Published: July 18, 2019 Updated: October 30, 2022 17 min read
Ok brands, I hear you. You all want to make your clothing the best quality ever. You want them to be able to last for years and maybe even be passed down from generation to generation. But, how do you actually make that a reality? A lot of brands claim they offer top quality - but do they really? The secret- is having a good garment quality control procedures in place. This is often a step most forgotten about by new fashion designers because tbh it is the least fun or glamorous. But, I would argue it is the most important in creating a high-quality product. So, here is a reference, as always for free, of everything you need to check, test, and assure, in order to create the best product ever, complete with a garment quality control checklist to make things easy.
There are so many aspects of quality assurance. But, let's get one thing straight, quality assurance has nothing to do with ethical, sustainable, or fair trade. Quality is a totally different category on its own. To say, my clothes are made by artisans so they must be good quality is like saying, someone at McDonald's took the time to flip my hamburger, so it's healthy… it's incorrect, and the logic doesn't make sense.
There are two key times to test your product for quality. They are during the product development and sampling stage. And, actively during production. This post is going to break down both.
A lot of brand's first reaction to creating a garment quality assurance checklist during the sampling phase is, "if my customer is never going to see this sample, then why does it even matter?" or "I only need the sample to look good for a trade show, why do we need test performance now also?". The problem is they aren't thinking holistically.
The goal at the end of the product development is to have one absolutely perfect sample. And when I say perfect I mean perfect. That sample will then be the gold standard of all of your production. Every piece of production will copy that single sample exactly, to a T.
So, skipping ahead for a moment, when following the quality assurance process, everything that is tested for and verified during product development and sampling will need to be tested for and verified again during production. Production is basically a carbon copy x1000 of your sample.
Production should be as simple as repeating the sampling process but at scale. Where a lot of small brands get into trouble is when they sample their line with a sampling house in NYC, LA, or somewhere in North America, and then try to send it overseas to places like India and China for better pricing during production. If you take anything away from this article, take away this… Where ever you sample is where you should produce. This is the ONLY way to guarantee quality in your production run.
Think of sampling like your dress rehearsal. It's a time to work out all the kinks and get everything just right. If you don't give a factory the opportunity to practice, and just jump straight into production, well you are in for a world of problems.
Sometimes factories will say, we will fix that in production. This is kind of like the equivalent of film people saying we will fix that in post. Nope. They won't, and if they do it is probably going to cost you more $$$. Make sure to get a sample of exactly what you want before you go into production.
The short answer is good product development. But what is good production development? Well, it requires a lot of testing and checking during the sampling phase.
In my opinion, sampling is the most important part of ensuring quality during the design process. It is the foundation of creating a product. So, how do you get the perfect sample? There are three things to look at:
These tests need to be done by a professional testing lab. Science. One of the biggest and most famous testing facilities in the apparel industry is Bureau Veritas. You can also try vartest and intertek.
When sourcing fabric, ask for a test report. Big brands will regularly test up to 10 different things, or more, just for fabrics alone - color fastness, crocking, tear strength, skew, bowing, burst testing, abrasion resistance, yarn count, and those are just a few of the obvious ones. Fabric testing is always done before a garment is cut and sewn because the test reports are a clue as to how a fabric will behave in different situations.
Tests for how well a piece of fabric keeps its color and does not fade over time. There are different types of colorfastness tests- like for UV light, washing, or even chlorine for swimwear. At the very minimum, you want to make sure your clothes keep their color after they go through one cycle in the washing machine. And, this is the absolute bare minimum. This test, like many tests that are subjective and require the eye of a trained professional, is usually scored on a 5 point scale with 5 being the color sticks to 1 it totally fades away.
Is a special type of color fast testing. It tests if a color can rub or transfer to another piece of fabric off with friction.
This is the force needed to tear a piece of fabric that already has a small rip in it. Why is this important? Well if someone gets a small rip in their clothes, will they be sturdy enough so the whole piece of fabric does not unravel?
Refers to woven fabrics only. In a woven fabric the warp and weft yarns should be at 90-degree angles to one another. Skew is when the yarns are at a different angle. Another term for this is off-grain. It can cause problems like garment twisting, so watch out for this.
Save money...
You can do skew testing on your own and do not need to pay a company to do it for you. Simply rip a piece of fabric width-wise. Does the fabric have a straight rip? If so you are good. But if the rip is angled, especially if the angle is more than 20 or so degrees you might have problems with your garment.
Is kind of related to skew, but for knit fabrics. You can test for bowing in knit fabric the same way that skew is tested for in wovens. Tear the fabric and see what happens. If the fabric looks like a U shape, this is not a good sign. But, remember there will always be a little bit of curve in the fabric, you just don't want too much.
Is kind of similar to tear strength, but a little different. It measures how much force it takes to, as the name suggests, burst through a piece of fabric. This is an important measure of performance clothing or exercise clothing. For example, you don't want to burst through your gym shorts while doing squats at the gym.
Is basically a test that rubs the fabric to see how well it holds up or if it wears down. Again, if you are making performance clothing this is extra important, you want a fabric with a good abrasion resistance that won't break down from a lot of movement.
No. That's way too expensive for most brands. If you had to pick only one thing to test for, in my opinion, shrinkage is the most important test. If your fabric shrinks 30% during washing you are going to end up with A LOT of returns that will need to be resold as doll clothes. To prevent this, you will need to make sure the fabric is pre-shrunk.
Little checks like this make a big difference to the quality of your product and your companies bottom line. So, always ask for a test report.
I bet a lot of you reading this didn't realize that clothing design was so technical and scientific. Well, it is. And there is even more sciency stuff ahead. Did you know that there are garment industry jobs that only focus on quality? And some large companies have entire quality control departments that are in charge of all this stuff.
So, you tested your fabric. And, it's perfect. Next, we need to make a sample with it. And then, test the sample. Common garment tests are seam strength, seam slippage, and how well trims stay on and don't fall off, which is done with a pull test.
This refers to how much pressure can be put on a seam before it breaks.
Tests if the yarns in a fabric will slip and slide when sewn. This is most often seen in silks. The fibers are so slippery and the threads so fine, when the garment is sewn the fabric starts to pull and separate apart at the seams.
Tests how much strength is needed to rip off trims, because you don't want things like buttons falling off too easily.
There are soooo many different types of tests. Literally, there are so many tests that they don't all fit into one book - they take up volumes of books. If you want to learn about every test check out the AATCC, American Association of Textile Colorists and Chemists, to learn more.
Remember, pick tests that are relevant to the integrity of the product you are making. For example, if you are making winter coats, well then you probably don't need to test for colorfastness in chlorine. But, you might definitely want to test for waterproofing or wind repellency.
After you have professional tested all the fabrics, and then the garment, and everything passes. Then, it's time to take a critical eye to the sample.
All of these tests can be done by you or the garments factory to ensure industry quality.
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Check out this video to see how all the different layers of a print come together.
And, here are all the screens that need to be cut to make that one print. Each slid is for a different color ink.
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Thank you Textile Merchandising for this amazing reference photo to explain the perfect seam, and demonstrate seam puckering on too tight seams.
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Sometimes the factory will try and fix their mistakes, make sure they don't create even more problems while doing this.
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That's everything you should be looking out for when you get your first product development sample back. I know, it's a lot. Most people don't realize there are so many little things to pay attention to in order to assure product quality. But, I hope these garments quality control procedures will help make it a little easier for you.
Once your sampling is perfect, then, and only then is it time to place your production order.
To take your season from development and sampling to production should be easy once you have the perfect sample.
During sampling, a test report from the mill is fine. But during production you are going to want to third party test the fabric yourself to ensure what they promised is what you got. During production, random cuttings of fabric are taken from random rolls and sent for product-specific testing. Once the testing comes back with an all ok, everything passed, then and only then can the fabric be cut and made into garments. Again, the most important thing to check for here is shrinkage, because no one wants clothes for their cat coming out of the washing machine.
Again, you want your finished product sample for the factory to copy to be absolutely perfect, down to each and every stitch so copying it for production is easy. I can't say this enough. The same garment quality control checklist we made for product development should be used by the factories quality assurance team to ensure your production comes out just as perfect.
All of the real heavy lifting gets done during product development. That is where you work everything out. Production should be as easy and pressing control alt c and control alt v.
You don't have to use this exact list I made for you. you can also make your own. The important thing is that everything you are checking you write down in one list.
With one list to follow everything is right there and easy to follow. It also allows for a built-in control system so nothing ships that is not perfect.
During production, the factory will go through the same garment inspection outlined above for every single piece. If it does not pass it does not ship. By having a clear checklist no details slip through the cracks.
It is necessary to regularly audit the factory. This means checks in on them and make sure they are following procedure and process. This can be difficult for a lot of small brands. That is why a lot of businesses hire someone like virtue + vice for project management - to be their eyes on the ground, and take on some of the responsibilities of managing the garments manufacturing process.
As an added layer of protection, have a final shipment inspection. This comes even after your final inspection at the factory. During a shipment inspection, random pieces are pulled out of the shipping crates to check and ensure for quality. This is usually done by a third party, and not the factory. The last thing a new brand needs to pay for shipping costs, only to discover their product is all wrong when it lands 1/2 way across the world.
Work with your supply chain partners to help them understand your level of quality control. And, remember garment quality control procedures are a learning process. Your first sample is not going to come out perfect. There will be lots of call-outs and things to fix. But, as long as you and your supply partner are learning and growing together, you are one your way to a high-quality product.
I hope these insider garment manufacturing tips help, and you use the garment quality control checklist to help you create the best product possible. Leave your comments and questions below!
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I have spent over a decade living and working in fashion factories, seeing firsthand how clothing is made.
And now, I want to share with you everything I know. To help you navigate supply chains, and launch your own conscious clothing brand.
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