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“Size spec” is short for size specifications: the spec sheet is a guide for clothing factories to follow for garment measurements and sewing techniques, helping the factory produce the garment to the buyer's requirement and maintain consistency during bulk production. A spec file can include points of measure, detailed sewing instructions (for example a 1-inch hem and the stitch to use on it), trim requirements such as button sizes, twill tape lengths, zippers, waistband widths and draw cord lengths, plus a design sketch and brand and care label requirements.
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Size Specs - Size Specification
The term "size spec" is short for "size specifications". The size spec document is occasionally referenced to as a spec sheet or spec sheets., This document or file is basically a guide for clothing factories to follow for garment measurements and sewing techniques. The file contains garment manufacturing specifications that help the factory produce the garment as per the buyers requirement. The specifications are intended as a list of instructions for a garment factory to following in order to maintain consistency during the bulk production of clothing and fashion accessories.
The size spec files may also contain information regarding the garments trim requirements. The spec sheet will indicate the button sizes, twill tape lengths, zippers, waistband widths, draw cord length etc. Size specs, may also contain a design sketch to help the factory view a complete rendering of the intended garment. The file may also include brand label and care label requirements for the product.
Size specs are typically provided to factories as an instructional tool to follow when manufacturing clothing or fashion accessories. The size spec document includes points of measure as well as detailed sewing instructions. For example, the spec file may include a hem measurement as well as indicate the stitching to utilize on the hem. For example, 1" hem, 1/14" cover stitch. This instructs the factory how to create the hem of the pant.
The spec sheets help assure a consistent garment fit. A well developed spec package may include a how to measure guide. If it is not included on the spec file, the factory should at least be provided with a separate manual providing them with clear indication of how you wish for them to manage the point of measure. The "how to measure" guide is intended to ensure that all manufacturers are using the same methods of measurement. Here are a few examples of a point of measurement method:
Bust / Chest - Lay the garment flat and measure the garment straight across one inch below the armhole. (note: it is important to indicate location below the armhole or from another point so that the person taking the measurement has a specific starting point).
Waist - Relax or extended measure from side to side along the center of the waistband or waist seam. For extended measurements - measure as above with elastic or knit fully extended.
Inseam - lay one entire leg flat measure from the top of the garment to the bottom of the leg following the side seam.
All measurements should be taken with a plastic or fabric tape measure. Generally all measurements are to be taken with the garment laid on a flat surface with all wrinkles gently smoothed out. Measurements should be taken with zippers or buttons fully closed unless otherwise stated.
Below are a few examples of the the wording you may see on a size spec file.
Front Length (From HPS)
Front Length (From Shoulder Seam)
Neck Width (Edge to Edge)
Front Neck Drop (Imag. Line to Edge)
Back Neck Drop (Imag. Line to Edge)
Chest / Bust (1" Below Armhole)
Across Shoulder
Across Front 6" From HPS
Across Back 6" From HPS
Armhole (Follow Curve)
Waist (15" Below HPS)
Sweep
Sweep (Above Side Slits or Shirt Tails)
Sleeve Length (From Cap)
Sleeve Inseam Length
Muscle Width (1" Below Armhole)
Elbow (Below Armhole)
Short Sleeve Opening Width
Long Sleeve Opening Width
Shoulder Slope (From HPS)
Single Shoulder Width
Side Slit/vent Height
Shirt Tail Height
Facing Height at CB
Pocket Height
Pocket Width
Pocket (From HPS)
Pocket (From CF)
Placket Length
Placket Width
When indicating a measurement, most companies also provide what is refered to as an available tolerance. For example, if you are supposed to have a 34 inch waist, the buyer may give you a 1/4 inch tolerance. If you have a quater inch tolerance for a 34 inch waist, this means that if the garment waist measures 34 1/4 inches or 33 3/4 inches, you will be approved. Because you are within the tolerance that they allow, you will be fine. Therefore, when reading the size spec file, you should read the measurements but also be certain to check the tolerance permitted. Each buyer may provide a different tolerance.
Size spec files are important to clothing factories, fashion merchandisers, pattern makers, etc. You will find that many PDM packages and pattern making software provides methods to manage size spec files in a fashion software environment. If you are a small start up company, you can create your spec packages on programs such as excel or any other similar software.
Don't forget to check out our fabulous apparel industry tools such as the Size Conversion Chart and the Size Grading Calculator.
Please also visit our How to Measure section for information on this subject.
Written by ML at Apparel Search 7/24/07
If you are interested in clothing construction, you may also want to read our shirt yoke, smile pockets, racerback style, gussets, ringer tees and raglan top terminology pages.
Please make garments with a good fit. It is important for our clothing to fit properly...
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Thank you for reading this page about clothing size specs. You may also want to check the US Standard Clothing Sizes page. Also, you may have interest in learning more about grading and fit samples.
You may also have interest in learning more about the following clothing industry terms:
The size spec is where a design becomes repeatable. A single sample can be made to fit by a skilled sample hand adjusting as they go; ten thousand units cannot. The spec sheet replaces that judgment with numbers and instructions — this hem depth, this stitch, this waistband width, this point of measure taken in this way — so that production in any factory, on any shift, lands on the same garment. Consistency is the product the document sells: retailers order size runs expecting every unit in a size to match the approved sample and each other.
Fit samples are the checkpoint where the spec proves itself. A factory sews from the spec, the buyer measures the resulting sample against the spec's points of measure, and discrepancies are corrected in the document or the sewing before bulk production begins. Grading extends the same system across sizes, applying defined increments so each size in the run relates to the base size predictably. Tech packs and pre-production submissions gather these elements — specs, sketches, trims, labels — into the full instruction set a factory quotes and produces from.
Consumers meet the size spec from the other end, as the reason two garments with the same size label can fit differently: each brand writes its own specs, with its own points of measure and target body, and there is no single industry spec behind the label. The size conversion and grading tools linked from this page work with the numbers the spec system produces. For the terminology, the durable definition is simple: the size spec is the factory's instruction sheet for measurements and construction, and fit in mass-produced clothing is exactly as consistent as that sheet.
A size spec — also called a spec sheet — is the document or file that gives a garment factory the measurements and sewing instructions for a style, so every unit in bulk production is made consistently to the buyer's requirement. It is provided to factories as an instructional tool.
Points of measure and detailed sewing instructions, trim requirements (button sizes, twill tape lengths, zippers, waistband widths, draw cord lengths), and often a design sketch of the intended garment plus brand label and care label requirements for the product.
A well-developed spec package includes, or is accompanied by, a guide showing exactly how each point of measure should be taken, so all manufacturers use the same measurement methods. Without it, two factories can measure the same garment differently and both believe they followed the spec.