How to Make a Tech Pack for Your First Clothing Run
A tech pack is the document that tells a manufacturer exactly how to make your garment. You can build a usable one in a spreadsheet.
Ten pages cover it: a cover page, front and back flats, a measurement spec with a tolerance for every point, size grading, a bill of materials, colorways, artwork placement, labels and hang tags, construction notes and a revision log. You need one when the garment is built from the fabric up. A logo on a stock blank needs only the art file and a placement.
What a tech pack is, and who reads it
A tech pack is the written and drawn instruction set for one style, and the people who read it are a pattern maker, a cutter and a sewing line who will never meet you. Everything you picture has to survive the trip to people who only see the page.
Search for how to make a tech pack and you get long guides from software companies selling the tool to build one and from overseas factories selling the service of writing one. A first time founder needs something smaller: enough on paper that a manufacturer can quote the garment, build it and check it against what you agreed.
02The pages of a clothing tech pack
A clothing tech pack has ten pages, and each one exists because something specific goes wrong without it. Figure 1 lays them out in the order a manufacturer reads them.
| Tech pack page | What it holds | What goes wrong without it |
|---|---|---|
| Cover page | Style name, season, revision date, your contact | Two versions circulate and nobody knows which one is current |
| Flat sketches | Front and back line drawings with callouts on seams, pockets and trims | The maker guesses at every detail the drawing leaves out |
| Measurement spec | Points of measure for each size, with a tolerance for each point | Sizes drift and nobody can say what was agreed |
| Size grading | How each point of measure changes from one size to the next | The sample size fits and the extra large does not |
| Bill of materials | Fabric, trims, thread, labels and packaging, line by line | Substitutes show up that you never approved |
| Colorways | Every color combination, each tied to a color reference | Navy arrives in a shade you did not picture |
| Artwork placement | Logo size and position, measured in inches from a fixed point | The chest mark lands low, high or off center |
| Labels and hang tags | Neck label, care label and hang tag, with size and position | The inside of the garment carries nobody's name |
| Construction notes | Seam types, stitch details, hems and finishing | The garment gets built the cheapest way that still matches the sketch |
| Revision log | What changed, when, and who approved it | An old change reappears in production |
The measurement page carries the most weight
The measurement spec is the page founders skip and manufacturers rely on most. List each point of measure (chest width, body length, sleeve length, hem opening and so on), give a number for every size, and put a tolerance beside each point. Size grading then shows how each point steps up and down the range.
Placement, materials and labels
Artwork placement should be measured in inches from a fixed point, such as the high point of the shoulder or the center front. A note that says left chest is not a placement. A note that gives the distance down from the shoulder and the distance in from center front is.
The bill of materials is where your fabric decisions get locked. If you are still choosing, our notes on nylon versus polyester for a performance polo walk through the tradeoff on one garment. The label page works the same way: size, material, position and what it says. For the detail, see how a woven label gets specified.
03How to make a tech pack without expensive software
A spreadsheet, a garment you already love and a pencil will get you a usable tech pack. Software earns its cost at fifty styles, not two.
Start with the reference garment. Lay it flat, measure every point you care about and write the numbers into your measurement tab. Then note what you want changed: longer body, wider sleeve, a different collar.
For the flats, trace the reference garment from a photo taken straight on, front and back, and clean the lines up. They need to be accurate, not pretty, with numbered callouts that match notes in the spreadsheet. Give each page its own tab, and keep the cover, the revision log and the flats in the same file.
Construction notes are where quality gets written down instead of hoped for. Our write up on the quality markers worth putting in writing, over at PILLAR is a fair checklist for this page. The reference garment can be anything you own and like, a retail piece or something from PILLAR, our own apparel line. What matters is that you measure it rather than describe it.
04Do I need a tech pack? Usually only for a garment built from scratch
You need a tech pack when the garment itself is being made to your spec: fabric, cut, fit, colors and labels. You do not need one to put a logo on a stock blank.
Decorating a quality blank with embroidery or screen printing needs two things. The first is the art, prepared to the artwork file standard. The second is a placement: where the mark goes and how big it is. The blank already has its measurements, fabric and construction.
A garment built from the fabric up is different. Nobody has made it before, so every number has to come from you. If you are not sure which side of that line your first run sits on, our guide to fully custom versus decorated apparel lays out both paths.
05Nobody on a sewing line can ask you what you meant. Whatever is missing from the page gets decided by someone else.
What to send us if you do not have one yet
Send the garment idea, the fabric, your colors and your quantities, and the conversation can start. A tech pack helps, but it is not required to begin.
Book a call or fill in the quote form with what you have. From there, fully custom apparel made with our manufacturers takes about 45 days once you approve the proof, and the timeline is confirmed on the first call before anything is ordered.
The proof is the approval step. It shows the garment design, colors, logo placement and labels before anything is made. If you want the full sequence, here is how an order moves from quote to proof.
Treat that sign off seriously. Check measurements against your spec, colors against your references and labels against your label page. The same discipline applies to any approval, and our notes on what to check before you sign off a pre production sample carry over well.
06A spring launch, counted back to December
For a fully custom spring launch on Friday, March 5, 2027, plan to approve the proof by about Tuesday, January 19. Fully custom runs about 45 days door to door from proof approval, so that is the planning target, not a delivery promise.
Count back one more step and the tech pack and first call land in December, right around the holiday weeks. Christmas Day and New Year's Day both land on Fridays this season. If you want a March launch, start the measurement tab now, book the call early in December, and expect revisions to cross the holidays.
A decorated launch moves faster. Decorated blanks run 7 to 10 business days from proof approval, so the same March date leaves room to approve in mid February. Neither path has a minimum, which changes the math on how big a first run needs to be.
07What founders ask about tech packs
Do I need a tech pack to make clothes?
You need one when the garment is built from the fabric up, because every measurement, material and color has to come from you. To put a logo on a stock blank, you only need the art file and a placement.
Can I start from a tech pack template?
Yes. A spreadsheet template works as long as it has a tab for every page: cover, flats, measurement spec, grading, bill of materials, colorways, artwork placement, labels, construction notes and a revision log. Fill every field rather than leaving defaults in place.
Is a garment spec sheet the same as a tech pack?
Not quite. A garment spec sheet usually means the measurement page: points of measure, sizes and tolerances. The tech pack is the full set, with the spec sheet as one of its pages.
Do you need a finished tech pack before you will quote?
No. A tech pack helps but is not required. Book a call or send the quote form with your garment idea, fabric, colors and quantities, and the proof shows the garment design, colors, logo placement and labels before anything is made.
How do I set measurement tolerances?
Ask your manufacturer which tolerances they work to, then write one beside every point of measure. Do not copy numbers from a template you found online, because the right tolerance depends on the fabric and the garment.
How long does a first run take once the tech pack is done?
Fully custom takes about 45 days door to door once you approve the proof. Decorated blanks take 7 to 10 business days from proof approval. Treat both as planning targets, and confirm the timeline on the first call.
Bring the sketch. We will turn it into a proof you can sign.
Send what you have, finished tech pack or not, and we will tell you which clock your garment is on.
