Tech Packs for Linen Clothing: What Factories Need to Start Your Order

Tech Packs for Linen Clothing: What Factories Need to Start Your Order

A linen factory cannot quote, book fabric or schedule a cutting line from a mood board. It can only act on a document that answers four questions: what the garment is, what it is made of, how it is measured, and how it is packed. That document is the tech pack, and for linen it has to carry a few extra fields that a cotton or polyester pack does not need, because the fibre behaves differently at the fabric stage and shrinks on its first wash. Most delayed linen orders are not delayed by the factory. They are delayed by a tech pack that leaves the fabric weight, the weave, the finish or the shrinkage tolerance open, so the factory has to come back with questions before it can start.

This guide is written from the factory side, for brands and sourcing managers placing custom linen orders. It sets out the seven sections a linen factory needs before it can confirm a price and a slot, the linen-specific parameters that belong in the specification (GSM, weave, finish and shrinkage tolerance), the minimum viable tech pack for a founder who does not yet have a full document, how grading and measurement tolerances work on a natural fibre, the eight mistakes that send an order back to the start, and how to send files so the factory reads the right version. If you need the general format first, our guide to creating a clothing tech pack covers the universal page structure; this article covers what changes when the fabric is linen.

[IMAGE_PLACEHOLDER alt="Technical documentation photograph of a linen garment tech pack spread on a factory desk: a flat technical sketch of a linen shirt, a measurement table page, a fabric swatch card in oatmeal and sand tones, a colour standard fan, and a pencil marking measurements, warm neutral light, clean B2B documentation style"]

Why a Linen Tech Pack Is Different From a Generic One

A tech pack for a jersey tee or a polyester shell can be fairly short, because the fabric is a commodity with a stable, predictable hand. Linen is not. Flax is an agricultural fibre, the yarn count and weave vary between qualities, the fabric has to be pre-treated before cutting to control shrinkage, and the finish changes both the drape and the width of the piece. Four consequences follow, and each one shows up as a required field in the tech pack.

• The fabric needs to be named precisely. "Linen" is not a specification. Plain weave at 150 GSM, a 55 percent linen 45 percent viscose blend at 180 GSM, and a slub weave at 200 GSM are three different products with three different costs, and all three are linen garments.
• Shrinkage has to be declared. Linen contracts on its first wash, typically by 3-7 percent. The factory controls that with pre-shrinking and finishing, but only if the pack states the shrinkage tolerance the garment has to pass after a defined wash.
• The finish is a decision, not a default. Soft-washed, garment-dyed, brushed and enzyme-treated linen all feel different and cost differently. Leaving the finish open means the sample that arrives may not be the garment the brand expected.
• Grading behaves differently on a natural fibre. A woven linen garment has less stretch and recovery than a knit, so the measurement tolerances and the grading increments have to be stated rather than assumed.

The practical result is that a linen tech pack carries a slightly longer fabric and construction page than a generic one, but it saves far more time than it costs. A factory that receives a complete pack can quote in 3-7 working days and start fabric booking immediately; a factory that receives a partial pack spends that same week in correspondence, and every answer it waits for pushes the sampling slot further back.

The Seven Sections a Linen Factory Needs Before It Can Start

Factories receive tech packs in many formats, from a single annotated PDF to a full spreadsheet with a photo board. The format matters less than the content. These seven sections are what a linen factory actually reads when it prices an order, buys fabric and writes a work order for the line.

1. Style overview and technical sketches. A front and back flat sketch with construction details called out, plus at least one clear photograph of a similar existing garment if one exists. A sketch that hides the placket, the collar edge or the pocket shape will come back as a question.
2. Fabric specification. Fibre content and blend ratio, weight in GSM, weave type, yarn count if known, colour reference, and the finish. This is the section where linen packs most often fall short, and the next section of this article breaks it down field by field.
3. Construction and workmanship details. Seam types, stitch density, edge finishing, placket and collar construction, button or zip specification, bartack positions and any topstitching. On linen the seam allowance and the finish at the inside seam matter, because a natural fibre ravels more than a synthetic one.
4. Measurement and grading table. Every measurement point that will be checked, with the base-size values, the increments between sizes, and the tolerance band that applies. This is the sheet the sample and the bulk goods are measured against.
5. Trims, labels and branding. Buttons, interlining, thread, main label, care label, size label, hangtag and any woven badge or embroidery, each with placement and artwork. Linen is frequently garment-washed, so the pack should state whether trims must survive the wash cycle.
6. Colour and quality standards. Colour references as physical standards or industry codes, plus the inspection basis, normally AQL 2.5 for a linen apparel programme, and any colour-fastness or shrinkage test the goods must pass.
7. Packing and shipping instructions. Fold or hanger presentation, polybag or paper wrap, carton dimensions and weight, carton marks, assortment of sizes per carton, and the destination. Packing is cheap to specify and expensive to change after the goods are sewn.

If your pack is missing a section entirely, say so and ask what the factory needs in its place rather than leaving the field blank. A factory can work from a hand-drawn sketch with a fabric swatch; it cannot work from silence about the fabric.

Linen-Specific Specification Fields: GSM, Weave, Finish and Shrinkage

This is the heart of a linen tech pack. The table below lists the fields that a linen factory needs in the fabric section, the format to use, and why the field changes the price, the sample or the delivery date.

Two of these fields deserve a second look. The first is weight. A brand that writes "medium weight linen" leaves the factory to choose, and the sample that arrives may be a 140 GSM or a 200 GSM quality. Naming the GSM removes the ambiguity and lets the factory quote accurately against the right price band. The second is the finish. It is the field most often omitted and the one most likely to cause a sample rejection, because a soft-washed linen shirt and a crisp unbeaten linen shirt in the same quality can feel like two different products.

Where the brand does not know the answer, the productive approach is to state the intended outcome rather than leave the field blank: describe the hand the garment should have, name a reference garment, and ask the factory to propose two or three qualities with prices. Factories keep more than fifty fabric specifications in stock across the common weights and colours, so proposing a shortlist is normally faster than waiting for a specification to be invented.

The Minimum Viable Tech Pack for a First Linen Order

Founders often delay an order because they believe a proper tech pack requires a professional designer and weeks of work. In practice a factory can start development from a much smaller document, provided the small document answers the four core questions. The list below is the minimum that lets a linen factory quote, propose fabric and produce a counter sample.

• One clear sketch or reference garment. A drawing of the front and back with the main construction lines, plus a photograph of any existing garment that is close to the target.
• Fabric direction in plain terms. Fibre, rough weight, colour and intended hand. A swatch taped to the page is more useful than a paragraph of description.
• Base-size measurements. The measurement points that matter most for the style, at one size, with a clear statement of how the style should fit across the size run.
• Trims and branding intentions. Whether there is a woven label, an embroidered logo or a print, and where each sits.
• Target quantity and delivery window. The number of pieces per style and colour, and the date the goods need to be on the floor. Both are needed to price and schedule.

From that starting point the factory can come back with a fabric proposal, an indicative price, a sampling date and a list of the fields still to be confirmed. The measurement sheet and the colour decision are usually the two items that have to be closed before the counter sample begins, and both can be finalised in parallel with fabric selection. What cannot be parallelised is the fabric itself, because the sample is cut from it.

For an order where sizing is the sticking point, it is worth reading our note on how to provide sizing for a linen collection before filling in the measurement page, since the target market decides both the base size and the grading steps.

Grading, Size Sets and Measurement Tolerance for Linen

The measurement page is where a linen order is most often delayed after sampling, because the tolerance question is answered late. A woven linen garment does not have the stretch and recovery of a knit, so a tolerance of plus or minus half a centimetre on a knit does not automatically transfer to a woven. The pack should state a tolerance band per measurement point, and it should be consistent with the way the goods will be measured at inspection.

Two practical points make this page work. First, state the size set and the base size explicitly, because the same style graded from a different base produces a different fit across the run. Second, state how the sample and the bulk goods will be measured: flat, relaxed, or after a specified wash. A measurement taken flat on a pressed sample and a measurement taken flat on a washed garment are not the same number, and linen is the fabric where that difference is largest.

Where a brand sells into more than one market, the size run has to be planned rather than copied from one region's chart. Our overview of linen sizing for global markets shows how the US, EU, UK and Asian systems relate, which is the input the grading table needs before the factory can write the pattern.

What the Factory Does With Your Tech Pack

Understanding the factory's own sequence makes it easier to see which fields are urgent and which can wait. A linen programme moves through a fixed order of work once the pack lands, and each step consumes the output of the previous one.

1. Costing and fabric proposal. The pack is read, the fabric is matched or proposed, and an indicative price and delivery window are returned. A complete pack is normally answered with an initial assessment within 48 hours and full pricing in 3-7 working days.
2. Specification review. The factory checks the pack against what the fabric can actually do, flags anything impractical, and confirms the fields that were left open. This is the stage where an unrealistic shrinkage or colour requirement is caught.
3. Pattern making and grading. The measurement table becomes a pattern, and the grading increments become the size set. Fabric consumption is calculated here, which is why the measurements have to be final before it starts.
4. Counter sample. The first sample is cut and sewn, typically in 7-12 days per round, with a practical planning window of 7-14 days once feedback and courier time are included. It is normally washed before it is measured, so the shrinkage behaviour is visible on the sample rather than in the bulk goods.
5. Revision and approval. Comments are applied, the sample is re-measured against the table, and the fit is signed off across the smallest, middle and largest sizes.
6. Pre-production sample and bulk. A pre-production sample confirms the final specification, and bulk production follows at 25-35 days, with inspection at AQL 2.5 against the same measurement table that opened the order.

The pattern is circular: everything the factory does references the tech pack. That is why a field left blank early is not a small gap, it is a decision that will be made later, by someone else, and then corrected at cost. A first order generally ships 35-60 days from confirmation, and the part of that window a brand controls most directly is how quickly the pack is complete and the comments are clear. The mechanics of that sequence are set out in our note on how to start a custom linen order.

Eight Tech Pack Mistakes That Send a Linen Order Back to the Start

Most rejected or delayed linen samples trace back to the same eight errors. All eight are visible on the page before anything is cut.

1. Naming the fibre but not the weight. "Linen 100 percent" without a GSM leaves the factory to choose, and the sample usually comes back at a different weight than the brand imagined.
2. Leaving the finish unspecified. Soft-washed and crisp linen are different products. The finish field decides the sample's hand, its cost and its process time.
3. No shrinkage tolerance. Without a declared tolerance and a named wash condition, the sample cannot be judged. Linen moves on first wash, and the movement has to be budgeted rather than discovered.
4. Measurements without tolerances. The fit is argued over at inspection because the pack gave a number and no band. State the band per point, consistent with the inspection method.
5. A colour reference that is not a standard. "Natural beige" is not a colour. Use a physical standard, a fan-deck code or a submitted swatch, and say whether the colour will be yarn-dyed or piece-dyed.
6. Trims added after the wash decision. Garment-washed linen has to be trimmed with components that survive the wash. Specifying buttons and labels late forces either a change or a separate process.
7. Grading increments left to the factory to guess. The pattern is only as good as the increments, and the increments are what set fabric consumption and therefore price.
8. Packing and labelling stated at the last minute. Carton assortment, polybag or paper wrap and label placement are cheap to specify at the start and disruptive to change once the goods are sewn.

[IMAGE_PLACEHOLDER alt="Documentary photograph of a linen garment factory sample room: a counter sample linen shirt pinned to a mannequin with a measurement sheet on the table, measuring tape, fabric swatch book and a spec sheet marked in pencil, natural window light, warm neutral tones, manufacturing documentary style"]

Every one of these mistakes adds a loop to the schedule. A single extra sample round costs 7-12 days, and two rounds can consume the buffer that a five to seven month linen calendar allocated to freight. The relationship between pack quality and delivery date is direct, which is why a complete pack is the cheapest schedule protection available. The stage durations and the waiting time around them are set out in our overview of linen clothing lead times, and the detail of each sample round is covered in the note on how long sampling takes.

How to Send the Pack, and How to Keep Versions Straight

The last source of avoidable delay is file handling. Factories work from the version they were sent, and a measurement table edited after the sample has been cut creates a disagreement that neither side intended.

• Send one master document per style. A single PDF with the pages in order is easier to follow than a folder of separate files, and it fixes the version that will be sampled.
• Name files with the style code and a version number. A style code, a date and a version marker make it obvious which pack is current and which is superseded.
• Keep one change log. List what changed between versions, so the factory can see whether the pattern, the fabric or only the packing instruction was affected.
• Separate the specification from the comments. Put open questions in a clearly marked section rather than in the margins of the measurement table, so nothing is missed in translation.
• Confirm the receiving copy. Ask the factory to confirm the version it is working from before sampling starts.

A change that touches the fabric or the measurements resets the sampling clock, while a change to packing or labelling usually does not. Knowing which category a change falls into is useful when a brand is deciding whether to hold the sample for one more revision or release it and adjust later.

Frequently Asked Questions

A tech pack is not paperwork; it is the instruction set that decides whether a linen programme runs to its season or drifts past it. Get the fibre, the weight, the finish and the shrinkage tolerance onto the page, declare the measurements with tolerances, and state the packing before the goods are sewn. Do that and the factory can quote, buy fabric and cut a first sample without a single clarifying email. If you would like us to review a tech pack against our own sample-room requirements, send the pack, the target quantities and the destination markets through our contact page and we will return an assessment within 48 hours and full pricing in 3-7 working days, with sampling at 7-12 days per round and bulk production at 25-35 days.