What to Include in a Fashion Tech Pack

Creating a tech pack is a crucial step for any fashion brand aiming to bring designs from concept to production. Many founders underestimate what’s required, thinking a simple sketch will suffice. The truth is, manufacturers need precise, production-ready information to deliver quality garments on time and within budget. This post breaks down the essential elements every tech pack must include, with clear examples to help beginners understand what goes into a successful tech pack.

Detailed technical sketch of a jacket with measurements and fabric swatches

What a Tech Pack Is and Why It Matters

A tech pack is a blueprint for your garment. It communicates your design vision and technical requirements to the factory. Without a complete tech pack, manufacturers can misinterpret your design, leading to costly errors, delays, and wasted materials.

A well-prepared tech pack includes everything a factory needs to produce your garment exactly as you envision it. This includes technical sketches, measurements, materials, construction details, and more.

Technical Sketches

Technical sketches are the foundation of your tech pack. Unlike fashion illustrations, these sketches focus on accuracy and detail rather than artistic flair. They show the garment from multiple angles—usually front, back, and side views—and highlight key design features.

What to include in technical sketches:

• Clear line drawings without colour or shading

• Details like seams, stitching, pockets, zippers, buttons, and trims

• Annotations pointing out special features or construction notes

  
  

Manufacturers rely on these sketches to understand the garment’s shape and design elements. A basic sketch isn’t enough; it must be precise and clear.

Measurements and Size Specifications

Accurate measurements are critical. This section, often called the size spec sheet, lists all the dimensions for each size you plan to produce. It ensures the garment fits as intended.

Key points for measurements:

• Include all relevant points such as chest, waist, hip, sleeve length, inseam, and garment length

• Provide tolerances (acceptable measurement variations)

• Use consistent units (inches or cms)

• Include grading rules if you plan multiple sizes

  
  

For example, a T-shirt tech pack might list chest width, body length, shoulder width, and sleeve length for sizes S, M, L, and XL. In my experience of creating tech packs across hundreds of garments, the measurements section is where most first-time founders make mistakes. They'll give a factory chest width and length but forget about armhole depth or other important points of measure (POMs) and of course the grading between sizes too.

Bill of Materials (BOM)

The Bill of Materials lists every component needed to make the garment. This includes fabrics, trims, labels, threads, buttons, zippers, and any other materials.

What to specify in the BOM:

• Fabric type, weight, and composition (e.g., 100% cotton jersey, 180 gsm)

• Color codes or Pantone references

• Trim details like zipper length, button size, and thread color

• Supplier information if available

  
  

A detailed BOM helps factories source the correct materials and avoid substitutions that could affect quality or appearance. Sometimes this is a separate sheet but sometimes this information is woven throughout the tech pack in different areas. If you're already sourcing fabric and trims yourself for a CMT factory then I always recommend founders include supplier information where possible. It saves back-and-forth with the factory later.

Construction Details

This section explains how the garment should be assembled. It covers stitching types, seam allowances, finishing techniques, and any special instructions.

Examples of construction details:

• Stitch type (e.g., flatlock, overlock, single needle)

• Seam allowances (e.g. 1 cm or 3/8 inch)

• Reinforcement areas (e.g. bartacks at pocket openings)

• Details on hems, collars, cuffs, and linings

  
  

Clear construction notes prevent misunderstandings and ensure the garment is built to your standards. One thing I see regularly is founders not specifying seam or stitch construction. This might sound minor, but it can completely change the finish, level of manufacture or functionality of your garment.

Need a production-ready tech pack for your clothing brand?

I create detailed, manufacturer-ready tech packs for first-time founders across womenswear, menswear, childrenswear and sportswear. You bring the ideas, I handle the technical side.

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Labels and Branding

Labels are small but important. This section specifies the type, placement, and design of all labels and branding elements.

Include:

• Care labels with washing instructions

• Brand labels with logo placement and size

• Hangtags or stickers if applicable

• Label materials and attachment methods (e.g. sewn-in, heat transfer)

  
  

Proper label instructions help maintain brand consistency and comply with regulations.

Colourways

If your garment comes in multiple colours, list all colour options with exact references. Use Pantone numbers or fabric swatches to avoid confusion.

Tips for colourways:

• Include colour names and codes

• Specify which trims or labels change with colour

• Provide photos or fabric samples if possible

  
  

This section helps factories prepare for different production runs and maintain colour accuracy.

Packaging (Optional but Valuable)

Packaging instructions are often overlooked but can add strong authority to your tech pack. This section details how the finished garments should be packed and shipped.

Packaging details might include:

• Folding instructions

• Polybag size and type

• Hangtags or stickers placement

• Carton dimensions and labeling

  
  

Clear packaging guidelines reduce damage during shipping and improve presentation for retail.

Creating a detailed tech pack is one of the most important parts of developing a fashion product properly because it helps reduce misunderstandings, improve sample quality, minimise costly mistakes and give your factory clear instructions to work from.

The problem is that a lot of first-time founders assume they need to know how to create all of this themselves before they’re “ready” to move forward, and that’s usually where people end up disappearing down months of research, trying to learn Adobe Illustrator, fashion terminology, garment construction and technical specification sheets all at once.

But what if there was a better way?

Most of the founders I work with don’t come to me with polished technical drawings or professionally prepared documents. They come with ideas, Pinterest boards, screenshots, rough sketches, voice notes, fabric inspiration and a vision they don’t quite know how to translate into something production-ready yet.

My role is to take that messy “brain dump” of ideas and turn it into something a factory can actually work from, whether that’s one product you’re trying to bring to life or an entire clothing collection.

Together, we’ll shape the collection strategically, discuss fabrics, construction, fit, product details and manufacturing considerations, and then I’ll go ahead and create the technical designs, tech packs, size specifications and any bespoke prints or graphics needed to prepare your collection for sampling and production.

Because the reality is that a strong tech pack can save you a huge amount of time, money and frustration in the long run. Better communication usually leads to better samples, fewer revisions, fewer misunderstandings and a much smoother production process overall.

So if you’ve reached the stage where you’ve got lots of ideas but you’re struggling to figure out how to turn them into professional tech packs and real products, then this is exactly the kind of thing I help founders with every day.

Frequently asked questions about tech packs

How detailed does a tech pack need to be?

As detailed as your manufacturer needs it to be, and that's usually more detailed than most first-time founders expect. Every measurement, every stitch type, every trim, every colour reference. If it's not in the tech pack, the factory will either guess or ask you, and guessing leads to samples that look nothing like what you had in mind. I've seen founders lose weeks and hundreds of pounds on sample revisions that could have been avoided with a more thorough tech pack upfront. The general rule is: if you've made a decision about it, document it. If you haven't made a decision about it yet, that's a sign you're not ready to send it to a factory and might need some expert help.

Can I create my own tech pack or do I need a designer?

You can create your own, but most first-time founders don't have the technical knowledge to produce something a factory can actually work from. A tech pack isn't a mood board or a sketch on a piece of paper that looks pretty. It needs accurate measurements, proper technical drawings, correct fabric specifications and clear construction notes. Factories receive tech packs from professional designers every day, so when they receive something incomplete or unclear, it immediately flags that you're new to this, and that can affect how seriously they take your enquiry. Most of the founders I work with come to me with ideas, Pinterest boards and rough sketches, and I turn all of that into production-ready tech packs. You don't need to learn Adobe Illustrator or take a fashion degree. You need someone who already knows how to do this properly.

How much does a tech pack cost?

It varies depending on which designer you use, but as a rough guide, you can expect to pay anywhere from £150 to £400+ per style for a professionally produced tech pack from an experienced designer. Be cautious of very cheap options on freelancer platforms because the quality of the tech pack directly affects the quality of your samples. A poorly made tech pack will cost you far more in wasted sampling rounds than it saves upfront. On my tech packs page you can see exactly what's included and how I price my packages.

Do I need a tech pack before contacting a manufacturer?

Yes. A manufacturer needs your tech pack to give you an accurate quote, understand what they're making, and produce a sample that matches your vision. Without one, most reputable factories won't engage with you at all, or they'll give you a ballpark quote that bears no resemblance to the final cost. Think of it this way: asking a factory to quote without a tech pack is like asking a builder to price a house without plans. They might give you a number, but it won't mean much. Getting your tech pack right before you approach a factory is one of the smartest investments you can make early on. If you're not sure whether your collection is ready for manufacture, book a free discovery call and we can talk it through.

What is the difference between a tech pack and a spec sheet?

A spec sheet is one part of a tech pack. It's the page that lists all of your garment measurements, the points of measure, tolerances and grading across sizes. A tech pack is the full document, which includes the spec sheet alongside the technical drawings, bill of materials, construction details, colourways, label placements and everything else the factory needs. Some people use the terms interchangeably, but they're not the same thing. If a manufacturer asks you for a tech pack and you send them just a spec sheet, they won't have enough information to produce a sample. The tech pack is the complete picture.

Not sure where to start with your tech pack?

I've helped hundreds of founders go from rough ideas to factory-ready tech packs. Book a free 20-minute call and we'll talk through what you need.

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See you in the front row,

Michelle Ramsay - The Fashion Expert®

About Michelle Ramsay – The Fashion Expert®

Michelle Ramsay is a fashion designer, startup mentor and fashion consultant with over 20 years of industry experience helping clothing brand founders bring their fashion brand ideas to life. She's worked on brands such as ASOS, Gymshark, French Connection, M&S and Topshop.

Through The Fashion Expert®, she works with founders on everything from design development and tech packs to manufacturing guidance, launch planning and one-to-one mentoring, helping turn messy ideas and Pinterest boards into real collections ready for production.

After working with more than 400 fashion founders, Michelle has become known for helping people without fashion industry backgrounds navigate the process with clarity, confidence and expert support.

See you in the front row,

Michelle - The Fashion Expert®

Why Rushing Your Fashion Brand Launch Usually Backfires

Something that has been coming up a lot lately with fashion founder clients who are just starting out, in the middle of sampling and production or getting ready to launch their clothing brand in the next few weeks, is the pressure they put on themselves to launch quickly.

Usually, what happens is someone picks a date in their head and it starts to become this fixed point that everything has to revolve around. They might want to launch before summer, or before Christmas, or before a particular event, or maybe they’ve just had the idea for so long that they feel like they need to get it out into the world as quickly as possible.

And I completely understand that feeling because when you’ve been working on your fashion brand idea for months, or sometimes years, you want it to be real. You want to finally be able to say, “This is my brand, it’s live, here it is.” But the problem is that a lot of founders become emotionally attached to a launch date that is often completely self-imposed, and then suddenly everything becomes about forcing the collection, the production, the website, the photography, the content and the marketing to somehow all line up perfectly for this one date.

The rest of the world usually doesn’t know about that date yet, but you do, and that can be enough to make it feel like everything is falling apart when things inevitably start to shift.

That’s the thing with starting a fashion line - there are so many moving parts involved in launching a brand, and even with the best planning in the world, some things will always be outside your control.

Samples might need revising, fabrics might be delayed, trims might go out of stock, production might take longer than expected, packaging might not arrive when you thought it would, photography might need to be rescheduled or your website might take longer to pull together than you hoped.

None of this means you’re failing it just means you’re working in the fashion industry!

I think that’s something that can be really hard to understand when you’re new to the industry because from the outside, fashion has this reputation for being fast-paced, and it is, but that doesn’t mean every single part of the process can happen instantly just because you’ve picked a date and decided that’s when everything needs to be ready.

Factories have lead times, sampling takes weeks, production takes months, shipping schedules change. For the record, I’m not saying this because I want founders to drag their heels or keep putting things off, because there’s a big difference between giving yourself a realistic runway and hiding behind perfectionism. What I am saying is that trying to force a fashion launch into an unrealistic timeframe usually creates more problems than it solves.

The biggest issue with rushing is that it often leads to compromise, and that’s the part I think founders need to be really careful with.

You might start approving products you’re not fully happy with because you’re desperate to hit the date. You might rush your photography because you feel like there’s no time to reshoot. You might launch with a weaker website than you wanted, skip important pieces of content, reduce the collection in a way that doesn’t really tell the story you wanted to tell, or cut corners on things that actually matter to your customer experience. And at that point, the launch date starts becoming more important than the brand itself.

That’s usually where I want founders to pause and ask whether this date is genuinely strategic, or whether it’s just a date they chose at some point and are now trying to force everything around.

One of the first things I do when I sit down with a client, whether we’re designing the collection together, working on tech packs or they’re inside The Fashion Startup Academy, is look at the timeline properly. We talk about the season, the product, the stage they’re currently at, what still needs to happen, what could realistically go wrong, and whether the date they have in mind actually gives them enough space to create something they’re proud of.

Sometimes that means gently saying, “I think we need to push this back.”

And I know that can feel really frustrating when you’ve got your heart set on a date, but after working with more than 400 fashion founders, I’ve seen this enough times to know that a bit of breathing space can make all the difference.

It gives you time to fix problems properly, make better decisions, get the product right, prepare your marketing, build your audience and actually launch in a way that feels considered rather than chaotic.

This has been such a relevant conversation with clients recently, and it was funny because I actually had to have a word with myself about the exact same thing in my own business.

Behind the scenes, I’ve been working on new content and updates for The Fashion Startup Academy because the doors are opening again in September, and somewhere in my head I’d picked one of those arbitrary dates where I thought I’d have everything ready much earlier.

Then life got in the way, client work needed my attention, other parts of the business became the priority, and suddenly I found myself feeling behind because I hadn’t hit this date that, let’s be honest, nobody else even knew about.

Reality check, I was the only person putting that pressure on myself.

So I had to take my own advice and ask whether rushing to meet that internal deadline was actually going to create the best experience for the founders joining the Academy, or whether it would be better to give myself the space to do it properly.

And the answer was obvious.

Pushing the launch back to September gives me the time to create the content, refine the programme and make sure the experience is at the high standard I always deliver, and that feels far more aligned than rushing just so I can tick a date off in my own head.

It was a good reminder that even when you’ve been in business for years, it’s still really easy to fall into the trap of thinking everything has to happen immediately.

This is why I think having someone objective in your corner can be so valuable when you’re building a fashion brand, because when it’s your own brand, your own idea and your own money on the line, it’s very easy to lose perspective and feel like every delay is a disaster.

Some of the one-to-one sessions I have with founders are incredibly practical, where we’re looking at products, fabrics, factories, timelines, pricing, tech packs or launch plans, but some of them are also a little bit like fashion therapy, because sometimes what someone really needs is to lay everything out on the table and have someone help them work through it calmly.

We look at what’s actually happened, what the options are, what needs to be prioritised, what can wait, what the next step should be and whether the original plan still makes sense.

And it’s amazing how often someone comes into a session feeling like everything is falling apart, then leaves with a much clearer head because there’s suddenly a plan again, cue the massive relief and weight lifted off your shoulders feeling!

If you’re sitting there with a fashion brand idea and you’ve set yourself launch dates in the past that have come and gone, I really don’t want you to read this and think, “Oh, I’ve failed.” Around here in my community of first-time fashion founders, I’d much rather we look at what happened, why it happened and what support, structure or clarity might help you move forward in a way that actually works.

Because sometimes the issue isn’t that you’re not serious enough, it’s that you’re trying to navigate an industry with a lot of moving parts without having a realistic roadmap in place.

Trying to launch a fashion brand quickly might feel like the thing that proves you’re making progress, but sometimes the most strategic thing you can do is slow down enough to build the brand properly. The goal isn’t to launch fastest. it's to launch something you’re actually proud to put your name on.

See you in the front row,

Michelle Ramsay - The Fashion Expert®

About Michelle Ramsay – The Fashion Expert®

Michelle Ramsay is a fashion designer, startup mentor and fashion consultant with over 20 years of industry experience helping founders bring their fashion brand ideas to life.

Through The Fashion Expert®, she works with first-time and emerging founders on everything from design development and tech packs to manufacturing guidance, launch planning and one-to-one mentoring, helping turn messy ideas and Pinterest boards into real collections ready for production.

After working with more than 400 fashion founders, Michelle has become known for helping people without fashion industry backgrounds navigate the process with clarity, confidence and expert support.

How To Turn Your Fashion Brand Ideas Into A Real Collection

One of the biggest misconceptions I see with first-time fashion founders is thinking they need to have everything figured out before they’re ready to start developing their collection, and this is one of the biggest reasons founders get stuck.

Most people start with something like, “I’ve got an idea for a clothing brand”, or “I wish this product existed”, or “I feel like there’s a gap in the market”, then once that idea has been brewing for a little while, they naturally start gathering inspiration because that feels like the obvious next step.

This can be making Pinterest boards, creating mood boards, collecting screenshots of things they’ve seen online, saving references from brands they love, making notes in their phone or maybe even doodling rough sketches of ideas they’re trying to bring to life.

If the idea is more innovative or technical, then that research might look slightly different. such as comparing existing products on the market, researching fabrics or technologies, looking at construction details or trying to figure out how a product could work better than what already exists.

This stage is exciting because it feels productive while you build this huge collection of ideas, inspiration and information, during what I call the “brain dump” stage because all of the ideas in your head finally starting to live somewhere outside your brain. You’re actively doing something, you’re shaping the vision and for the first time you can actually start seeing what this clothing brand or product could become.

Most people hit the same brick wall somewhere around this point where they start thinking, “OK… but how do I actually turn this into designs?” and it’s normally when the self-doubt starts creeping in because suddenly the focus shifts away from the idea itself and onto all of the things you feel like you don’t know.

People start thinking things like, “I don’t know how to sew”, or “I can’t draw”, or “I don’t know how garments are constructed.” A lot of people start feeling intimidated by fashion terminology or technical details and begin worrying about how they would ever explain their ideas to a factory if they don’t know the “correct” fashion industry language.

And sadly, this is the point where I think a lot of founders quietly convince themselves they’re not qualified enough to move forward.

Out of the 400+ fashion founders I’ve worked with over the years, only a tiny handful had any real fashion industry experience before starting, so if you’re sitting there thinking you’re the only one feeling like this, I promise you you’re not - it's completely normal to let these doubts creep in but how do you handle this stuck phase?

Well around here in my community of first-time fashion founders you're not expected to magically know how to do every role inside the fashion industry before starting your fashion brand, but what I see happen a lot is founders panicking and thinking they need to go away and “fix” all of those skills gaps themselves before they’re allowed to move forward.

So they enrol on sewing courses because they think they need to understand construction, or they spend months trying to learn Adobe Illustrator because they think that’s what “real” fashion designers do - hello expensive software and laptops and disappearing down endless research rabbit holes to learn vector drawing.

For the record, I’m absolutely not against learning new skills because if you genuinely want to learn to sew or learn digital design as a hobby or long-term skill, then amazing. But I do think there’s an important question to ask yourself, which is whether this is actually helping you launch your fashion brand faster and more strategically? Or just an act of active procrastination?

Because often what happens is people spend six months trying to become beginner designers, beginner sewists and beginner garment technologists all at once, when what they really needed was someone who could help translate the vision they already had.

I say this as someone who is a professional designer - learning software like Adobe Illustrator or how to sew is not something you magically pick up overnight. There’s a proper learning curve, and I think people massively underestimate that because social media makes it look instant.

So when founders tell me they’ve spent months trying to learn all of this themselves but still don’t feel any closer to launching their brand, I completely get it.

But what if there was a better way?

The way I work with clients is actually really collaborative and probably much less intimidating than people imagine and here's the best bit - I actually WANT the messy brain dump!

I wanna see the Pinterest boards, the rough notes, the screenshots and the “bad” sketches that you’re apologising for. I want the ideas that are half-written in your Notes app and the references you’ve been collecting for the last two years, because my role is not to sit there judging whether you know enough, it's to ask the right questions, identify the gaps, shape the collection strategically and help bring the vision to life in a way that actually works.

Most clients come to me with exactly what I’ve described above in the messy middle phase with half-formed concepts and a vision they don’t quite know how to make and that's where I work my magic.

When someone books in with me, we sit down together and go through everything they’ve gathered and start discussing things like fabrics, construction, product selection, technical details, silhouettes, colours and how the collection might work commercially. We look at where there are gaps, where extra support is needed and how we turn this from “lots of ideas” into a real collection with actual next steps - usually tech packs.

And what’s interesting is how quickly things start feeling clearer once someone stops trying to hold all of those moving parts in their own head, in the space of an hour, suddenly there’s structure, direction and a plan.

I always say that what we can often achieve in one focused hour together is far more productive than months spent trying to figure everything out alone, because we’re not starting from zero - you already have the vision but what you’re usually missing is the bridge between “I have an idea” and “I know how to move this forward properly.”

If you’re sitting at that stage where you’ve got lots of ideas but you’re struggling to figure out how to turn them into an actual collection, then this is exactly the kind of thing I help founders with every day.

Whether you need help designing your products, developing your collection, creating tech packs or simply figuring out what the next step even is, we can sit down together and work through it strategically.

In just one focused hour, we can usually take that messy “brain dump” of ideas and turn it into something much more structured, tangible and clear, so you leave knowing exactly what direction you’re moving in and what needs to happen next.

And if you’re not quite ready for that yet, that’s completely fine too. You can always book a complimentary chat first and we can talk through where you’re at with your fashion brand, what kind of support you might need and how I can help you move things forward.

Because you really don’t need to have everything figured out before starting the conversation.

See you in the front row,

Michelle Ramsay - The Fashion Expert®

About Michelle Ramsay – The Fashion Expert®

Michelle Ramsay is a fashion designer, startup mentor and fashion consultant with over 20 years of industry experience helping founders bring their fashion brand ideas to life.

Through The Fashion Expert®, she works with first-time and emerging founders on everything from design development and tech packs to manufacturing guidance, launch planning and one-to-one mentoring, helping turn messy ideas and Pinterest boards into real collections ready for production.

After working with more than 400 fashion founders, Michelle has become known for helping people without fashion industry backgrounds navigate the process with clarity, confidence and expert support.