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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Start with Librarian Workwear, then prepare for the funeral commissions in the order the story presents them. Dressmaker does not let you reorder its main story cards, so “which commission should I take?” really means which brief to prepare for, and whether optional work is worth the time and materials before the next card appears. The safest route is to build a dependable quality base first, then commit to the color and style restrictions on each funeral job instead of buying supplies blindly.
What you can and cannot choose in the opening
The story commissions arrive one at a time in a fixed sequence. You cannot skip ahead to a more profitable card or rearrange the first jobs. Your meaningful choices are whether to spend time on optional work, when to buy scarce fabric or trim, and how conservatively to construct each requested dress.
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The opening sequence below comes from a community-maintained commission reference updated October 15, 2026. That reference advises checking every figure against the live sketchbook because a patch can change a card. The independent beginner guide used for the underlying mechanics was last checked September 27, 2026 and notes that its explanations combine the Steam listing, developer announcements and achievement data.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →“Each commission starts with a visible brief.” — Dressmaker Game Guides, commission guide, last checked September 27, 2026
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There are 53 story commissions in total. Messenger Pigeon requests begin only after Pigeon Adoption, and there are 24 of those optional requests. That makes the first ten cards a progression gate as well as a source of income: Pigeon Adoption is the point at which the separate pigeon-request track opens.
Early commissions at a glance
“Budget” is the amount shown in the reference for the commission. Some guide text describes these figures as what a job pays; use the amount on your current card as the authoritative value if the wording or number differs.
| # | Commission and client | Listed budget | Quality floor | Style requirements | Color, fabric or decoration rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Librarian Workwear — Rose | 200 | 60 | Professional 40 | None listed |
| 2 | Flamboyant Funeral — Prudence | 300 | 75 | Elegant 65; Glamour 40 | Avoid Black |
| 3 | Fierce Funeral — Priya | 300 | 75 | Formal 50; Gothic 40 | Use only Black |
| 4 | Respectful Funeral — Marie | 300 | 75 | Formal 50; Elegant 40; Simple 40 | At least 50% Black |
| 5 | Biographer’s Interview — Edith | 500 | 75 | Daywear 50; Glamour 25; Risqué 20 | At least one Brooch |
| 6 | Vegetable Empire — Fiona | 250 | 75 | Cute 50; Playful 50; Workwear 40 | At least three different colours |
| 7 | Studious Motivation — Alice | 250 | 75 | Gothic 40; Romantic 25 | 100 cm of Lace Trim |
| 8 | Chilly Overtime — Rose | 350 | 70 | Professional 50; Warm 50 | Cute at most 20; Romantic at most 20 |
| 9 | Nocturnal Glamour — Vivian | 700 | 77 | Risqué 20; Gothic 40; Glamour 30 | At least 50% Velvet |
| 10 | Pigeon Adoption — Dorothy | 400 | 75 | Warm 50; Eclectic 50 | At least one Jewel and one Brooch |
Best route through the first four cards
1. Librarian Workwear: the safest opener
Librarian Workwear is the best first target because it asks for the least demanding quality and style combination and has the smallest listed budget. That leaves more room for inexpensive fabric, a basic pattern and a construction mistake while you learn the measuring, cutting and sewing flow. Do not spend your opening cash on decorations that do not help Professional style or quality; a clean, well-constructed workwear dress is the point of this card.
Use this commission to establish a small reserve of versatile fabric and notions. You will need that reserve immediately for the next cards, whose quality floor rises and whose color rules are much stricter.
2. Flamboyant Funeral: take it when you can build spectacle without black
Flamboyant Funeral is the natural follow-up if your inventory supports an elegant, glamorous silhouette in colors other than black. “Avoid Black” is not a suggestion: including black can invalidate an otherwise excellent dress. Plan the palette before cutting, and inspect every panel and trim piece for its color assignment.
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The risk is buying a dramatic pattern that looks glamorous but lacks enough Elegant tagging. Choose components whose style tags are already visible in the sketchbook rather than relying on how a garment appears to you. Keep spare non-black fabric available in case a cut panel forces a color change.
3. Fierce Funeral: efficient only with a black-focused inventory
Fierce Funeral becomes attractive when you already own enough black fabric and have a design that reads both Formal and Gothic. Its “Use only: Black” rule leaves no room for a contrasting panel, colored lining or decorative accent that the game counts as another color. If black fabric is scarce, this card can consume materials needed for Respectful Funeral, so avoid experimental cuts.
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Build the dress around the required tags first, then add only construction choices that preserve those tags. A technically high-quality garment still fails if one non-black element violates the exclusive color rule.
4. Respectful Funeral: the dependable black-heavy option
Respectful Funeral is usually the most straightforward of the three funeral briefs once black fabric is available. It combines Formal, Elegant and Simple expectations with a predominantly black palette. The challenge is balance: excessive embellishment can push a design away from Simple, while an austere pattern may lose Elegant or Formal tagging.
Lay out the entire outfit in the sketchbook before buying materials. Verify that the black proportion remains high after adding trim and accessories, and reserve enough time to preview the mannequin. This is a poor commission for last-minute decoration because the color percentage and several style floors must all remain valid at delivery.
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How to judge the later early-game commissions
Biographer’s Interview: high return, one named accessory
Biographer’s Interview has the largest listed budget among the first ten cards and requires only one specifically named decoration, a Brooch. Its style mix is less restrictive by color than the funeral jobs but asks you to combine a daytime foundation with glamorous and slightly risqué cues. Start with a daytime-compatible base, then add controlled accents rather than turning the whole dress into eveningwear. Confirm that the brooch is actually attached before delivery; owning one in storage is not the same as satisfying the brief.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallVegetable Empire: inexpensive variety if your swatches are broad
Vegetable Empire is a lower-budget job whose main logistical issue is variety. The dress must communicate Cute, Playful and Workwear while using at least three different colours. A broad set of inexpensive swatches makes this easier; a narrow palette can force a shopping trip even when your sewing materials are adequate. Assign colors deliberately to panels or accessories and preview the finished mannequin to ensure the combination still carries Workwear rather than looking like random decoration.
Studious Motivation: wait for the lace supply
Studious Motivation is cheap to accept but should wait until Lace Trim is unlocked or already in your inventory in the required length. Its Gothic and Romantic combination can be achieved with a restrained silhouette plus the specified trim; attempting the card before securing the lace risks wasting a complete cut dress. Treat the lace as a hard prerequisite, not an optional finishing touch.
Chilly Overtime: a quality cushion with two ceilings
Chilly Overtime has a lower quality floor than most neighboring cards, but its two “at most” style limits make overdesign the common failure. Professional and Warm elements should carry the outfit, while Cute and Romantic details stay deliberately restrained. Avoid piling on bows, hearts or overtly romantic trim simply because those items are available. Check the style readout after every decoration change; a final flourish can push a previously valid dress over a ceiling.
Nocturnal Glamour: prepare for a material-heavy check
Nocturnal Glamour offers the biggest listed budget in this opening group, but it is a preparation commission rather than a quick payday. It combines three style floors with a high quality requirement and a majority-Velvet rule. Secure enough Velvet before cutting, and choose a pattern that can carry Risqué, Gothic and Glamour simultaneously. Because the material proportion is checked across the finished garment, replacing a Velvet panel late can alter both the percentage and the style tags.
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Pigeon Adoption: the gateway to optional requests
Pigeon Adoption is the final card in this opening set and unlocks Messenger Pigeon commissions afterward. It requires both a Jewel and a Brooch, plus Warm and Eclectic styling. Put the two named decorations in your plan before sewing; discovering that one is missing after construction means rebuilding the outfit. Its eclectic requirement rewards intentional mixing, but the result still needs to meet the Warm floor, so do not let novelty replace warmth-focused fabric or details.
A reliable commission workflow
Use the same sequence for every card. It prevents the most expensive mistake in Dressmaker: buying or cutting before you know whether the complete outfit can satisfy every line of the brief.
- Take the commission and read the entire card. Record the quality floor, every style minimum, every ceiling, color or fabric wording, percentages and named decorations.
- Measure the customer. Measurements determine fit; a dress can carry the right style tags and still fail if it is constructed for the wrong body.
- Plan in the sketchbook. Select the pattern, assign fabric and colors, and check the projected style tags before spending money. Treat “avoid,” “use only,” “at least,” and “at most” as hard constraints.
- Buy fabric and notions. Purchase only after the sketchbook plan covers the whole garment, including trim and decorations. Keep a reserve when the next card has a known color restriction.
- Arrange and cut the pattern. Place pieces on the grain or bias as the pattern requires. Misalignment can lower construction quality or waste scarce material.
- Preview the mannequin. Check fit, visible colors, fabric proportions and style tags. This is the cheapest point to replace a panel or remove an accessory.
- Sew the dress. Follow the construction prompts carefully; quality thresholds are mandatory even when the style portion is perfect.
- Decorate, then recheck. Add required brooches, jewels, lace or other finishing pieces, and verify that the additions have not broken a color rule or style ceiling.
- Deliver only when every line is satisfied. A commission succeeds only when all requirements are met, not when most of them are met.
How to read requirement wording
- A bare number such as “Elegant: 50” is a minimum. Your final style value must reach that number.
- “At most” is a ceiling. Going above it fails the brief even if every other score improves.
- “Use only” is exclusive. No unlisted color or fabric may appear in the finished dress.
- “Avoid” is a prohibition. Treat any appearance of the named element as unsafe.
- Percentages apply to the finished garment. Adding a contrasting panel or trim can change whether the dress remains mostly one color or fabric.
- Named decorations must be attached. Having an item in storage does not satisfy a requirement until it is used on the dress.
Style tags are the most reliable way to match a request. The complete scoring formula and exact per-fabric statistics have not been officially published, so do not assume that a visually similar fabric contributes a known amount. Use the live tag values in the sketchbook and mannequin preview instead.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Managing money, materials and optional work
Optional commissions are useful when they let you practice without consuming a material reserved for the next story card. They are a liability when they require a scarce color, Velvet, Lace Trim or named decoration that the fixed sequence will soon demand. Before accepting optional work, ask three questions:
- Can the job be completed with materials that are not reserved for the next story brief?
- Will its pattern or decorations improve your stock of versatile pieces, or leave you with a one-off item?
- After buying supplies, can you still fund the next story commission shown in the sequence?
When cash is tight, prioritize a complete, compliant story dress over decorative experimentation. A failed cut wastes both money and time; a conservative design that clears the card keeps the sequence moving and preserves resources for the higher-preparation jobs.
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Troubleshooting failed or risky plans
The mannequin looks right but the card still fails
Reopen the brief and check for a hidden hard rule: a color prohibition, a material percentage, a named accessory or an “at most” ceiling. These conditions are independent of the overall visual impression. Remove the last-added decoration first, then recheck the live values.
The quality value is short
Revisit pattern placement, grain or bias alignment and sewing execution before changing style pieces. Quality is a separate gate from style; adding glamorous or Gothic elements cannot compensate for a construction score below the card’s floor.
A funeral dress is failing its color rule
Inspect lining, trim and small accessories, not just the main panels. For an exclusive-black brief, replace every non-black element. For an avoid-black brief, remove black accents entirely. For a mostly-black brief, calculate the finished proportion again after all decorations are attached.
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Do not deliver an otherwise finished dress while hoping ownership will count. Return to the sketchbook, acquire the named item, attach it and preview again. If the item is not yet available, use optional work only if it does not consume the funds or materials needed for the next fixed card.
The live card differs from a table or guide
Follow the card in your current game. Community references can lag a patch, and the commission reference itself tells players to confirm every number in the live sketchbook. Record the changed requirement for your own planning, but do not force an old threshold onto a new brief.
Recommended decision checklist
- Accept Librarian Workwear as the low-risk opener and use it to establish reliable quality and a versatile inventory.
- For the funeral cards, choose the branch your current fabric supports: non-black elegance and glamour, black-only formal Gothic, or a mostly-black formal-simple design.
- Delay Studious Motivation until the lace requirement is covered.
- Use Biographer’s Interview when you can combine daytime structure with controlled glamour and have a Brooch ready.
- Use Vegetable Empire when three colors and playful-cute workwear pieces are readily available.
- Approach Chilly Overtime as a restraint test, not a decoration contest.
- Reserve Velvet and a high-quality pattern for Nocturnal Glamour instead of improvising at the last minute.
- Prepare both a Jewel and a Brooch before Pigeon Adoption so the Messenger Pigeon track opens without a rebuild.
This route does not claim that one pattern is mathematically optimal; the published data support a preparation ranking, while the game’s full scoring formula remains undisclosed. The practical rule is simple: read the current brief, plan in the sketchbook, verify every live tag and hard constraint on the mannequin, and deliver only a dress that clears them all.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
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