01Tech packs
What goes in a tech pack
Nine pages, in the order a factory reads them. This is the structure StitchGrid exports, which is the structure it inherited from the packs real sourcing offices already run on.
02The pages
- 01
B&W CAD
What the garment looks like
A flat technical drawing, front and back, drawn to proportion rather than sketched. Every page after this one annotates it.
- 02
Color CADs
What it looks like in each colorway
The same flat, once per colorway, against the color standard you grade to. A Pantone TCX code, not a screenshot of a swatch.
- 03
Detail sketches
What the drawing cannot show
Front, back and interior close-ups of the parts a factory guesses at: pocket bags, plackets, vents, seam finishes.
- 04
Components
What it is made of
Two blocks. Fabrics carry a quality and an estimated yield; trims carry a quantity. Sub materials sit below both. This block is what a quote is actually priced off.
- 05
Points of measure
What size it is
Every measurement across the size run, each with a tolerance. A POM without a tolerance is not a spec, it is a wish, and it is the single most common reason a first sample comes back wrong.
- 06
Construction
How it is put together
Stitch types, seam allowances, topstitch margins, and the sampling and fit expectations the factory is working to.
- 07
Artwork
What is printed or embroidered on it
Placement, dimensions from a fixed reference point, and technique. Included only when the style has any.
- 08
Labels and hangtags
What the customer reads
Woven label and logo trims, main labels, then fiber content, care instructions and country of origin, which are legal requirements in most markets rather than branding.
- 09
Revision log
What changed, and when
Dated changes. Without it, a factory quoting revision 4 against a sample sewn from revision 2 has no way to know, and neither do you.
03Where they go wrong
Four mistakes that cost a sample round
A sample round is four to six weeks and a few hundred dollars. Each of these buys you one.
Points of measure with no tolerance
A 52cm chest is unbuildable. A 52cm chest plus or minus 1cm is a spec a factory can pass or fail against, and a sample you can reject.
Colors named in words
"Navy" is a different color in Tiruppur than it is in your studio. Name the book and the code, and say which one wins if a lab dip disagrees.
A reference photo instead of a flat
A photo shows one sample in one light on one body. A flat states proportion. Factories quote and grade off the flat, so a pack without one gets quoted with padding for the unknown.
No revision log
Every change after the first quote is a price change somebody has to notice. Undated edits are how a brand ends up paying for a sample it already corrected.
04Without drawing it
You do not have to own CAD to own a spec
Most brands that need a tech pack do not need design help. They know the garment. They need it written down the way a factory reads it.
Start from a sample
Photograph a garment you already have, or write the brief. Both land in the same place.
Flats get drawn
The photo and the flat are read together on purpose, so the drawing describes the garment rather than a pose.
You confirm the flats
The run stops here until a person approves the drawing. Every page after it annotates the flat, so a wrong one propagates.
The pack writes itself
Components, points of measure, construction and labels, exported as an .xlsx you can edit and a factory can mark up.
Correcting a flat means editing the drawing, never redrawing it from scratch, so the measurements and components you have already reviewed survive the correction.
05Questions
FAQ
Common questions
- What is a tech pack?
- A tech pack is the specification a factory builds a garment from: flat drawings, the bill of materials, graded measurements with tolerances, construction notes, labeling, and a log of what changed. It is the document a quote is priced against and the document a sample is judged against.
- Do I need a tech pack to get a quote?
- You can get an estimate without one. You cannot get a quote worth comparing. A factory pricing a vague brief prices the risk too, which is why the same style quoted from a photo and quoted from a tech pack comes back at different numbers from the same factory.
- What format should a tech pack be in?
- Whatever the factory can open and mark up. In practice that is a spreadsheet or a PDF. StitchGrid exports an .xlsx with one page per section and a repeated header band, which is the layout most sourcing offices already work in.
- Can I make a tech pack without a designer?
- Yes. StitchGrid drafts one from a photo of a sample or from a written brief, produces the CAD flats, and hands you an editable spec. A person confirms the flats before the rest of the pack is written, because every later page annotates the drawing and a wrong flat propagates.
- How much does a tech pack cost?
- Freelance technical designers generally charge a few hundred dollars a style and take a week or more. StitchGrid Studio is $249 a month for unlimited styles. The tradeoff is that you review and correct the draft rather than briefing somebody else to.
06Next
A spec is only worth what it gets you quoted
Know what it should cost before you send it out, then send it to factories that make this category.