What Is a Tech Pack? What a Factory Actually Needs in One
A tech pack is the instruction manual for a garment. It's the document a factory uses to quote, sample and produce your style, and it's the difference between a first sample that looks like your sketch and three rounds of "that's not what I meant."
Here's what a factory actually needs in one, what usually goes wrong, and how to tell if yours is ready to send.
What a tech pack is (and isn't)
A tech pack isn't a mood board or a pretty sketch. It's a technical spec: drawings, measurements, materials and construction details, written so a pattern maker on the other side of the world can build the garment without asking you a single question. If the factory has to guess, they will, and you'll pay for it in samples and time.
The pages a factory needs
1. Cover page. Style number, style name, season, size range, and a front view of the garment. Every page after this carries the same style number so nothing gets mixed up.
2. Technical flats. Clean front and back drawings, drawn to proportion, with callouts for every seam, pocket, closure and detail. Add close-ups for anything tricky, like a waistband, a placket or a pocket bag.
3. Bill of materials (BOM). Every component of the garment: main fabric and content, lining, interlining, thread, zippers, buttons, snaps, elastic, drawcords, labels and packaging. For each one: the supplier or reference, color, size and where it's used.
4. Construction details. Stitch types, seam finishes, stitch-per-inch where it matters, topstitching and how each area is assembled. This is the page that separates a well-made garment from one that falls apart in the wash.
5. Measurement spec (points of measure). A chart of every measurement for your sample size (chest, waist, hip, length, sleeve, inseam and so on), how to measure each one, and the tolerance the factory is allowed.
6. Grading. How each measurement changes from size to size across your range. Without it, your medium can be perfect and your extra-large can be a different garment.
7. Colorways and artwork. Each colorway with color references, plus any print, embroidery or graphic with its size, placement measured from a fixed point, and technique.
8. Labels, trims and packaging. Neck label, care and content label, hang tag, and how the garment is folded, bagged and packed. Include the exact label wording and placement. (Not sure what's required on the label? See our guide, Do I Legally Need a Care Label?)
9. Fit comments and revisions. After each sample, a dated page of what changed and why, with photos. This becomes the record that keeps production matching the approved sample.
The mistakes that cost the most
No measurement spec, or no tolerances. The factory will use its own block, and your fit will drift.
Vague materials. "Soft cotton" isn't a spec. Name the fabric, content and finish, or send a swatch with a reference.
Missing trims. If a zipper, elastic or label isn't in the BOM, it won't be in the quote, and the price will change later.
Artwork without placement. "Logo on chest" can land anywhere. Measure it from the high point of the shoulder or the center front.
Tech packs that never get updated. Sample comments live in email threads instead of the tech pack, and production gets made to an old version.
Is your tech pack ready to send?
Style number on every page
Front and back flats with every detail called out
Complete BOM, including labels, trims and packaging
Construction and stitch details
Points of measure with tolerances for the sample size
Grading across your full size range
Colorways with color references
Artwork with size, technique and measured placement
Label wording and placement
A revision page, dated
If you can check every box, a factory can quote and sample from it. If you can't, expect questions, delays and extra sample rounds.
Need tech packs a factory can build from? Designland creates factory-ready tech packs for apparel brands, from first sketch to production, with labels and trims specified alongside. See our tech pack design services, or book a free 20-minute intro call.
