What Is a Tech Pack? The Complete Guide
The blueprint every clothing brand needs before a factory will touch it, with the sections a factory reads and what happens when one is missing.
A tech pack is the document set that tells a factory exactly how to build a garment: flat sketches, measurements (a point-of-measure grade sheet), construction and stitch detail, fabric and trim specs, and labeling placement. Without one, a factory is guessing, and guessing shows up in your first sample.
A tech pack is not a mood board and it is not a sketch with notes in the margin. It's a build spec, written so a pattern maker in a factory you've never visited can produce a sample that matches what you had in mind.
What a factory reads first
Most first-time brand owners over-invest in the cover sheet and under-invest in the grade sheet. A factory's pattern maker goes straight to measurements. If the point-of-measure grid is incomplete or the tolerances aren't stated, the first sample comes back wrong and you lose a full sampling cycle, typically two to four weeks, fixing it.
| Flat sketch (front/back) | Proportion reference, not art |
| Point-of-measure grid | Every measurement, every size, tolerances stated |
| Bill of materials | Fabric, trims, hardware, with supplier codes |
| Construction detail | Seam types, stitch counts per inch, finishing |
| Colorway | Pantone or lab dip reference per colorway |
| Label placement | Care label, brand label, size tag positions |
The cost of skipping sections
A tech pack missing tolerances forces the factory to pick their own standard, which is rarely the one you'd have chosen. A tech pack missing a bill of materials means the factory sources fabric on their own judgment, and the fabric that arrives may not be the fabric you tested.
Building your first one
Start from a flat sketch, even a rough one, and build the point-of-measure grid before anything else. Every measurement should trace back to a fit sample you've checked on a body or a form, not a guess from a size chart. Add construction notes only where the factory's default might differ from what you want: topstitch width, seam finish, closures.
Work with a technical designer.
Building a first tech pack for a factory submission? A second pair of eyes before you send it catches the gaps that cost a sampling round.
Do I need a tech pack for a single custom garment?
No. Tech packs are for production runs where a factory that hasn't seen the garment in person needs to reproduce it consistently across sizes and units.
Can I write a tech pack without pattern-making experience?
You can draft the sketch and bill of materials yourself. The point-of-measure grid and construction detail usually need a technical designer or pattern maker's input to be accurate.
What software do factories expect a tech pack in?
PDF is universal and safest for factory submission. Some brands work in Adobe Illustrator or dedicated tech pack software, then export to PDF for the factory.
Reviewed by Karolyn, Technical Apparel Designer · kellyhouse.studio