94132 Industrial sewing machine operators

What this occupation covers

Industrial sewing machine operators operate sewing machines to sew fabric, fur, leather or synthetic materials to produce or repair garments and other articles. They are employed in clothing, footwear, textile products, fur products and other manufacturing establishments and by furriers.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 9 main duties for this code.

• 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.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 2 of its 9 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 94131 Weavers, knitters and other fabric making occupations
• 94133 Inspectors and graders, textile, fabric, fur and leather products manufacturing
• 95105 Labourers in textile processing and cutting

Excluded from this code

• Embroidery machine operator (See 94131 Weavers, knitters and other fabric making occupations)
• Inspectors and graders, textile, fabric, fur and leather products manufacturing (See 94133 Inspectors and graders, textile, fabric, fur and leather products manufacturing)
• Mattress sewing machine operator (See 94131 Weavers, knitters and other fabric making occupations)
• Sewing machine operators supervisor (See 95105 Labourers in textile processing and cutting)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

automatic basting sewing machine operator · automatic sewing machine operator · bag sewer - textile manufacturing · basting machine operator - sewing · binding machine operator - sewing · binding sewing machine operator · binding stitcher - footwear manufacturing · blindstitch-sewing machine operator · button stayer · buttonhole finisher · buttonhole machine operator · buttonhole maker · buttonhole stayer · canvas goods sewing machine operator · carpet binder · carpet sewer · closer - sewing · closer sewing machine operator · cloth mender · commercial sewing machine operator · domestic sewing machine operator · double needle sewing machine operator · double needle sewing machine stitcher · drapery header

Employment requirements

• Some secondary school education is usually required.
• Experience operating a sewing machine is usually required.
• On-the-job training may be provided.