What is a tech pack? (And how to make one factories understand)

A tech pack is the instruction manual for your garment. Factories use it to quote a price, make your sample and run production. A clear tech pack gets you accurate quotes and fewer paid sample rounds. A vague one gets you surprises.

What goes into a tech pack

A professional tech pack has six to eight pages. Here's what each one does.

1. Overview. Front and back flat sketches plus the key facts: style name and number, fabric, weight, size range, colourways, quantity and target price.

2. Design & construction. How the garment is built: dropped or set-in shoulders, seam types, stitching (for example "double-needle coverstitch"), rib heights, pocket construction, bartacks.

3. Fabric & bill of materials (BOM). Every component: main fabric with composition and gsm, rib, labels, zippers, drawcords, eyelets, thread. With quantities and colours.

4. Measurement specification. The most important page. Every point of measure (chest, length, sleeve…) with a description of how to measure, the value for every size and a tolerance (usually ±0.5–1 cm).

5. Artwork placement. Where every print or embroidery goes, its maximum size and its distance from a fixed point like the high point shoulder (HPS).

6. Labels & packaging. Neck label, care label, hang tag, polybag, folding and carton marking.

7. Sample comments. A log of what changed after every sample, so nothing gets lost between rounds.

The five mistakes that cost you sample rounds

1. No tolerances. Without them, "72 cm" can come back as 69 cm and the factory will say it's fine.
2. Measurements without a method. "Chest 60" means nothing. "Chest width, 1 cm below armhole, side to side" does.
3. Artwork without a reference point. Always measure placement from HPS or centre front.
4. Colours as words. "Washed black" means something different in every factory. Use Pantone TCX codes and approve lab dips.
5. Forgetting the boring bits. Labels, packaging and thread colour are where cheap shortcuts happen if you don't specify them.

Tip: send the same tech pack to 3–5 factories. Comparing quotes on identical specs is the only way to compare fairly.

Do you need to pay a designer?

Not for basics. For a tee, hoodie, crewneck or sweatpants, a well-filled template is enough for most manufacturers. Hire a technical designer when you're making something complex: tailoring, outerwear, technical fabrics.

Download our free boxy tee tech pack on the free downloads page to see a complete example, or get factory-ready tech packs for every core streetwear garment.