Clothing Manufacturing 101 Clothing manufacturing is not just simply about designing and cutting clothes. It requires other important processes to produce quality outcome. Most companies hire contractors or subcontractors to manufacture their apparels. Larger firms outsource their manufacturing process in other countries to seek better ways to distribute their products. No matter how the process is done, manufacturing of clothing involves the following important steps -designing, grading, cutting, sorting, assembling, inspection, finishing, and inspection. Designing the garment – This is the first step in clothing manufacturing, where a sketch is created to provide details of the clothing. The design is planned and created by an artist and a pattern is made to check if the design is approved by the company.
Grading – Grading is the process of making patterns of different sizes. This is where small, large, and extra-large sizes come in. Some companies use standard sizes with equivalent numerical values. All sizes are marked using adhesive strips or staples to carefully execute every size. Cutting – As the name implies, this is the process where the fabric is cut to a desired shape and size. Sorting – This is the process of bundling together the parts with the same sizes. This is a crucial step as some are mismatched causing severe problems in sewing. Usually, mismatched problems occur in bulk production. Sewing – When the parts are ready to be stitched together, sewing is done using different machines to achieve the specified design. For example, the straight seams have different sewing machines than the sleeve insets. Inspection – To ensure quality finish, every part of the clothing is inspected. This includes observing non-matching threads, missing stitches, misplaced buttons, and other sewing defects. Pressing – This will change the finished surface of the product. It removes the crease done when every part has already been sewn together. Creasing is also done before sewing the pocket, creating embroidery, and other details. Final inspection – The quality is again inspected to make sure that it matches the expected output. This is done more carefully than the initial inspection as this will be the final products to be distributed to the clients and customers. After these, the garments are now packed according to size, design, and location of distribution outlets. The whole process may take weeks and even months, depending on how the design is created and the number of garments to be produced.