Part 4: What’s in a tech pack and why
Measurements (how to reduce returns)
This is the fourth blog in our series on tech packs. Over the last two weeks we talked about the cover page, sampling page and BOM, and flat sketches.
This week we’re talking about measurements.
Yes, your clothing manufacturer can base your fit on a competitor sample, but if you’re not sending your own measurement set (also known as a graded spec) you are not in control of your design, and you can’t give smart proto review comments (which we’ll get into next week).
The best way to get your clothing design to fit the way you want, and for it to stay consistent from season to season, is to send your own detailed graded spec.
In today’s post I’ll walk through a sample measurement page.
Then scroll down to the bonus tips to learn:
Your three options if you’re not sure how you want your garment to grade from size to size.
What to do if your clothing manufacturer has been making your design without a graded spec (to make sure you stay in control of your product).
How a full graded spec will reduce returns.
At the end, if you want to take a closer look at the graded spec I’ve included below, you can grab the tech pack* with the measurement set you see here for free.
*I never share client work. This is a personal project.
So what’s in a graded spec?
All the fit info your clothing manufacturer needs to make your garment
Basic measurements: Your graded spec has all the info needed to make sure your garment fits the way you want, in every size.
Sample size: Your sample size (the size you try on your fit model, or yourself if you are your brand’s fit model) is called out clearly so your protos come in the right size.
Size range: The graded spec shows every size you want your garment to come in.
Grading: How much bigger then your Medium is your Large? This is called the grade and it’s all on this page.
Detail measurements: How big are the pocket openings? How deep are the pocket bags? Make sure a wallet and hand will always fit comfortably in the pocket of your short design by giving your clothing manufacturer all these measurements.
Is something missing?
You might notice something missing from this measurement page.
Where’s the sketch that shows how to measure the garment?
A lot of designers include this sketch in the tech pack.
I keep it a separate document.
Unless you’re doing very unique designs, you don’t need to include a measurement sketch every single tech pack. If you’re designing something basic, like a polo or a pair of pants, you can use one point of measure sketch for all of your polos, and another for all of your pants.
You can gather these sketches into a Brand Measurement Guide that you send to your factories once and they can use to create the patterns for all your garments.
That way the extra sketches aren’t clogging up your tech pack (it’s better to keep the file size smaller), and if you need to make a change to how you measure (which your clothing manufacturer might ask you to do), you don’t need to open up every tech pack to update the sketch. You only need to do it once.
It’s faster, and it makes your life easier.
Here’s an example of a point of measure sketch:
Measurement guide
The codes on this page (the numbers on the left starting with MNB) correspond with the codes on the left side of the spec sheet.
This shows your clothing manufacturer how you’re measuring the garment, and makes sure you’re on the same page.
Your clothing manufacturer will use this guide to create the pattern for your design.
Bonus tips:
What if you don’t know how you want your garment to grade from size to size?
You have three options if you’re not sure how you want your garment to grade:
You can hire a freelancer to grade it for you.
You can ask your clothing manufacturer to grade it for you based on your sample size measurements.
You can buy a size run from another brand you like the fit of and measure them to create your grade. This option is a little more work and you will probably need to tweak the measurements since the garments you’re measuring might be out of tolerance (bigger or smaller than the measurement the brand wanted).
If you ask your clothing manufacturer to grade your garment for you, make sure you ask them to send you the measurements they used.
Having all these measurements lets you make smart comments when reviewing a size run (which you should always do before going into production).
It also means that if you want to switch factories later on, you won’t be starting from scratch.
Factories are hesitant to give out information that will make it easier for you to counter source with other clothing manufacturers.
If you ask for your grading six months from now because you’re secretly counter sourcing, you might not get it. But if you ask right away (before you’re considering switching to another manufacturer) they’re much more likely to give it to you.
Want to reduce returns?
Bad fit is one of the number one reasons for returns, and customers don’t like it when the fit of their favorite brand changes.
A graded spec ensures your fit will stay the same from season to season, or if you switch factories later on, so you’ll never surprise your customers with a garment that’s suddenly too tight (nobody likes that).
Having a full graded spec in your tech pack is the best way to reduce returns based on fit.
That’s it for measurements.
I hope I’ve convinced you that these sketches will reduce returns, make your product better, and your life easier.
Including detailed sketches in your tech pack makes sure your style will come in how you want, and that it will be the same the next time you (or your customer) order it.
Next week we’ll go over the last page in a tech pack, the proto review page.
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*I never share client work. This is a personal project.
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