Plenty of pages will tell you a tech pack contains a sketch and some measurements. Fewer show you one and explain why each block is where it is.
This is the two-page PDF our free boxy heavyweight tee exports, block by block. Two pages is normal for a simple garment. A jacket with many trims might run to four.
In this guide
The header, on every page
Page 1 — the drawing and the build
Page 2 — the measurements
How a factory actually reads it
Get the example
The header, on every page
Style name, page number, the aesthetic or range, the sample size, the units and the status. It repeats on both pages because tech packs get printed, split up and passed between a merchandiser, a pattern maker and a sewing line.
The status line matters more than it looks: "starting spec — sample first" tells the factory these numbers have not been proven on a body yet, so they should expect changes after sample one.
Page 1 — the drawing and the build
The drawing and the build sit together on purpose. A pattern maker reads this page and does not need page 2 at all.
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Front and back flat sketches, with the main measurements called out on the drawing itself, keyed by letter to the chart on page 2.
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Fabric block: 260 GSM heavyweight single jersey, 100% ring-spun combed cotton, acceptable range 240–280, pre-shrunk, garment-dye optional with a 3–5% length allowance.
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Trim fabric: 1x1 rib for the neck, 95% cotton / 5% elastane, 280 GSM, matched to the body colour.
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Construction: shoulder, neck, sleeve hem, body hem, side seams and stitch density, each as one line.
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Colourways: each colour with its hex code, so nobody is matching a colour off a phone screen.
Page 2 — the measurements
Page 2 is the page the quality checker uses. It is why the measurements live in a table rather than scattered around the sketch.
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The graded size chart: every point of measure across XS to XXL, in centimetres, with the sample size highlighted.
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A grade column: how much each measurement changes per size.
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A tolerance column: how far the factory may be out on each one.
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Cut list: how many pieces of each panel, so nothing is missed when the marker is made.
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Trims and materials: neck tape, main label, care and content label, with placements.
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Notes and a sample approval box, to be filled in when the first sample is measured.
How a factory actually reads it
Step 1
Quote
A merchandiser reads the fabric block and the construction lines and prices it. If those are vague, the quote is padded to cover the risk, and you pay for your own ambiguity.
Step 2
Pattern
A pattern maker works from the flats and the size chart at the sample size only. Grade rules come in later, when the pattern is graded to the other sizes.
Step 3
Sample
The sewing line follows the construction lines. Anything you did not write becomes house standard for that factory, which may be nothing like the house standard of the next one.
Step 4
Check
Someone measures the finished sample against page 2 and records what is out. That is the conversation you want to be having — numbers against numbers.
Get the example
The tee below is free. Open it, export the PDF, and you have the exact document described on this page to look at, measure and copy the structure of.