Technical callouts in your tech pack help manufacturers understand exactly how to construct your garment. I’d argue that it’s the most important part of your tech pack, and that you can get a basic design sampled (or at least quoted) just with your tech sketches + callouts and measurement specs.
With over 15 years working in the fashion industry, I’ve created tech packs for hundreds of garments that have successfully gone through production.
In this guide, I’ll break down what technical callouts are, why they matter, and how to add them to your spec sheets. You can also snag my FREE Tech Pack Templates to get you started.
Table of Contents
What Are Technical Callouts in a Garment Tech Pack?
In garment tech packs, callouts provide instructions to manufacturers about the garment’s design details. This includes details on construction and any components like pockets and trims.
They’re found on the garment spec sheet page alongside technical sketches. These sketches include arrows pointing to specific parts, accompanied by concise explanations or what we call “callouts.”
What to Include in Your Tech Pack Callouts
- Construction Details
Specify the type of seam and stitching techniques required for each part of the garment.
- Stitching Details
Provide specific instructions on what stitch type to use and stitch distances for different parts of the garment.
For example, you can specify “1/4″ DNTS on hemline.” This means that the manufacturer should use Double Needle Top Stitch (DNTS) and the distances of the top stitches from each other is ¼”.
- Materials
Provide general details about the materials to be used, like in my sample hoodie spec sheet above, you’ll see the callout “rib knit on cuff.” Callouts on the spec sheet indicate where a material is used in the garment, so a general description is enough.
Pro Tip: Try your best not to duplicate information in your tech pack, as it adds clutter. Instead, ensure that each piece of information is placed where it makes the most sense in the tech pack. For example, calling out the “rib knit on cuff” on the spec sheet is fine, but details like the body fabric being “jersey knit” would be better placed in a fabric map page or BOM.
- Design Details
Design elements such as pockets, pleats, belt loops, or any other unique features. You can also dedicate separate pages to get into more detail about each component.
- Trims and Notions
List any trims, embellishments, buttons, zippers, or other hardware required. You can call out the general trim item like “metal eyelet w/ drawstring – see BOM for specs” but the full details like finishing, colors, size should be placed on the BOM.
For very tiny details, I also like to do zoomed bubbles so that the manufacturer can see exactly what I’m talking about.
- Labels and Branding: Branding and labels like patch logos or care labels. Alternatively, you can also dedicate a separate page for these. Most established fashion brands also send a branding / label guideline upfront to their manufacturers and this will be used for all products.
How to Add Arrow Callouts in Your Tech Pack
In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through the steps to easily add arrow callouts to your garment designs using Adobe Illustrator.
What NOT to Include in Your Tech Pack Callouts
There’s dedicated space for different components within a tech pack. While it’s tempting to put everything on a single page, organizing them across relevant pages ensures clarity and helps manufacturers process the information more effectively.
Here’s a list of things that don’t belong in your technical callouts:
- Detailed Fabric Information: Save specific fabric composition, weight, and other intricate details for the Bill of Materials (BOM) section.
- Measurement Specs: While basic and repeating measurements may be mentioned (i.e. 1″ collar on neckline will be consistent across all size ranges), detailed measurements of each Point of Measure (POM) should be placed in the measurement specs page.
- Revision Comments: Any notes for changes should be placed in the tech pack’s dedicated sample evaluation page.
Tips for Adding Callouts in Your Garment Tech Pack
1. Zoom in on the Details
You don’t have to jam everything on one page – utilize a separate page or add zoom bubbles to highlight intricate details in your garment design. Depending on the complexity of the garment, you may have multiple sketches with callouts to show front, back, side, inside, or close-up details.
2. Use a Naming Convention
Establish a consistent naming convention for stitches and other technical details in your callouts. I use full stitch names when working with a new or unfamiliar manufacturer, but it’s best practice to have a naming convention to make your stitch and construction callouts more concise. Established brands I’ve worked with also provide their manufacturers with a stitch and construction manual and manufacturers may also have their own.
Here’s a sample naming convention and how it translates:
Using acronyms this way helps make your callouts less cluttered (many of these acronyms are universal). It’s A LOT, and you won’t memorize them overnight. But as you work on more garments, you’ll notice that you’ll use the same couple of stitches often. Here are the most common ones to get you started:
- SNTS (Single Needle Topstitch)
- DNTS (Double Needle Topstitch)
- LS (Lockstitch)
- CS (Cover Stitch)
- US (Understitch)
- TPST (Topstitch)
- EGST (Edgestitch)
- CNST (Chain Stitch)
If you’re not familiar with garment construction methods yet, I have a guide on the 9 Essential Types of Stitches and Seam Types Used in Garment Manufacturing. You can also read on the Must-Know Garment Construction Terminology in my Ultimate Guide to Fashion Industry Terms & Abbreviations (with pictures).
3. Prioritize Important Details
Creating callouts isn’t about overloading your spec sheet with every conceivable detail. I’ve been guilty of this before and put everything “just in case.” Remember, factories juggle numerous clients and thousands of garments; an overloaded spec sheet can do more harm than good if they don’t know where to focus.
4. Add Photo References
If you’re unsure about stitch names or how something is made, just add a sample pic. We do this all the time in tech packs, and it’s super helpful. Even better, send an actual sample for reference.
Download My FREE Tech Pack Templates
Need a head start on your garment designs? I’ve got you covered with my FREE tech pack templates:
- Sweater Tech Pack Template (+ Blank Template)
- T-Shirt Tech Pack Template
- Hoodie Tech Pack Template
- Jeans Tech Pack Template
These templates include all the essentials – from your technical sketches, spec sheets with callouts, colorways, BOM, and graded specs. You’ll have access to both the tech pack file in MS Excel along with the technical sketches and callouts in Adobe Illustrator.
