- Email salesman8@yctshirt.cn
- TEL/WECHAT +86-15876493800
- WhatsApp +86-15876493800
- Email salesman8@yctshirt.cn
- TEL/WECHAT +86-15876493800
- WhatsApp +86-15876493800
Hoodie Tech Pack: The 12 Fields That Decide Your Sample
A hoodie sample takes 3–7 working days from a complete tech pack, and the clock starts on the day the last field is filled, not the day the first email arrives. Twelve fields decide whether the sample you receive is the garment you meant. Each one is cheap to write at the start and expensive to discover at approval.
Most buyers do not arrive with a finished document, and that is workable. What is not workable is a pack that looks complete and leaves three fields blank, because those three get filled with a default and you end up approving a decision you never made.
1. Why the sample clock starts when the tech pack lands
Our sampling window is 3–7 working days from confirmed design, and 3–7 days to first sample once the tech pack and lab dips are agreed. Those are the same window described twice, and both descriptions contain the same condition: the count starts when the design is confirmed, not when the enquiry lands.
A missing field does not slow the sample down, it stops it starting: if the size chart arrives on day four, the window opens on day four. That is the practical reason a complete pack is worth more than a fast one, and why we flag anything ambiguous before sampling rather than after.
Sampling then runs in two rounds of consultation. Round one settles the silhouette, the fabric weight and the construction. Round two settles neck rib width, cuff tightness, label placement, and how the print or embroidery sits on the panel. Everything agreed here is written into the order file, so the fabric chosen next is chosen against a fixed brief. How long samples take sets out what moves inside that window.
2. The twelve fields, and what a blank one costs you
Copy this list into your own document. The third column is the part that matters: what happens when the field is empty.
| Field | What to write in it | What happens if it is missing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Style reference | A unique code, and a flat sketch of front, back and hood | Nothing ties the sample, the lab dip and the bulk order together |
| 2. Size set | Sizes you will sell, base size to sample, grading system | The pattern is graded against a guess and the base size is wrong |
| 3. Fabric and GSM | Composition, knit structure, target weight, named mill | The sample arrives in a cloth you have nothing to compare against |
| 4. Colour references | A Pantone TCX code per colourway, and where each one goes | Lab dips are guessed, and each correction is another courier cycle |
| 5. Measurements and POM | Points of measure, tolerances you will accept, size chart | Fit is argued in adjectives instead of measured against numbers |
| 6. Construction and seams | Seam type per join, stitch density, hood panel count, pocket type | The sample is built to our default construction, not your intent |
| 7. Decoration and method | Vector artwork, Pantone per colour, method, measured position | Decoration is quoted from a photograph and placed by eye |
| 8. Trims and labels | Main, care and size labels, hangtag, drawcord, zip, eyelet | Bulk uses the nearest available trim and the label sits wrong |
| 9. Packing | Folding method, polybag, size ratio, carton dimensions and marking | Packing is specified after the goods are made, at the worst moment |
| 10. Target quantity | Pieces per colourway and the size curve you will sell | Fabric is booked against a range instead of a number |
| 11. Target ship date | Date goods must leave, the market, and the Incoterm | The run is scheduled against no fixed date and freight is late |
| 12. Approval contact | One named person with authority to sign | Two approvers give two answers and the sample stalls |
3. Style reference and size set: where a pack fails first
The style reference is the field people skip because it feels administrative. It is not. The lab dip, the trim card, the sample tag, the sealed reference sample and the final inspection sheet are all filed against that code, and at inspection the bulk is judged against the sealed sample rather than a description. Without a code, nobody who did not personally handle the order can find the reference.
The size set is where fit is decided. XS to 3XL is standard, graded to the size chart of your market rather than a generic block, with US, EU and Asian grading available and 4XL–5XL on request. Name the base size and the grading system: those two decide the shape of every other size.
We make a full graded size set rather than only the sample size, so the fit can be checked at both ends of the range. Put the size chart in the pack as numbers, not as a link to a retail size guide, and state whether measurements are taken flat or on the body.
4. Fabric, weight and colour: fields that name a source, not a mood
Write composition and weight as a pair. Our hoodie range is held and sourced from 240–550 GSM, with four core bands: French terry in 100% cotton or CVC at 240–320 gsm, brushed fleece at 320–420 gsm, heavyweight fleece at 400–500 gsm, and poly-cotton performance fleece at 280–360 gsm. A target GSM with no fabric family beside it is half a specification.
Nothing moves forward until three things are signed: composition, documented by supplier and lot; weight, confirmed on the finished cloth, with every roll re-weighed on arrival and rejected outside ±5%; and colour, lab-dipped to your Pantone reference, then shade-checked roll by roll under D65 before cutting. If your brand sources from a named mill, write the mill into field three and we will buy against it.
5. Measurements, POM and tolerance: turning a size set into a spec
POM means points of measure: the named places where a garment is measured. For a hoodie the working set is chest, body length, sleeve length and hood, measured flat, each with a tolerance you have agreed. Tolerances are written into the spec before cutting, and each size is measured against them on a pull of each size.
Two further things belong in the pack even though they are not on the sample. Ask for the sample garment to be washed and re-measured, and for the before and after numbers to come with it, so wash-care wording and the size chart you publish rest on real data. Our routine feeds that result into the pattern as an allowance and steam pre-shrinks the bulk cloth before cutting.
State the consequence too. In our process, a bulk garment that deviates from the sealed sample outside the agreed tolerances is remade at our cost, and that clause is only usable if the tolerances were written down. A pack without tolerances has no line to measure against, at sampling or at final inspection.
6. Decoration, trims and packing: the fields that reach the floor
Decoration is applied at the cut-piece stage, while the panels are still flat, against a template made from the confirmed pattern. That makes field seven a measurement, not a description: give the position from the high point of the shoulder or from the centre front, supply vector artwork, and give one Pantone reference per colour. Embroidery also needs a digitised file, with the backing matched to the fabric weight.
Trims have their own minimums, and they sit alongside the garment minimum rather than on top of it: woven labels and hangtags start at 1,000 pieces, jacquard labels and silicone patches at 300. Name the zip gauge and tape colour, and name the supplier if you have one.
Packing is the field buyers write last and regret longest: folding method, polybag, size ratio per carton, carton dimensions and marking. Quantity and date close the pack. The minimum is 100 pieces per style per colour, and 200 where the style uses bonded or seam-sealed construction, which is worth checking against our minimum order page before signing.
7. When you do not have a tech pack yet
You do not need a finished tech pack to start. Send any one of four things and our pattern team turns it into a confirmed sketch, a size chart and a measurement spec that both sides sign before anything is cut: a sample garment, a sketch or partial tech pack, a reference photograph, or an end use with a market and a price point.
A sample garment is the fastest route. We take it apart, record the seams and stitch types, measure the pattern pieces, weigh the fabric and identify the yarn, then send a written spec back. That document is the tech pack you did not have, and once it is signed the twelve fields above all exist.
Whichever route you take, fix the approval contact when you send the files. One named person who can sign shortens a sample more than any wording improvement. The wider set of questions worth asking before a first order sits in what to ask a manufacturer.
If you would rather start from an empty document, the same twelve fields are laid out row by row in our knitwear tech pack template.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a complete tech pack before you will quote a hoodie?
No. A complete pack shortens sampling, but it is not a condition of quoting. Send a sample garment, a sketch or partial pack, a reference photograph, or an end use with a market and a price point, and we will return a confirmed sketch, a size chart and a measurement spec for both sides to sign before anything is cut.
How long does a hoodie sample take once the tech pack is complete?
3–7 working days from confirmed design, which includes the lab dips being agreed. Sampling normally runs in two rounds of consultation: silhouette, fabric weight and construction first, then neck rib width, cuff tightness, label placement and how the decoration sits on the panel. The exact number for your style is in your quotation.
What should the size chart in a hoodie tech pack contain?
The sizes you will sell, the base size to be sampled, the grading system in use, and every measurement taken flat with a tolerance beside it. Grading can follow US, EU or Asian size charts rather than a generic block. State whether measurements are taken flat or on the body, because the two produce different numbers for the same garment.
How do I specify where a print or embroidery sits?
Give the position as a measurement from the high point of the shoulder or from the centre front, alongside vector artwork and one Pantone reference per colour. Decoration is applied to flat cut panels against a template taken from the confirmed pattern, so a measured position can be repeated across a run while a described position cannot. Embroidery also needs a digitised file.
Can the tech pack change after the sample is approved?
It can, but every change after approval reopens the parts it touches. A fabric or colour change restarts the swatch and lab dip sign-off; a size or tolerance change restarts the pattern work; a decoration change restarts the template. Changes made before sampling cost a conversation, and changes made after bulk cutting cost goods, which is why the pack is signed first.
Next step
Send the twelve fields as far as you have them, mark the ones you cannot answer, and we will fill them with you or tell you what the sample will assume if they stay blank. Sampling runs 3–7 working days from a complete pack, and bulk runs 15–25 days after approval, not including transit. The blocks and weight bands the pack will be written against are on the hoodie manufacturing page; the schedule behind the dates is on how long bulk production takes; and the pack itself can go to our enquiry desk.