How to Prepare a Tech Pack Your Manufacturer Can Actually Use

Most delays in apparel production trace back to the same root cause: the factory and the brand were working from different assumptions. A tech pack exists to remove those assumptions. It is the document that turns "a heavyweight boxy hoodie" into something two people in different countries can agree on.

What a tech pack is not

A tech pack is not a mood board, a Pinterest link or a photo of a garment you like. Those are useful references — send them — but they do not tell a pattern cutter where the shoulder seam sits or how deep the armhole should be. Sending only references means the factory guesses, and you pay for that guess in extra sampling rounds.

The six things every tech pack needs

1. A flat sketch with callouts

Front and back, drawn to proportion, with arrows pointing at anything that is not obvious: pocket type, seam construction, stitch density, hem finish. Hand-drawn is fine if it is clear.

2. A measurement chart with tolerances

Give point-of-measure values for your base size at minimum, and state your tolerance. A chest measurement of 58cm ±1cm is a specification. "Oversized" is not.

If you have a garment that fits the way you want, measure it and send those numbers. This is the single fastest route to a good first sample.

3. Materials and trims

Fabric composition, weight in GSM, and a reference if you have one. Then every trim: thread, labels, drawcords, zips, buttons, elastic. Each item needs a colour and a position.

4. Branding placement

Where the logo goes, how big it is, what technique applies, and in which colours. Include the artwork as a vector file. A logo supplied as a 400-pixel JPEG cannot be printed cleanly at any size.

5. Colourways

List each colourway with Pantone references for both fabric and trims. Screens vary; Pantone does not.

6. Packaging

Folding method, polybag, hang tag, care label content, carton marking. This gets forgotten constantly, then becomes an urgent problem two days before shipping.

A realistic expectation

A good tech pack does not eliminate sampling. It reduces it from three or four rounds to one or two, which typically saves three to five weeks and a meaningful amount of money.

If you do not have the resource to build one, say so at enquiry stage. Developing the tech pack with you is part of what a development-capable manufacturer does — but the process is faster when you arrive with measurements in hand.