A tech pack is the production spec for a single garment — essentially an engineering drawing for a piece of clothing. A good one lets a factory quote accurately, sample correctly on the first try, and produce 2,000 units that all look like each other. A bad one (or a missing one) turns every production run into an expensive negotiation.
This article is a checklist for what a tech pack needs to contain.
A workable tech pack has at minimum:
Front and back flat drawings of the garment, drawn to scale or clearly proportioned, with callouts labeling each component (collar, placket, cuff, hem, etc.). Most factories prefer vector format (AI or PDF).
Every component that goes into the garment:
Missing any of these means the factory sources it without your input and you live with whatever they choose.
A table of every critical measurement in the garment, usually for one base size (e.g. Small or Medium), with tolerances. Minimum useful POMs for most garments:
Tolerances are typically ±½ inch on most measurements; the factory sizes up and down from the base to create the full size run.
The measurements for every size you're producing (XS-XXL typically). Either as absolute POMs per size, or as a grade rule (increment per size) applied to the base.
For any non-obvious seam, stitch, or finishing choice:
A callout diagram showing each detail against the flat drawing is ideal.
Each color the garment will be produced in, with:
For any decoration:
For a first tech pack, Google Sheets or a Word doc with inline images works fine. Dedicated tools — Techpacker, Backbone PLM, MakersValley — get useful once you're producing 10+ styles per season. For a single SKU, don't over-invest in tooling; invest in the completeness of the spec.
If you can only nail four sections, make them:
The rest can be negotiated during sampling. Skipping the above four is where cost and quality go sideways.
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We work with emerging and established apparel brands on ethical, women-led production in India. If you have a tech pack or even just a concept, we can walk you through what's possible.