We’ve talked about the importance of developing a production schedule for the production process, the ins and outs of the sampling process, and quality control.
But how does the production process in garment manufacturing work in a more general sense?
There are three macro phases to the garment production process:
- Pre-production
- Production
- Post-production
Pre-Production Process
The pre-production process includes:
- Design/Sketch: during this phase designer and manufacturer work together to fully discuss the design and come to a complete understanding of what the designer wants the final product to look like.
- Pattern Design: a hard paper copy of each component of the garment is made reflecting the exact dimensions and includes a number of components such as seam allowance and trimming allowance.
- Sample Making: samples (also known as proto samples) are made based on the pattern design and sent to the designer for any eventual corrections.
- Production Pattern: a final pattern, one that is extremely precise and reflects the styles approved for manufacturing and meets spec requirements is made.
After these steps follow pattern grading and marking, where the dimensions of each size are perfected and the markers for cutting are established.
Production Process
During this phase the physical production of the garments take place. This phase includes:
- Spreading: the various fabrics are arranged and sorted on the spreading table and stacked according to size based on the marking.
- Cutting: the fabric is cut according to the marker dimensions.
- Sorting/Bundling: the cut fabrics are then sorted and bundled according to their size.
- Sewing/Assembling: the various cut fabrics are sewn together to make a full garment.
Post Production Process
- Inspection: all the finished garments are inspected for defects (open seams, wrong stitching techniques, non- matching threads, and missing stitches, etc.). This is the first quality control inspection for the finished garments that will have to go through yet another inspection phase before being shipped.
- Pressing/Finishing: the garments are pressed and a few final touches are added such as thread loose cutting.
- Final Inspection: the garments go through one final round of quality control to weed out any defective garments.
- Packing: the finished garments are sorted according to size and design and packaged for shipping. Once the garments are packaged they’re sent to dispatch where they will be shipped to their final destination.


