If you want to show a friend a dress you worked hard on in Dressmaker, a short video of picking fabric, feeding it through the sewing machine and finishing it says far more than a single screenshot. Dressmaker is a single-player sewing sim developed by Cozy Lives and published by Free Lives, released on Steam on September 21, 2026. With the October 2026 app update, it became a DOR 'Full-play recording' game. Launch it on your Windows PC and DOR detects it automatically and saves everything from launch to exit as one video. This guide covers how to pull one dress's build out of that long recording in a way that is pleasant to watch.
Decide first whether you want a process video, a finished shot, or both
Dressmaker videos split two ways depending on who is watching. A friend curious about the sewing will enjoy a one-to-two-minute process video that runs from cutting to trims, while family who only want the result need a 10-to-20-second shot of the finished dress. Cut the process video stage by stage and merge it, and cut the finished shot once. If you plan to post vertically, think ahead about what stays in the middle of the frame; for turning a landscape recording into a vertical one, see how to make a vertical (9:16) game video.
Pulling one dress's build out of a Dressmaker recording and sending it
- 1Check that Full-play recording is onIn DOR settings, look in the 'Full-play recording' group and make sure Dressmaker is switched on. Then launch the game on your Windows PC; automatic detection starts recording, and it continues as one video until you close the game.
- 2Note the time whenever you take an orderYou usually make several dresses in one session, so it is easy to lose track of which part of the recording belongs to which dress. Jot down the rough time whenever you accept a customer order or open the sketchbook, then start playback from that point later.
- 3Split the stages where the screen changesAs you scrub through, the fabric picker, the pattern layout and the sewing machine screens appear one after another. Using each screen change as a start point lets you cut every stage cleanly.
- 4Keep only a few seconds of the sewing machineStitching on the machine repeats similar motion for a while, so 10 to 15 seconds of one panel is enough to show the process. The action sits in the center of the screen, so this shot also holds up well at 9:16.
- 5Take the finished shot once the trims are doneThe moment after the last lace or button goes on, when the whole dress is visible, is your finished shot. Trim a few seconds just before delivery or right after you hang it in the shop window at 1:1, and it previews neatly as a square in chat apps.
- 6Merge the stage clips into one process videoWith design, cutting, sewing, trims and delivery clipped, open DOR Studio in your browser, merge them in order, add the stage names as text and lay a calm background track underneath to get a build video for one dress.
- 7Send the link to a friend who loves sewingThe finished video can be shared as a dor.gg link. Paste it into a chat, and the person receiving it can watch the dress come together in a phone browser without installing the game or any app.
Choosing scenes by stage of a single dress
| Build stage | What you see in the recording | Best ratio and length |
|---|---|---|
| Sketchbook design | Shaping the dress in the sketchbook and coloring it | 16:9, 10-15 seconds |
| Choosing fabric | Swapping fabrics such as cotton or silk on each panel | 16:9, about 10 seconds |
| Pattern layout and cutting | Placing the pattern on the cloth and cutting it out | 16:9, 15-20 seconds |
| Sewing machine | Feeding pieces through the machine and stitching them | 9:16, 10-15 seconds |
| Adding trims | Attaching buttons, bows, lace or appliqué | 1:1, about 10 seconds |
| Customer delivery | Handing the dress to the townsperson who ordered it | 16:9, about 15 seconds |
| Shop window display | Hanging the finished dress in your shop window | 1:1, 5-10 seconds |
Check before you send
- Dressmaker is switched on under 'Full-play recording' in settings.
- On days with several dresses, you noted when each one started.
- The process video includes the cutting, sewing and trim stages.
- The finished shot shows the whole dress with every trim in place.
- The sewing machine part is short enough that the motion does not drag.
- You have comfortably more than 20GB of free disk space.
How DOR records Dressmaker
DOR is a free Windows desktop app. When you launch Dressmaker, it detects the game automatically and records until you close it as one mp4 video; it does not pick out finished dresses as automatic highlights. You find the scenes yourself in the app library and cut them with trimming, and choosing 16:9, 9:16 or 1:1 creates a dor.gg link. Tips for setting start and end points are in how to trim game clips. To weave several stages into one piece, use DOR Studio, which opens in your browser with no install, for merging, text, background music and effect templates, then download the result as an mp4 or share it as a link. The Studio layout is explained in the browser clip editor guide. Game sound and microphone are recorded together, so your voice explaining fabric choices stays in the video too.
