01
Blanks or cut & sew?
Printing on is quick with small runs but limits fit and fabric. is made to your pattern, fabric and colours — the route most brands take once they grow.
Pro tipGuides
Learn the
trade
Plain-English guides to making clothes: minimums, tech packs, fabrics, decoration and sampling.
All
guides
How MOQs work
Why factories have minimum order quantities, how they're counted, and how to plan a first drop around them.
How to write a tech pack
What goes into a tech pack, why it saves you money, and what to do if you don't have one yet.
Fabric & gsm guide
The fabrics behind sportswear and streetwear, what gsm means, and how to choose the right weight.
Decoration techniques compared
Screen print, DTG, DTF, puff, sublimation, embroidery, chenille and rhinestones — what each looks like and when to use it.
Sampling explained
Why you sample, the types of sample, what to check, and how approval protects your bulk order.
Quick
lessons
New to making clothes? Three things worth knowing first. Tap a card for a pro tip.
All guides02
Why colours can shift
Colours are matched with a first. After that, each can vary slightly, so a matching set is cut from the same lot — top and bottom together.
Pro tip03
Splitting sizes
A decides how many of each size you order. Most brands weight the middle sizes and order fewer of the smallest and largest. makes sure every size keeps the same look.
Pro tipPro tip
Base your ratio on past sales or your audience. For a first drop, keep the extremes light.
Read the guidesSpeak
factory
The words you'll hear when you make clothes, in plain English.
AQL
Acceptable quality limit — a sampling standard used to inspect a production run.
blanks
Ready-made plain garments bought in and then decorated.
cut & sew
Garments made from scratch to your pattern, rather than printed on ready-made blanks.
dye lot
One batch of dyed fabric. Shades can shift slightly between lots, so a style is best cut from one.
fit sample
An early sample made to check shape and measurements on a body.
grading
Scaling a pattern up and down to make every size.
gsm
Grams per square metre — how heavy a fabric is. Higher gsm means a thicker, heavier feel.
hot-fix
Rhinestones with heat-activated glue on the back, pressed onto the garment.
lab dip
A small swatch dyed to your colour, approved before the bulk fabric is dyed.
lead time
The time from confirming an order to goods being ready to ship.
MOQ
Minimum order quantity — the smallest run a factory makes of one style, usually counted per colour.
OEM
The factory makes your design to your specification, under your brand.
oz
Denim weight, in ounces per square yard.
PP sample
Pre-production sample — made with the bulk materials and approved before cutting starts.
private label
Products made by a factory and sold under your brand name.
size ratio
How an order is split across sizes — for example more M and L than XS and 3XL.
strike-off
A test print on your real fabric, to approve colour and scale before production.
sublimation
Ink turned to gas with heat and bonded into polyester, so the print becomes part of the fabric.
tech pack
The instruction file for a garment: flat drawings, measurements, fabrics, trims, artwork placement and labels.
trims
Everything on a garment that isn't the main fabric: zips, drawcords, snaps, labels, elastic.
Free download
The Drop
Launch Kit
A template, a size chart and a launch checklist: everything you need to brief a factory properly. [Kit files — NEEDS INPUT]
Start your
next drop
Send a sketch, a reference or a . You get a sample plan and a quote back.