Some of the most interesting content to land in Stardew Valley came alongside its notable version 1.4 and 1.5 updates. Chief among these features is the Sewing Machine, and even though it sounds rather rudimentary, it’s a pretty big deal. That’s because it allows players to make new clothes, dye clothing, and even transfer stats from one pair of boots to another.
However, it isn’t readily apparent how to use the Sewing Machine or even how to trigger the event to unlock it. Much like learning how to rotate furniture or remove bushes, there’s a slight learning curve you’ll have to adjust to. Fear not, for we can help explain the details. Here’s everything you need to know about the Sewing Machine and how to use it in Stardew Valley.
How to Trigger the Sewing Machine Event
First up, you need to trigger the event that unlocks the Stardew Valley Sewing Machine. To do this, you need to have at least one Cloth in your inventory, which entices Emily to come to pay you a visit. She’ll inform you of her sewing duties for the residents of the Valley, offering tailoring opportunities for you to explore.
Cloth comes from a variety of sources, like the Loom when you apply Wool to the process; recycling newspaper in the Recycling Machine (after attaining Level 4 in Fishing); completing the Field Research Bundle in the Community Center; killing creatures in the Skull Cavern; and trading in three Aquamarines for one piece of Cloth with the Desert Trader.
After you’ve acquired at least one Cloth, all you need to do is wait until the next day and exit your Farmhouse between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. when it is not raining, at which point Emily will appear to tell you about her Sewing Machine in Stardew Valley. A cutscene will come into play.
After the cutscene, you can head to Emily and Haley’s house on 2 Willow Lane (open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.) to use the Sewing Machine at your leisure. It is located in the room at the bottom end of their house by the kitchen table.
Expert Tip
One caveat to obtaining the tailoring machine is that you need to acquire Cloth manually, meaning if you are playing on PC and use, for example, the Automate mod, there is a chance the event won’t trigger. Be mindful of the mods that you add to the game, there might be some gameplay changes that could hinder progression one way or another.
How to Dye Clothes
At the sewing station, you can create a variety of clothing, including shirts, skirts, pants, and hats. Furthermore, you can also dye clothes and transfer stats from shoes/boots. However, it’s worth noting that you cannot dye the clothing you chose at the start of the game. Whatever you wore upon arriving in Stardew Valley can’t be modified until a copy is tailored together to replace it.
With that in mind, creating new clothes is pretty straightforward forward, as you can see from the sewing machine interface image above.
Each piece of clothing requires one Cloth and at least one other ingredient. All you need to do is place a piece of Cloth (or a completed piece of clothing if you want to dye it) in the left-hand section and an ingredient in the right-hand section, then experiment until your heart’s content.
Part of the fun here is experimenting and making some exceptionally cool items. One of our favorites is the Black Leather Jacket which requires Cloth, Pale Ale, Beer, Wine (any type), and Mead to create. Keep in mind that you won’t be able to test it out for any dyeing purposes.
Lastly, you can transfer stats from boots/shoes to another pair. To do this, place the boots with the stats you want to transfer on the spool (top right) and the boots you want the stats to transfer to at the bottom left in the feed. Note that the boots in the spool will be destroyed in the process, no matter the quality of the product.
How to Use Prismatic Clothing to Tailor New Clothes
Everyone loves shiny stuff, and what is shinier than prismatic items? Creating prismatic clothing with the Stardew Valley Sewing Machine follows the same steps as the regular clothing process.
You will need a Prismatic Shard and Cloth, but here’s where things get a bit different. You cannot choose which of the five prismatic clothing items you want to create. Instead, you will be given a random piece of prismatic clothing from the following five options:
- Prismatic Shirt with short sleeves and a prismatic rectangle on the front
- Prismatic Shirt with white sleeves
- Prismatic Shirt with black sleeves
- Prismatic Pants
- Prismatic Genie Pants
Keep in mind that Prismatic Shards are extremely rare, and you can get duplicates of the same item, so use them at your own peril. Consider farming these when possible if you visit the later Mine levels (after reaching floor 100), crack open Iridium Nodes within the Skull Cavern, and explore the Volcano Dungeon.
Be sure to stay aware of the bouncing Prismatic Slimes that plague these areas of Stardew. You can tell them apart just by observing their ever-changing color.
