitching machines to sew leather parts together for leather garments, handbags, shoes and other leather articles
  • Operate serging machines to sew and overcast edges of material simultaneously
  • Operate tackers, pocketsetters, buttonhole makers and fusing, hemmer and other machines to perform various operations in the fabrication of garments and other articles
  • Examine garments and operate sewing machines, sergers and other machines to repair garments and other articles during the manufacturing process
  • Complete production reports
  • May perform minor maintenance and repairs on sewing machine.

Additional information

  • Industrial sewing machine operators may progress to supervisory positions with experience.

Similar occupations classified elsewhere

Exclusions:

  • Inspectors and graders, textile, fabric, fur and leather products manufacturing (94133)
  • Shoe repairers and shoemakers (63220)
  • Tailors, dressmakers, furriers and milliners (64200)

NOC hierarchy breakdown

NOC version

NOC 2021 Version 1.0

Broad occupational category

9 – Occupations in manufacturing and utilities

TEER

4 – Occupations usually require a secondary school diploma; or several weeks of on-the-job training

Major group

94 – Machine operators, assemblers and inspectors in processing, manufacturing and printing

Sub-major group

941 – Processing and manufacturing machine operators and related production workers

Minor group

9413 – Machine operators and related workers in textile, fabric, fur and leather products processing and manufacturing

Unit group

94132 – Industrial sewing machine operators

Occupational profile

94132.00 – Industrial sewing machine operators

O*NET in-it

This page includes information from the O*NET 27.2 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. Employment and Social Development Canada has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.