Skip to main content
Eco Vira
Production8 min read

How to Read a Garment Tech Pack Before Production

A tech pack is the contract between your idea and the garment that ships. Learn the sections a manufacturer actually uses — and the gaps that cause costly re-cuts.

Amara Qureshi · Head of ProductionPublished

A tech pack is the single document that turns "a t-shirt in my head" into "the t-shirt that ships." When it is complete, a factory can quote, sample and bulk without a single guess. When it is vague, every gap becomes a change order.

The sections a factory reads first

  • **Construction flat** — the half-front and half-back line drawing with seam lines, topstitch and any bonded or welded detail. This is what the pattern room digitises.
  • **Bill of materials (BOM)** — every fabric, with composition and GSM, plus every trim: labels, thread, zips, drawcords, hardware. Include Pantone TCX for each.
  • **Measurements and tolerances** — the graded size set with allowable +/- per point. Tolerances are where AQL decisions are made later.
  • **Stitch and seam spec** — stitch class (flatlock, overlock, lockstitch, cover), SPI, and where each is used.
  • **Artwork and embellishment** — print/embroidery placement, size, and the Pantone for each.
  • **Pack and fold** — polybag, hangtag, carton plan and any DC-ready requirement.

The gaps that cause re-cuts

The most expensive blanks in a tech pack are the ones left empty. A missing tolerance becomes a factory default you did not choose. A fabric named only by hand-feel ("soft french terry") becomes a substitution. A neck label unspecified for compliance becomes a relabelling job at finishing.

What we do with it

Send the tech pack and we interpret every construction note, stitch and tolerance before a thread is cut. If a section is missing, we flag it at sampling, not at bulk. For ODM, we draft the tech pack with you from a reference garment or sketch, so the document that drives production is one you have seen and approved.

Tags

  • tech pack
  • sampling
  • garment specification
  • oem
  • odm

Production notes, quarterly.

Practical writing on garment production, materials and supply chain. No marketing, no sales sequence.

Read next

Related writing.

  • Production · 7 min read

    Why a Small First Run Beats a Bulk Commitment

    Committing to a full container before you have sold a unit is the most expensive habit in apparel. A small, well-run first run de-risks the season.