Learn English – Word for “sewing clothing” that isn’t gender-specific

phrase-requestssingle-word-requests

I'm looking for a single word or a short (fewer than 25 character) phrase that means "sewing that is specific to clothing" but isn't gender-specific like "dressmaking".

Options that I have considered and dismissed include

  • "tailoring" – too specific as it relates directly to the act of making clothing fit a person rather than the simple act of making the clothing.
  • "dressmaking" – gender-specific issues.
  • "sewing" – too broad as it does not relate strictly to clothes.

For use, this will be used as a tag on another SE site so it will not be in a sentence but should follow the SE tagging style. Generally, our activity tags use the gerund form (crocheting, sewing, painting, etc).

The only restriction is that the word/phrase be shorter than 25 characters including spaces (hyphens). Because this would be a tag, it's important that the term be commonly-used so that it's something a user would try to tag a question with rather than being obscure.

I've been looking around online and thinking it over but I can't seem to find any good options and since I don't sew/make clothes myself, I don't know what other options are out there.

Best Answer

The term garment making has some usage:

From Thesaurus.com:

garment making as in rag trade

Synonyms for garment making

noun clothing industry

  • dressmaking
  • garment industry
  • Seventh Avenue
  • fashion design
  • haute couture
  • tailoring

HOME SEWING AND SIMPLE GARMENT MAKING (London College of Fashion course)

Garment Making Sew cute outfits for kids, whip up a sleek skirt for yourself or create a playful costume — homemade clothes have unbeatable charm and personality. (Fiskars website "Crafting and Sewing" category)

{Sew} Get Started: Garment Making Basics (Blog tutorial)

SEWU and SEWA are women's unions that organise and mobilise 'workers' in informal trades, including, in both cases, garment making. (Globalisation and New Identities: A View from the Middle By Peter Alexander & Marcelle C. Dawson, 2006)

Garment making industries (2012 publication by Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce)

The phrases making garments and garment construction might also be options.

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