What Should a Linen Tech Pack Include?
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- Sep 21,2026
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What Should a Linen Tech Pack Include?
A linen tech pack should contain nine items: a style overview with front and back technical sketches, a fabric specification naming fibre content, weight in GSM, weave and colour, the finish and the allowed first-wash shrinkage tolerance, garment construction and workmanship details, a measurement and grading table with tolerance bands, trims and branding with placement, colour and quality standards including the inspection basis of AQL 2.5, packing and shipping instructions, and the target quantity with the delivery window. The linen-specific fields that most packs miss are weight, finish and shrinkage: linen typically moves 3-7 percent on its first wash, so the tolerance has to be declared before fabric is bought, not discovered on the sample. With a complete pack a factory can return an initial assessment within 48 hours, full pricing in 3-7 working days and a first counter sample in 7-12 days. Our guide to tech packs for linen clothing works through each section in detail.
The Nine Items a Linen Tech Pack Should Contain
A tech pack is not a design brief and it is not a mood board. It is the document a factory reads when it costs the style, buys the fabric, writes the pattern and sets the inspection standard. Nine items cover what a linen factory needs to start without sending questions back, and each one maps to a specific step inside the factory.
1. Style overview and sketches
Front and back flat sketches with construction called out, the style code, and a reference photograph of a similar garment where one exists. This is what the pattern maker opens first.
2. Fabric specification
Fibre content and blend ratio, weight in grams per square metre, weave type, colour reference, and the finish. On linen this is the section that decides the price and the hand of the sample.
3. Finish and shrinkage tolerance
The named finish and the maximum first-wash shrinkage after a stated wash condition. Linen moves 3-7 percent on first wash, so the tolerance is a manufacturing instruction, not a preference.
4. Construction and workmanship
Seam types, stitch density, edge finishing, placket and collar construction, bartack positions and topstitching, with the inside seam finish specified because linen ravels more than a synthetic fibre.
5. Measurement and grading table
Every measurement point that will be checked, its value at the base size, the grading increment between sizes, and a tolerance band for each point. This is the sheet the sample is measured against.
6. Trims and branding
Buttons, interlining, thread, main label, care label, size label, hangtag, embroidery or print, each with placement and artwork. Garment-washed linen needs trims that survive the wash.
7. Colour and quality standards
Colour as a physical standard or fan-deck code, plus colour-fastness and shrinkage tests and the inspection basis, normally AQL 2.5 for a linen apparel programme.
8. Packing and shipping
Fold or hanger presentation, polybag or paper wrap, carton dimensions and weight, carton marks, size assortment per carton, and the destination market and port.
9. Quantity and delivery window
Pieces per style and colour, the size breakdown, and the date the goods have to be on the floor. Both are needed before a price and a production slot can be confirmed.
Two of these items are commonly treated as optional and are not. The measurement table is the document used at final inspection, so a fit that is agreed in conversation but not written into the table will be disputed later. The delivery window is what allows the factory to place the order in a realistic production slot, and a first linen order generally ships 35-60 days from confirmation once sampling, bulk production and inspection are counted.
The Linen-Specific Fields Most Packs Miss
The differences between a linen tech pack and a generic woven pack sit almost entirely in the fabric section. The table below shows the fields that decide the price and the sample, the format to use, and what the factory does with each one.
| Field | What to write | What the factory does with it |
|---|---|---|
| Fibre content | The full percentage split, for example 100 percent linen or 55/45 linen and viscose | Selects the quality, calculates fabric cost and predicts shrinkage behaviour |
| Weight | Grams per square metre, within the practical apparel range of about 100-260 GSM | Prices the fabric and checks that the weight suits the style and the season |
| Weave | Plain, twill, slub, basket, or a named quality from the swatch book | Confirms availability and whether the texture in the sketch can be reproduced |
| Colour | A physical standard, fan-deck number or submitted swatch, plus the required colour fastness | Decides yarn-dyed or piece-dyed and whether a dye lot has to be scheduled |
| Finish | Soft-washed, garment-washed, garment-dyed, enzyme-treated or brushed | Sets the hand of the sample and adds process time and cost to the quotation |
| Shrinkage tolerance | Maximum first-wash movement after a stated wash condition | Sets the pre-shrinking and finishing parameters so the garment passes the test |
| Width and consumption | Finished fabric width and metres per garment if already known | Calculates the fabric line in the quotation, typically 30-45 percent of the ex-works price |
| Test requirements | Any report the fabric and trims must carry, such as OEKO-TEX Standard 100 | Books certified input material at the mill stage rather than adding it later |
Where a field is genuinely unknown, say so and ask the factory for a proposal rather than leaving it blank. Factories keep more than 50 fabric specifications in stock across the common weights and colours, so a shortlist with prices is usually faster than an open field.
The finish field deserves particular attention because it is the one most often absent. Soft-washed and crisp linen in the same quality are different products with different prices and a different hand, and a pack that omits the finish effectively hands that decision to whoever cuts the sample. The second most common omission is the shrinkage tolerance: without a declared limit and a stated wash condition, nobody can say whether the sample passed or failed, and the disagreement surfaces only after the bulk goods arrive. Where a collection sells into several regions, the grading table also has to be planned per market, and our note on providing sizing for a linen collection covers how to state the base size and the measurement points before the pattern is made.
How the Factory Uses the Pack, Step by Step
Knowing the factory's sequence explains why an incomplete pack costs time rather than merely causing inconvenience. Each step needs the output of the previous one, and a missing field stops the chain at the point where it is needed.
A first order typically ships 35-60 days from confirmation, and the portion of that timeline a brand controls most directly is how complete the pack is and how clear the sample comments are. Each field left open at step one becomes a decision at step three or four, where it costs a sample round and a week. The wider schedule around those steps, including freight, is set out in our overview of linen clothing lead times, and the sequence a first-time buyer follows from enquiry to bulk is described in how to start a custom linen order.
Pre-Send Checklist for a Linen Tech Pack
Send the pack as one master document per style with a version number, and keep a short change log so the factory can see whether a revision touches the fabric and measurements or only the packing instruction. A change to fabric or measurements restarts the sampling clock; a change to packing or labelling usually does not.
What Happens When Items Are Missing
A missing field is never neutral. Either the factory makes an assumption that has to be corrected later, or it stops and asks, and both outcomes consume the buffer that a seasonal linen calendar needs for freight. Declaring the fields up front is the least expensive schedule protection available to a brand.
Where the sizing page is the blocker, start from the markets the collection will sell into and work back to a base size and grading increments, since the same style graded from a different base produces a different fit across the run. Our overview of linen sizing for global markets shows how the US, EU, UK and Asian systems relate, and is the input the grading table needs before the pattern is cut.
Send your sketch, fabric direction, target quantity and delivery window and we will come back with a fabric proposal and an initial assessment within 48 hours, full pricing in 3-7 working days, and a first counter sample in 7-12 days. Orders start at 60 pieces per style per colour, sample charges of 40-150 US dollars are refundable against bulk, and bulk production runs 25-35 days.
Send your tech pack How sampling worksLinenwind is a linen clothing manufacturer in Dongguan, China, working with B2B brands on OEM, ODM and private label programmes. Figures in this answer reflect our own standard production parameters: first-wash shrinkage of 3-7 percent, fabric weight range of 100-260 GSM, sampling at 7-12 days per round, bulk production at 25-35 days, first orders shipping 35-60 days from confirmation, MOQ 60 pieces per style per colour, sample fees of 40-150 US dollars refundable against bulk, and inspection at AQL 2.5.