Your business started with a vision, an idea, an image to convey. Now is the time to get in touch with the apparel manufacturers and let them do the magic that will turn your ideas into a salable product. The reputation and success of your business will depend on how well this process is executed, so you should prepare the specifications in advance to start on the right foot.
Once you find the right apparel manufacturer for your brand, open and concise communication is needed to translate your ideas into wearables. So, what is the best way to convey your idea and vision?
It’s no surprise that sharing your sketches directly with a manufacturer doesn’t do the trick. If you already have some experience in the industry of baby girl dresses or if you have done some basic research, you have probably heard of technical files or “tech pack”. If not, see how this tool can benefit your fashion business. A tech pack is a link between your ideas, your design, and the final product. Think of it as your brand manual for apparel manufacturers.
In this article, we’ll demystify tech packs and make sure you have the knowledge and confidence to tackle this important step in launching an apparel brand. A standardized form of communication between you and your garment manufacturer is essential to ensure efficient and quality garment production. The good news is that once you tweak those tech specs, the result won’t disappoint.
WHAT IS A TECHNICAL FILE OR TECH PACK?
A technical brief is a complete set of design details that are provided to a pattern maker after you have gone through the design process of a garment. This set of documents allows a fashion designer to maintain quality control over their idea as it is developed into a pattern that can be produced by a textile manufacturer.
Compiling this information sheet is a crucial aspect of your design process, as it contains information on raw materials, size ranges, and fit details for your garment, as well as technical drawings and details. other information, such as artwork placement details, will help the pattern maker create a pattern to your exact specifications.
WHY DO I NEED A TECHNICAL FILE?
A technical brief is one of the most important tools in the fashion business when you want to take your ideas to the production stage. It’s important to have a detailed technical brief to hand when you strike up a conversation with a manufacturer and don’t be afraid to give more details than necessary. After all, you don’t want to be financially responsible for any mistakes.
CREATION OF A TECHNICAL FILE
Providing your apparel manufacturer with accurate specifications leaves less room for misinterpretation. It is important not to leave anything to chance, and the creation of a complete technical file will harmonize the production process.
Here are the main areas that a complete technical file should cover and details on how to complete each section:
- Sketches and descriptions
- Style and inspiration board
- Placement of fabrics and construction of the garment
- Choice of colors
- List of materials or bill of materials (BOM)
- Seam-to-seam measurements
Sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it? Don’t be discouraged though. With our step-by-step instructions, you can overcome the initial confusion and establish a transparent dialogue with your garment manufacturer.
- SKETCHES AND DESCRIPTIONS
Your technical brief should start with a black and white sketch showing the front and back of the garment. Keep it as simple as possible and don’t use color. You can also create scanned sketches using software such as Adobe Illustrator to create your images.
- STYLE AND INSPIRATION BOARD
This section is a style board of your brand. Add the images and patterns that inspired the original ideas here. It can be textures, prints, cuts, and styles that represent your vision. You can also add some comments to make sure your images are translatable to the maker.
- PLACEMENT OF FABRIC AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE GARMENT
This section highlights the desired assembly of the garment, and it should include construction diagrams. Sketches of your summer dress for girls should be marked according to the type of fabric you want to place in certain places, including down to small details such as the placement of labels. For example, use stripes to indicate the use of one type of fabric and dots for another type. Indicate what each design corresponds to with a complete legend under the illustration.
Use as many arrows or footnotes as necessary to get the message across, but when writing comments, always decipher any abbreviations or acronyms you may have used. When it comes to assembling garments, it is essential to have clear codes for each type of print or fabric to avoid misinterpretations.
- CHOICE OF COLORS
Identifying the specific colors to use is key to getting the look and style of the garment right the first time. You must include the name of the color, its number (Pantone color or original number), and a color sample. You can also add the print colors if your model does not have solid colors.
- LIST OF MATERIALS OR BILL OF MATERIALS (BOM)
Details of the fabrics in your designs should be listed in the Materials List or Bill of Materials (BOM). This highlights all aspects of your garment, including the shell, lining, pockets, closures, and labels, and this list can be broken down into five sections, as shown below:
- Placement: Where the material will be used or in what position it will be sewn into the garment.
- Comments: Detail any essential information regarding the use of the material.
- Material: Be sure to state the fiber content, the material it is made of, and the identification numbers.
- Supplier: Indicate who supplies the fabric.
- Color Number: Experts claim that there are over 150 shades of gray, which makes you realize the importance of mentioning the exact colors required for your design.
- SEAM-TO-SEAM MEASUREMENTS
It’s often considered one of the hardest parts of the technical brief, but your seam-to-seam measurements are key to getting the right fit, style, and sizing for your garments. This section usually contains five columns and helps produce the pattern and the first cutting sample.
Point of Measure (POM): Each piece of a garment must fit snugly together, or the final product will not fit together well. Note the types of measurements that should be used for each part of the model.
Description: Indicate how action should be taken. This part must be very precise because manufacturers must have clear information on how each point must be measured. The HPS (high point of the shoulder) will be the primary starting point for most vertical measurements, and you should remember to mention it in the description.
Requirement: You must have had an idea of the final size of your product. In this section, you specify the actual measurements. If you need help deciding, do not complete this part, but instead contact the baby swimsuits manufacturer for help. You can always adjust the values after the first try.
Tolerance (+/-): This section indicates the maximum and minimum values allowed for a measurement concerning the requested measurement. Production must remain within this range.
Fit Comments: Add any important notes to accompany the measurements provided.
HOW TO CREATE A PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL FILE
A technical brief is a technical brief, but the care you take in completing this product development tool has a direct correlation to the overall outcome of your garment. If you provide your modeler with the bare minimum of information and other necessary items, you will get the bare minimum of positive results for your efforts.
When building your technical brief, keep the modeler’s point of view in mind. The harder your file is to skim and read, the harder it will be for your modeler to accept your project. On the other hand, if you present the necessary information in a simplified way, it will be easy for your modeler to understand the essentials and tackle the project in style.
To make your technical brief easier to understand, consider adding helpful elements like a cover page with information like your company name and a non-technical image of the intended product. Outline step-by-step project details and include graduated specifications to make it easy to make patterns of different sizes from the information you provide.
Ideally, your technical file should look like an instruction manual. Your model maker will, of course, bring their expertise, otherwise, there would be no point in hiring a professional to do this job. However, the guesswork in the process must be kept to a minimum so that the garment you envision survives the pattern-making process and eventually sees the light of day.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TECHNICAL FILES AND DATA SHEETS
If you’ve been in the design business for a while, chances are you’ve heard the term “spec sheet” from time to time. While your datasheet is another important tool in the process of bringing your design vision to life, there are some important differences between tech packs and datasheets that you need to understand before moving forward.
TECHNICAL SHEET
A spec sheet is a single document that outlines most of the important details about your project. It shows a flat drawing of your design along with a technical drawing for the manufacturer.
This document must include all the technical details needed to manufacture your garment. A good spec sheet includes measurements, material details, and any relevant information about accessories or prints.
Since your datasheet packs a lot of data into such a compact format, a single mistake in that document can cause you serious problems down the road. There’s not a lot of room to explain what you’re looking for with your spec sheet; she just gets all the raw details, and you’ll rely on your technical brief to flesh things out.
TECH PACK/TECHNICAL FILE
Your technical file will include your technical sheet, but also many other things. In addition to the datasheet, this document will also include a professional cover page and an evaluation sheet.
Your grading sheet will include information on the original measurements of the garment, but also information on how to scale those measurements to obtain standard or custom sizes. A technical brief gives a designer or fashion brand more room to explain all the details that a designer or fabricator might need to create a final clothing product, but it is still extremely important that all of the details of this document are exact if you want to obtain a product that closely or remotely resembles the model you have designed.
BRING YOUR FASHION BRAND TO LIFE
A technical file contains a lot of information that can sometimes seem overwhelming. If you need help, ask your apparel manufacturer or a technical designer to help turn your ideas into achievable specifications. Before sending your technical brief to the apparel manufacturer, be sure to review the information until you are confident in your branding project. This step will allow you to avoid any problems or communication errors.
SHOULD YOU HIRE A PROFESSIONAL OR CREATE A TECHNICAL FILE YOURSELF?
The realization of a technical file by your means is not a simple process. You’ll need to have design skills, and you’ll also need to know how to compose comprehensive documentation that can be printed by the various product developers you’ll be working with as your apparel project comes to fruition.
If you think you have the skills to make a tech pack on your own, you can save money going this route, but if you make mistakes along the way, your final product may have serious problems. At least take advantage of some of the free tools available to you online that can help you formulate a tech pack that makes sense to your modeler and fabricator.
When deciding what to do next, keep in mind that working with a tech pack expert isn’t necessarily a surefire way to ensure your garment will look its best. Professional tech pack creators are not per se experts on your design; you’ll need to explain every detail of your plans for your garment to ensure that whoever you hire produces the results you’re looking for.
THE PROCESS OF MAKING A TECHNICAL FILE
If you decide to make a technical file yourself, you will need to start by gathering all the relevant details about your garment. First, you need to make a detailed sketch of your garment respecting all the measurements you want to obtain for the final product. You will use this sketch to make your cover page, and you will use it again to make a more detailed technical sheet.
You’ll also need to spend some time with a calculator to make sure all the measurements on your spec sheet are correct. Also, be sure to use the generic names of the materials you want to use with your garment to give your fabricator a good idea of development costs and incorporate considerations such as seam allowances and measurement points to make the process as easy as possible. construction of your garment.