What Is a Tech Pack? The Knitwear Buyer's Complete Guide

By YZR Sweaters · 2026-09

Most sourcing friction that buyers blame on the factory traces back to the specification. When a supplier quotes a different price than expected, ships a sample with the wrong hand feel, or comes back with a measurement question three weeks into production, the cause is usually the same: some requirement existed only in the buyer's head. A tech pack moves those implicit expectations onto paper so they can be priced, built and inspected.

What is a tech pack, and what is it for?

A tech pack — also called a technical pack, tech spec, or spec sheet — is the bundle of documents a brand hands a manufacturer to define a style. It is not a marketing document or a mood board; it is an engineering brief. Its three jobs are to let the factory quote accurately, build a sample that matches the intent, and give both sides something objective to inspect against once goods are made.

A sketch with a price discussion is not a tech pack. Neither is a photo of a competitor's garment. Both can start a conversation, but neither defines tolerances, materials or construction precisely enough for a factory to be accountable.

What should a knitwear tech pack contain?

The structure below works for sweaters, cardigans, knit polos and accessories such as scarves, beanies and gloves.

• Style identification — style number, name, season and document version. If a spec is revised after sampling, the factory needs to know which version it is building against.
• Front and back sketches — a flat technical drawing with construction callouts, plus a photo reference of the intended look.
• Measurements and tolerances — a full point-of-measure list with the target value and acceptable range for each. This is where most sampling errors originate.
• Size range and grading — which sizes are in the range and how measurements grade between them.
• Yarn and composition — fibre content, yarn count or range, colour references, and whether the yarn is buyer-supplied or to be sourced.
• Gauge and stitch structure — the machine gauge and the intended fabric: plain knit, rib, cable, jacquard, intarsia or a mixed structure, with detail photographs of any distinctive stitch.
• Construction details — shoulder type, neckline shape and depth, sleeve construction, hem and cuff finishes, linking, and any panel shaping.
• Trims and branding — main label, care label, size label, hangtag, buttons or zips, and any decoration such as embroidery.
• Colourways — how many, with references and the expected position of each colour.
• Finishing and packing — wash or finish requirements, folding, polybag, carton configuration.
• Compliance requirements — target market, testing required, certification expectations and labelling rules that apply.

What is different about a knitwear tech pack?

Knitwear carries specification requirements that woven garments do not, and leaving them out is why knit samples come back looking close but feeling wrong.

• Gauge is a design decision, not a detail. A 12GG and a 16GG version of the same sketch are different products at different prices.
• Stitch structure defines the surface. "Cable knit" covers a wide family of patterns with very different yarn consumption. Include a photograph, not just a name.
• Relaxed measurements, not off-machine measurements. Knitted fabric settles after knitting and finishing, so measurements should be specified in the relaxed state, with the method agreed by both sides.
• Weight and hand feel are specification. If softness matters for your customer, it belongs in the pack — see our notes on specifying hand feel for how to write a feel requirement that can be checked.
• Yarn consumption follows the structure. Cables, jacquards and intarsia consume materially more yarn than a plain knit, which is why the structure must be fixed before quoting — our overview of yarn consumption explains how it is estimated.

Which omissions cause the most sampling rounds?

In practice the same handful of gaps cause most rework: measurements given as a single number with no tolerance; no stitch reference, so the knitter interprets the sketch and the sample returns with a different surface and price; yarn described only by fibre name, when "wool" spans a wide range of counts and cost; trims and decoration added after sampling, which usually invalidates the costing; hand feel implied rather than stated; and no reference sample.

The most effective fix is cheap: send a reference sample alongside the pack. A garment the buyer considers correct gives the factory something to match in weight, gauge and feel, and resolves questions the written spec did not anticipate.

How should a buyer hand a tech pack to a factory?

Send it before asking for a price, not after. A quote issued against an incomplete spec is unreliable for both sides — the factory prices assumptions it cannot verify, and the buyer later discovers the scope changed. If some details genuinely are not decided, mark them as open items rather than leaving blanks, and price them as assumptions. This is the same discipline covered in our guide to reading a sweater quotation, where the assumptions behind a number matter as much as the number.

What should you expect from a supplier here?

A supplier who works with brands regularly will read the pack and come back with questions — and those questions are a quality signal. Expect them to confirm the gauge, ask which measurements are critical, clarify the colourway count, and flag anything affecting yarn consumption or lead time.

At YZR Sweaters we work with partner factories holding BSCI, SEDEX and Oeko-Tex certifications, welcome factory audits, and support both full inspection and third-party inspection through firms such as SGS and BV. We would rather ask three questions before sampling than rebuild a sample three times, and where a buyer has a sketch and a reference garment but no formal pack, we will help turn that into a specification both sides can work from.

Frequently asked questions