A tech pack is the single document that decides whether your first sample comes back close to intent or wildly off. Factories do not sew from mood boards or verbal briefs — they sew from specifications. When those specifications are incomplete, the factory fills the gaps with assumptions, and every assumption is a potential revision round.
This guide walks through what a usable tech pack contains, section by section, and flags the gaps that most often derail development.
What a tech pack is — and is not
A tech pack is a complete technical brief for one style: what to make, from what, to what measurements, with what construction, and how to check the result. It is not a lookbook, a CAD render, or a flat sketch with “like this but in navy” written next to it.
A good test: could a pattern maker who has never spoken to you produce an accurate first sample from the document alone? If the answer requires a phone call, the tech pack is not finished.
The core sections every tech pack needs
1. Style header
Every page should identify itself. Include:
- Style name and style number
- Season and delivery date
- Date and version number of the tech pack itself
- Size range and base (sample) size
- Your contact for technical queries
Version control matters: if pages are not dated and numbered, old and new specs get mixed and the wrong version gets sewn.
2. Technical flats
Provide front and back flat drawings at minimum, plus side views or detail callouts where construction is not obvious. Flats should be proportionally accurate line drawings, not stylised illustrations. Annotate them: point to the seam, name the stitch, state the topstitch distance. An unlabelled drawing invites interpretation.
3. Bill of materials (BOM)
The BOM lists every component in the garment:
- Fabrics — composition, weight (gsm), construction (e.g. jersey, twill, ripstop), finish, and where each is used
- Trims — zippers, buttons, elastics, drawcords, interlinings, with sizes and placements
- Thread — type and where colour matching applies
- Labels and packaging — brand labels, care labels, hangtags, polybag and folding requirements
For each line, state whether you are nominating a supplier or asking the factory to source an equivalent. “Factory to propose” is a legitimate entry — an empty cell is not, because it will be filled for you.
4. Measurement specification
The points of measure (POM) table is the heart of the tech pack. For each measurement point, specify:
- A clear name and, ideally, a diagram showing how it is taken
- The target measurement for the base size
- Tolerance (plus/minus) for each point
- Graded measurements for every size in the range, or grading rules the factory can apply
Ambiguity here is expensive. “Chest: 56” means little if you and the factory measure chest differently. Define the method, not just the number.
5. Construction details
Specify how the garment goes together:
- Seam types and stitch classes for each seam (e.g. overlocked, flat-felled, bound)
- Stitches per inch/centimetre
- Hem depths and finishes
- Reinforcement points — bartacks, back-tacks, stress points
- Any bonded, taped or welded constructions for technical styles
If a detail is standard for the category, reference it briefly. If it is distinctive to your product, over-specify rather than under-specify.
6. Colourways and artwork
For each colourway, list every component’s colour with a referenced standard (such as a Pantone TCX code or a physical lab dip you will approve). For prints and embroideries, include artwork files at production resolution, placement measurements from fixed reference points, and sizing per garment size where artwork grades.
7. Fit and approval process
State what samples you expect — for example proto, fit sample, pre-production sample — and what each must demonstrate before the next stage proceeds. This approval sequence is what keeps bulk production close to the sample you signed off; the full mechanics are covered in how to reduce sample-to-production differences.
Common gaps that cause sampling failures
The same omissions come up repeatedly:
- No tolerances on the POM table — every measurement becomes a potential dispute at inspection
- Reference garment contradicts the spec — state explicitly which document wins where they differ
- Missing care label content — fibre content and care instructions carry regulatory requirements in most export markets; “TBC” stalls pre-production
- Ungraded artwork — a chest print sized for a medium looks wrong at both ends of the size range
- Silent fabric substitutions — if you have not specified weight and construction, a visually similar but lighter fabric may be quoted and sewn
- One tech pack for multiple styles — variants belong in their own documents with their own style numbers
How tech packs affect quotation
A complete tech pack does not just improve sample accuracy — it improves the reliability of your costing, alongside the rest of what you prepare before requesting a quotation. Factories quote what they can see; anything unspecified is either padded as risk or omitted and re-costed later. Pricing is always costed individually after reviewing specifications, so the more complete your specification, the closer the first quotation sits to the final number and the easier it is to compare factories on equal terms.
When Lumera Global reviews a tech pack before it goes to factories, the check covers exactly the sections above: completeness of the BOM, measurable POMs with tolerances, construction detail sufficient to sew from, and consistency between pages.
A pre-submission checklist
Before you send a tech pack out, confirm:
- Every page carries the style number, date and version
- Flats are annotated, front and back, with detail callouts
- Every BOM line has composition, size and placement — no empty cells
- Every POM has a measurement method, target and tolerance
- All sizes are graded or grading rules are stated
- Colour standards are referenced for every component, every colourway
- Artwork files are production-ready with placement measurements
- The sample and approval sequence is defined
- Contradictions between reference garments and the document are resolved
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a tech pack if I am supplying a reference garment?
Yes. A reference garment shows intent but cannot communicate tolerances, graded sizes, colour standards or label content, and it says nothing about which of its details are deliberate versus incidental. Use the reference to accelerate pattern development, and the tech pack to define what gets approved and inspected.
How detailed should a tech pack be for a simple product like a T-shirt?
Simpler garments need shorter tech packs, not vaguer ones. A T-shirt still requires fabric weight and composition, a full POM table with tolerances, neckline construction, stitch specifications, label content and colour standards. Every section above should still be present.
What if I do not have the technical skills to build one?
You can supply what you do have — sketches, reference garments, target measurements, fabric preferences — and have the technical documentation built as part of product development. Lumera Global develops factory-ready tech packs from exactly this kind of starting material, so the document that reaches the factory meets the standard described here.