What is the Difference Between a Tech Pack, a Spec Sheet and Pattern?
It's time to discuss the difference between a tech pack, a spec sheet, and a pattern. These elements are all essential to product development, yet they cause confusion for established companies and new designers alike. Once you know how and where the tech pack, spec sheet, and pattern fit into the product development process, you'll realize the differences are very straightforward.
The Spec Sheet
Let's start with the spec sheet, as this is the one that people seem to misunderstand the most and may not even realize it. The term "spec sheet" is an abbreviated version of "specification sheet." The single fundamental difference between the spec sheet and a tech pack is that a spec sheet is one page.
A spec sheet is commonly thought of as a summary page that highlights the most important features of a sewn design. However, several specifications can end up on a single page at one time, which can become confusing. A better way to think of a spec sheet is to consider it a single-page design summary.
The Limitations of the Spec Sheet
There are a few disadvantages to a design summary. First, there is no standard for how these should look or what they should contain. Second, there is often too much information within a design summary, making it complicated to read and confusing for the manufacturer. Imagine if Ikea crammed all their furniture construction information into a single page. Determining which parts went where and in what order would be nearly impossible.
Alternatively, if the furniture instructions gave you two steps instead of the required ten, you wouldn't have enough information to use all the pieces in the box. The same goes for your product. If you don't include enough detail for the manufacturer, then there would be a lot more information you'd leave to the manufacturer to figure out.
The answer to this problem is to use a tech pack instead.
The Tech Pack
A tech pack (technical package, technical specification package) can be considered an instruction manual that includes all the information needed to construct a sewn product. There are varying opinions on how much information a tech pack should contain, but for my clients, my goal is to avoid having the manufacturer guessing on any detail.
What Does a Tech Pack Include?
A complete tech pack will be several pages long, with at least one page per spec. Now, a spec can span more than one page if needed. For example, a pattern pieces list. You might need more than one page to list all of your pattern pieces if you have a more complicated design, like an outdoor jacket lined with many pockets, plackets, and buttons. In this case, more than one page is necessary and okay.
To give you an idea of what is included in a thorough and complete tech pack, let's look at the tech packs I create for clients. My tech packs average around 11 pages if each spec requires one page. More complex products will require more pages.
A MADE Apparel Services Tech Pack includes:
Cover page or overview page
Fabrications page
Pattern layout page by fabrication
Bill of materials
Pattern pieces list (also known as a cutters must or a pattern parts list)
A sequence of construction (also known as the order of operations)
Several pages of annotations, also known as callouts:
One for stitch types, another for fabrications, another for colorways (if you have colorways) and another for design details.
Possibly a close-up or a more detailed illustration on any of those pages, or even as a separate page.
Supplier information
You might also include packaging information.
A space for special notes and another space for version updates.
Let's look closer at each of the pages outlined above.
Cover Page or Overview Page
The first page of your tech pack is a cover page or an overview page. It will contain a description and some black-and-white sketches. The description will be a long sentence that describes the design and its features.
The sketches are black-and-white sketches, usually a front and a back, but you can also include a side view if you feel that's helpful to convey your concept.
A manufacturer will look at this first page and be able to decide if it's something they can produce. And if they can't, it may not be because they don't want to; it might be because they don't have the machinery or equipment to complete the features of your design.
Fabrications Page
The next page would be your fabrications page. This will list only the materials or the fabrics that go into making your concept. This includes your primary material or "shell," the lining (if you have a lining), and any interfacing—the material inserted into the fabric to help give it some stiffness and structure. You can't see the interfacing in the finished product because it's often inside, between the lining and the shell.
Some of the information you'll include per fabrication is as follows:
The content of the materials
The width of the roll
The color of the sample that you're sewing
The number of yards that are needed to create one sample
You can also include some swatches on this page so they can touch and feel the fabric and get an idea of what it is that they're working with.
Pattern Layout Page by Fabrication
The next page is the pattern layout page by fabrication. It's a thumbnail view of your pattern pieces laid out on that particular fabrication, and it helps them visualize how the pieces are supposed to be laid out for cutting in the most efficient way possible for both fabric waste and cutting time.
Bill of Materials
The next specification page would be the bill of materials, and a lot of people have heard of this before. It's really a list of all the supplies that will go into constructing your garments. Things like thread, buttons, labels, elastic, zippers. It all goes here in the bill of materials.
Each item is further described by:
Brand or type;
Size;
Color;
Length (such as elastic or zippers);
What it's made of;
Location on the garment;
and how many are used in that size or length, such as buttons.
Pattern Pieces List
The next page would be your pattern pieces list, also known as a "cutters' must" or a "pattern parts list." This page is going to list all the pattern pieces in numerical order that are in your pattern file and how many to cut of each piece.
Sequence of Construction
Next is the sequence of construction, also known as the order of operations. It is the written step-by-step process for putting the garment together. Sewn construction is all about keeping the design as flat as possible for as long as possible to keep things efficient. This order of operations can be very lengthy, and having this page written before you go to manufacture is crucial for minimizing errors and saving time.
Annotation Pages
Your tech pack should also include several pages of annotations or "callouts." Each page covers a different callout: one for stitch types, another for fabrications, another for colorways, and another for the design details.
You can reuse the tech sketches from your cover page and then simply change the callouts for each page. Imagine the callouts as if they were an overlay, and each overlay is one callout category (stitch types, fabrications, colorways, etc.) Any of these pages might also include a close-up or more detailed illustration
Supplier Information and Packaging Information
There are a couple of other pages that you could add to your tech pack that could be interesting for your manufacturer to see and also help you track information. One is supplier information. If you've done a lot of sourcing of your own materials and trims, you might want to start a list of supplier names and their contact information, what you ordered from them, and how much it costs. Your manufacturer might look at that and recommend a different supplier or be able to source something at a better price for you.
You might also include packaging information. If you have a particular box size or type of tissue paper or an insert that you want to include and your manufacturer is doing that for you, put that information in there on one page.
Notes Section and Version Updates
One final page that you can add to your tech pack would be a space for special notes and another space for version updates. A special note would be something that doesn't fit anywhere else in the tech pack but you feel it's important to include.
The version update area is where you track the dates you make changes and what the change was. As you do this, make sure to change the date or your tech pack to the current date, too.
The Pattern
A pattern is very different from the tech pack and the spec sheet. Many sources describe a pattern as an instruction guide, and this is why people start to get confused about the differences between tech packs and patterns. A pattern may include a printed set of instructions, but the pattern itself is far from instructional—at least not to someone who hasn't had any training in reading patterns, sewing, or doing any kind of pattern making.
When you think of the blueprint of a design, you probably think of the pattern, not the tech pack. The pattern itself contains all the shapes that are needed to construct your design. These paper shapes are transfer templates and are individually cut out of the paper. Next, each paper shape is laid onto the fabric and traced. Once all the shapes are traced, they are then cut out of the fabric and sewn together in the order specified, which is your sequence of construction, to create your final sewn design.
The Risks of Skipping the Pattern Stage
You may be tempted to try and scale down your tech pack by skipping the pattern stage or getting sewn samples and instead only have a measurements page that includes your graded sizes, let's say extra small to extra large. Sometimes, a factory can create patterns for you from those measurements, but there are trade-offs. Not every manufacturer can or will do this, so it narrows down the potential production partners that you can use for manufacture.
Another important factor to consider is that unless you take the time to go through the pattern stage, you won't have your own patterns to keep in the event you switch manufacturers. You could try to request them from the manufacturer, and if they provide them to you, it might be a very scaled-down, internal-only version that is hard for the next factory to understand. You may also run into the issue of the file format not being compatible with the next factory. These issues can be avoided by investing in a pattern before going to manufacture.
You start to get the idea that you can scale down the process, just make sure you're fully informed about what the trade-offs might be. Otherwise, you'll be surprised, and it can be very frustrating and time-consuming to backtrack. Eventually, you may be paying to have the pattern done again anyway, so it may be in your best interest to start with a professional one that you own.
The Gingerbread Analogy
A great way to understand and remember the differences between the Spec Sheet, Tech Pack, and Pattern is to think of a gingerbread house. Imagine a recipe for baking a gingerbread house. The list of ingredients, the amount of each ingredient to be used, and the instructions for combining and cooking them are each a spec sheet. The paper pieces you overlay onto the gingerbread dough to cut out the house walls, the roof, and so on make up the pattern. All of that information combined together is your tech pack.
Your finished gingerbread house becomes your sample, and if it all turns out exactly as you wanted, that becomes your pre-production package. You take all of that to the baker and say, here is everything you need to create my design. Can you do this type of work? What will it cost to make X of them exactly the same as this sample?
Hopefully, they will say yes, and you will have a match made in heaven. But if not, ask them why. Is it a limitation on their side with their equipment or their skills or experience? Or is there something missing in your tech pack? If so, take that constructive feedback from them and improve your process.
EnsureYour Tech Pack is Error-Free with a Professional Review
Whether you're preparing to go to manufacture or you've encountered issues, a professional review can help you ensure your tech pack is complete and accurate. Book your tech pack review before September 30th to receive our limited-time pricing of $49 (regular price $200).
Is Your Tech Pack Ready for Manufacture?
Listen to the Spec Sheet, Tech Pack, and Patterns episode of the MADE Apparel Services Podcast