Needlewoman making a mess mending lock (10)
I believe the answer is:
seamstress
'needlewoman' is the definition.
(I know that needlewoman is a type of garment worker)
'making a mess mending lock' is the wordplay.
'making' indicates anagramming the letters.
'mending lock' becomes 'tress' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'a'+'mess'='amess'
'amess' with letters rearranged gives 'seams'.
'seams'+'tress'='SEAMSTRESS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for seamstress that I've seen before include "sewer" , "Dressmaker" , "Woman who sews for a living" , "Midinette" , "needlewoman" .)