Viral game Dressmaker was created to help developer’s wife reconnect with sewing after illness

Steam hit Dressmaker began as a personal project designed to help co-creator Sabrina Becker reconnect with her hobby of dressmaking after a medical condition disrupted her plans to pursue costume design.

Released on September 21, the cosy crafting game allows players to run a dressmaking business, select fabrics, cut patterns, sew pieces together and decorate finished garments.

Developed by Cozy Lives and published by Free Lives, the game has since attracted attention from players sharing their virtual creations online.

Some players have created dresses inspired by artworks including the Mona Lisa and Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night. However, the project initially had a more personal purpose for Becker and her husband and co-creator, Jonathan Hau-Yoon.

Becker had been interested in sewing for years and even wore a dress she had made herself on her first date with Hau-Yoon. She had hoped to pursue costume design professionally, but her diagnosis of hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome affected those plans.

The condition affects connective tissue and can cause unusually flexible or unstable joints, joint pain and severe fatigue, with symptoms varying between individuals.

Hau-Yoon and Becker subsequently developed Dressmaker as a way to recreate the creative process of sewing digitally and allow Becker to continue engaging with her hobby.

Becker has also played an active role in the game's development. She designs and curates dress pieces, helps shape its aesthetics and provides feedback through playtesting, drawing on her experience with dressmaking.

The project began attracting attention before its full release. A TikTok video showing the game’s concept received around half a million views, while its free prototype reached 100,000 downloads within two months.