An activewear tech pack is the single document that decides whether your first production run arrives as the product you imagined or as an expensive lesson. It converts your idea into instructions a factory can cut, sew and inspect against. Without one, every detail you did not specify becomes a guess — and the factory’s guess will rarely match yours.
This guide covers exactly what belongs in a tech pack for activewear, with a section-by-section checklist you can work through. As a custom sportswear manufacturer, these are the documents we read every day, and the gaps that cause the most rework.
What is a tech pack, exactly?
A tech pack, short for technical package, is a specification document that communicates every measurable and material decision about a garment. Think of it as an architectural blueprint. An architect does not send a sketch of a house and hope the builder interprets it correctly — they send dimensioned drawings, material schedules and construction details.
An apparel tech pack does the same job. It answers, in writing, questions like: how wide is the waistband, what is the elastic tension, which seam type joins the inseam, what Pantone reference is the trim, where does the care label sit, and what tolerance is acceptable at each measurement.
Every question your tech pack does not answer will be answered by someone else — usually a pattern cutter who has never met you.
Why manufacturers ask for a tech pack before quoting
Brands sometimes read this request as gatekeeping. It is the opposite. A manufacturer cannot accurately price a garment without knowing the fabric, construction, and finish, because those three factors drive most of the cost.
Consider a simple training short. With a plain overlocked hem and a basic drawcord, it costs one thing. With a bonded hem, laser-cut ventilation, a zipped pocket, reflective piping, and a moisture-wicking liner, it can cost three times as much. Same product name, entirely different quote.
Any factory that quotes bulk pricing without asking for a spec is either guessing or quoting the cheapest possible construction and will revise the price later. Neither is good for you.
The practical benefit: a proper activewear tech pack lets you send the same document to five manufacturers and receive five genuinely comparable quotes. Without one, you are comparing quotes for five different products.
The nine sections every activewear tech pack needs
1. Cover sheet
Style name and number, season, brand name, designer contact, date, and version number. Version numbering sounds trivial until round four of sampling, when the factory is working from version one, and nobody noticed.
2. Flat sketches
Technical drawings of the garment laid flat—front, back, and detail views for any unusual features. These are not fashion illustrations. They are proportionally accurate line drawings showing seam placement, topstitching, pocket position, and closure details.
Include callouts with arrows pointing to specific features. A single labeled sketch prevents more errors than three pages of description.
3. Points of measure and grading
This is the section brands most often under-specify, and the one that causes the most fit failures. You need every point of measure listed, with the value for your base size and the increment applied across your full size range.
Here is what a partial points-of-measure chart looks like for a legging:
| Point of measure | S | M | L | XL | Tolerance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waist relaxed (flat) | 31 cm | 33 cm | 35 cm | 38 cm | ±0.5 cm |
| Waistband height | 12 cm | 12 cm | 12.5 cm | 12.5 cm | ±0.3 cm |
| Hip (18 cm below waist) | 39 cm | 41 cm | 44 cm | 47 cm | ±0.5 cm |
| Inseam | 68 cm | 70 cm | 71 cm | 72 cm | ±1.0 cm |
| Thigh (2.5 cm below crotch) | 25 cm | 26.5 cm | 28.5 cm | 31 cm | ±0.5 cm |
| Leg opening | 13 cm | 13.5 cm | 14.5 cm | 15.5 cm | ±0.3 cm |
Two things to notice. First, the grade is not uniform — the jump from L to XL is larger than S to M, because bodies do not scale linearly. Second, every measurement carries a tolerance. Fabric stretches and cuts vary; without stated tolerances, you cannot reject a garment or accept it fairly.
4. Bill of materials (BOM)
A complete list of every physical component in the garment, with supplier reference where you have one:
- Main fabric — composition, GSM, finish, supplier code
- Secondary fabrics — mesh panels, linings, gussets
- Elastic — width, type, brand, tension
- Thread — type and colour
- Drawcords, tipping, eyelets
- Zips — length, type, brand, color
- Reflective tape, bonding tape, silicone grippers
- Labels, hang tags, polybags
The bill of materials is what turns a design into a cost. It also protects you if a factory substitutes a cheaper trim—you have a documented specification to point to.
5. Fabric specification
Name the composition precisely. “Polyester spandex” is not a specification; “83% recycled polyester / 17% elastane, 240 GSM, four-way stretch, brushed inner face, moisture-wicking finish” is.
Include the stretch direction and recovery expectation. A fabric with good stretch but poor recovery will bag out at the knees within a month, and this is the most common complaint on budget compression wear.
If you have not chosen a fabric yet, our guide to fabric selection and MOQs walks through the main options and their trade-offs.
6. Colourways
Specify Pantone TCX references for textiles, not RGB or hex codes from your screen. Screen color and dyed fabric color are different systems, and a hex code cannot be reliably matched by a dye house.
For each colorway, state the color of each component separately: main fabric, contrast panel, elastic, thread, zip tape, and drawcord. Assuming the factory will match thread to fabric is how you get black thread on a navy garment.
7. Construction and stitch details
Specify the seam type at every join. In activewear, this affects comfort directly, because the wrong seam in a high-friction area causes chafing.
| Stitch type | Typical use in activewear | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Flatlock | Inseams, side seams, compression garments | Lies flat against skin, minimal chafing |
| Coverstitch | Hems, waistbands, necklines | Stretches without breaking, clean finish |
| Overlock | General seaming, internal edges | Fast and economical, but has a raised ridge |
| Bartack | Pocket corners, drawcord exits, stress points | Reinforces areas that would otherwise tear |
| Bonded / seamless | Premium leggings, chafe-free zones | No stitching at all, highest comfort, highest cost |
Also state stitches per inch. A low stitch count on stretch fabric produces seams that pop under load — a failure that only appears once someone squats in the garment.
8. Labels, branding and packaging
Specify and position every branded element: the main neck label or tagless print, the care label, the size label, the hang tag, and any external branding. Give exact placement measurements, for example, “care label centered, 2 cm below neck label, left side seam.”
Include your compliance content here as well — fiber composition, country of origin, care symbols. These must be applied during production, not afterward, and the requirements differ between the US and EU markets.
9. Quality control and tolerances
State what constitutes an acceptable garment: measurement tolerances, permitted shade variation between dye lots, print registration tolerance, and your inspection standard. Agreeing this before production means a dispute afterwards has a documented reference point.
What does a tech pack not need to contain?
Brands sometimes overload the document and slow themselves down. You do not need mood boards, marketing copy, brand story, competitor analysis, or lifestyle photography. Those belong in a separate brand document.
The tech pack has one audience: the people who cut and sew your garment. Everything in it should be actionable.
Five tech pack mistakes that cost brands money
- Copying a competitor’s size chart. Their measurements match their fabric and fit block, not yours. Two fabrics with different stretch recovery need different patterns to produce the same fit.
- Omitting tolerances. Without them, you cannot reject a bad run, and the factory cannot know what “close enough” means.
- Using hex codes instead of Pantone TCX. Dye houses work in Pantone. A screen color is not a reproducible target.
- Not versioning the document. After three sampling rounds, nobody is sure which spec is current. Number every revision.
- Leaving the printing method unspecified. Whether you use sublimation vs screen printing changes the fabric requirement, so it belongs in the tech pack rather than being decided later.
Do you need a professional designer to make one?
Not necessarily. Many successful brands build their first activewear tech pack themselves using a spreadsheet for measurements and a simple vector drawing for the flat sketch. What matters is completeness and clarity, not software.
That said, grading a size range correctly is genuinely technical work. If you are unsure, a good manufacturer will help. Our design team builds tech packs from client references and sketches as part of the development process for gym and fitness wear, team kit and soccer uniforms, and custom apparel.
No tech pack yet? Send us your sketches, reference garments or even a written description. We will build the technical specification with you, confirm the printing method that suits your design, and produce a sample before you commit to a bulk order.
Your tech pack checklist
Work through this before sending your document to any factory:
- Style number and version number on every page
- Flat sketches — front, back, details, with callouts
- Points of measure chart, graded across all sizes
- Tolerance stated for every measurement
- Full bill of materials with supplier references
- Fabric composition, GSM, finish, and stretch direction
- Pantone TCX for every color in every colorway
- Seam type and stitches per inch for each construction line
- Label and packaging placement with measurements
- Compliance content for your target market
- Printing or embroidery method and placement
- QC standard and acceptable shade variation
Frequently asked questions
What is a tech pack in clothing manufacturing?
A tech pack is a technical specification document that tells a factory exactly how to make a garment. It contains flat sketches, graded measurements, a bill of materials, fabric specifications, colorways, construction details, and labeling instructions.
Do I need a tech pack to get a manufacturing quote?
For an accurate quote, yes. Fabric, construction, and finish drive most of the garment cost, so a manufacturer quoting without a specification is either estimating or assuming the cheapest construction. Many manufacturers, including us, will help build the tech pack if you do not have one.
What software is used to make an activewear tech pack?
Adobe Illustrator is standard for flat sketches, and Excel or Google Sheets for measurement charts and the bill of materials. Dedicated platforms such as Techpacker also exist. None of them are required — clarity matters more than the tool.
How long does it take to create a tech pack?
A single, straightforward style typically takes an experienced person one to three days, longer if the size range needs to be graded from scratch. Building it collaboratively with your manufacturer usually runs alongside the first sampling round.
How much does a tech pack cost?
Freelance rates vary widely by market and complexity, and full-service product development agencies charge considerably more. Manufacturers that include design assistance in their service, as we do, effectively remove this cost from your launch budget.
What is the difference between a tech pack and a spec sheet?
A spec sheet is usually just the measurement chart for one style. A tech pack is the complete package — spec sheet plus sketches, bill of materials, construction details, colorways, and labeling.
Axis Sportswear supplies private-label activewear, compression wear, and custom team uniforms to brands across the USA, the UK, and Europe. If you are still at the planning stage, start with our guide on how to start an activewear brand, then bring your activewear tech pack to our production team for sampling.
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