Garment production is the chain of work that turns a design into finished pieces ready to sell. Trade guides set it out in slightly different ways, but the order rarely changes. One common flow chart runs from design and pattern through sampling, grading, marker making, spreading, cutting, bundling, sewing, inspection, pressing, final inspection and packing.
Below is each step, what it is for, and what it looks like in a workshop with a handful of people. Follow it through for a run of uniform shirts and it will make sense. A single bespoke suit skips several steps, which we note as we go.
Before cutting: design to approved sample
1. Design
A sketch, a customer's photo or a buyer's technical sheet says what will be made. In a small workshop this may be one page. Put the fabric, trims, sizes and quantity on that page before anything else happens, because every later step reads from it.
2. Pattern
The design becomes pattern pieces in one base size, on paper or on a computer. Label each piece with the style, size, grain line and how many to cut.
3. Sample
Someone sews one garment to prove the pattern. In a factory, the sample goes to the buyer for correction and approval. In a small shop, the approver may be you or a customer. Time this sample and note its fabric use. It is your first real data on cost.
4. Grading
Grading scales the approved base pattern up and down to each size. Custom work skips this step, since each garment has its own pattern.
Planning the cut: marker and spreading
5. Marker making
A marker is the layout of all pattern pieces on the cloth, planned to waste as little as possible. In a workshop, it may be chalked straight onto the top layer or drawn on paper.
The marker also carries your size mix. Example: an order of 40 shirts needs 10 small, 15 medium, 10 large and 5 extra large. A marker holding 2 small, 3 medium, 2 large and 1 extra large has 8 shirts. Five layers of that marker give 40 pieces in the right mix: 10, 15, 10 and 5.
Marker efficiency measures how well the pieces fill the cloth. Example: pieces covering 3.6 square metres on a marker of 3 metres by 1.5 metres (4.5 square metres) give 80%. Treat that as the plan and no more. As one fabric-side guide puts it, "A factory can therefore have a strong marker efficiency and still use more fabric than expected." Real rolls have flaws, joins and differing widths.
6. Checking and spreading the fabric
Before spreading, factories test shrinkage and shade. Shrinkage found in testing is added to the marker patterns, so garments come out to size after washing or pressing. A small workshop can do a simpler version: wash or steam a measured piece, measure again, and look at both ends of each roll in daylight.
Fabric is then laid out in layers to the marker length. Some cloth needs to rest on the table first, so that it relaxes before cutting. Keep tension even. Stretched cloth springs back after cutting, and the pieces come up short.
Cutting and bundling
7. Cutting
The lay is cut along the marker lines, with shears on a few layers or a straight knife on many. Check pieces from the top, middle and bottom of the lay against the pattern. The bottom layers are where a knife tends to wander.
8. Numbering, sorting and bundling
Factories number each layer, sort by colour and size, and tie bundles with a tag showing size, colour and quantity. Numbering stops panels from different layers meeting in one garment, where a slight shade difference can show. A workshop can use chalk or small stickers on the wrong side of the cloth. Keep each garment's parts from one layer together.
Leftover fabric and end bits are counted back after the order and returned to the store. Do this in a small shop as well, or your stock figures will drift.
Sewing and finishing
9. Sewing
Parts become a garment. How the work moves here is a choice in itself. One person may sew a whole piece, or a bundle may pass along several people. We compare those options in our guide to types of garment production systems.
10. Inspection during and after sewing
Check early pieces at each new operation, since a mistake found on piece two costs far less than one found on piece forty. Then check the sewn garment for seams, measurements, stains and loose threads.
11. Finishing and pressing
Buttons, hand work, trimming threads and pressing come here. On a heavily worked garment, such as a beaded abaya or a bridal gown, finishing can take longer than the sewing. Give it its own place on your schedule.
12. Final inspection
Someone other than the maker should look over the finished piece against the sample or the order. When a piece fails, record what was wrong and send it back to the step that caused it.
13. Packing and dispatch
Factories pack to the buyer's instructions, then carton and ship. A workshop may be tagging pieces for its own shop floor, or bagging a school's order by class. Count against the order before anything leaves. The customer's door is the worst place to find a short delivery.
How the steps change with the work
| Step | Batch for stock | Made to measure | Bespoke |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pattern | One per style | Base pattern adjusted | Cut for one person |
| Grading | Yes | Starts from a size | No |
| Marker | Several sizes, several layers | Usually one layer | One layer |
| Fittings | On the sample | Usually one or two | Several, between stages |
| Checks | Sample, then a set rule | Every piece | Every piece |
If you run all three, keep the routes separate. A rush bridal piece and a batch of shirts should not fight for the same place in a queue that nobody can see.
Where small workshops lose time
- Cutting before approval. The sample was never agreed, and a change arrives after the cloth is cut.
- Missing materials. Sewing starts and the right zip is not in. Check trims before cutting.
- Work waiting between people. A bundle sits on a chair because nobody knows it is their turn.
- Faults found late. Nobody checked the first pieces, and the same error runs through the whole batch.
Each of these comes down to knowing where the work is and who has it. A whiteboard with your own stages on it will go a long way. Tailoq does the same job on a screen: you set out batches by size and move them through your own stages, and you can see the materials a batch needs before you cut.
