Apparel Design and Production Glossary

CONCEPT BOARD - A visual representation of a single design in more technical detail so it can be developed as a working concept. Concept Boards generally build from the individual silhouettes created in the Mood Board to move each style out of the design stage to the development stage. Concept Boards usually do not include references to inspiration, color or theme, but they can include those details.

DESIGN PROCESS - The Design Process is an approach for breaking down a large project into manageable parts. It is used to narrow focus and prove concepts with the ultimate goal of finalizing a single design as intended by the designer. Learn more about the design process.

DIGITIZING - Conversion of a paper pattern into a correctly scaled digital copy using industry standard software. A digital pattern is a faster way to make pattern changes, create new styles, and build size ranges and marker layouts. It also eternalizes and preserves your design. This is not the same as scanning a pattern, which converts the pattern into an image and is not usually to scale. However, a professional pattern digitizer, such as MADE Apparel, can use a scanned image to create your professional, scaled digital pattern. If you’d like to know more please contact us.

FASHION ILLUSTRATION - Usually hand-drawn and colored, these sketches are illustrative versions of your design idea. There is no need to scale these types of sketches and they may not accurately represent sewn construction, but the convey mood and capture emotion. There is usually reference to color ways and fabric/trim preferences.

GOLDEN SAMPLE - This is a type of sew by sample used as a ‘gold standard’ by which all future sewn pieces are matched and measured for quality control. In manufacture, a first production sample will be matched to the golden sample to verify the manufacturer's ability to reproduce the approved design with set up created for mass production.

MARKER LAYOUT - A guide of all pattern pieces in the various size ranges laid out on material in such a manner as to reduce fabric waste in the production process cutting.

MOOD BOARD - Known by many names (Fashion Board, Inspiration Board….), a Mood Board is a visual tool that designers use to communicate the overall aesthetic, mood, and inspiration of the theme for their fashion idea or collection. It usually includes lifestyle images, references to seasonality, color palettes or even font. It is not the same as a Concept Board.

PATTERN PARTS LIST - A list of all pattern pieces for the garment. Pieces are usually listed separately by material type and cut quantity and sometimes in order of largest to smallest within each fabrication category.

PATTERN MAKING - Drafting a design from a sketch or inspirational photos into a paper or digital format pattern to be cut and sewn. Patterns are necessary to build a garment as they are not only the pieces that make the garment but contain some of the instructions as to how it sews together.

PATTERN GRADING - Pattern grading is the process of shrinking or enlarging a finished pattern to accommodate it to people of different sizes. This process is important as it also ensures design details grow proportionally as the garment changes in size.

POINTS OF MEASURE - Measurements points from the final constructed garments at key areas such as waist and hem circumference, sleeve length, and total length. It is mostly used as a reference point during quality control checks to ensure the sizing is not fluctuating during mass manufacture.

PROOF OF CONCEPT - A small exercise to test the feasibility of a part of a design idea or assumption. An example would be sewing a sample garment before grading the pattern for other sizes.

ROUGH PROTOTYPE - A real-world model that attempts to represent your idea as best as possible. It can be stapled, sewn, taped or glued. We love to see the creative ways people have tried to capture and test their vision!

SEQUENCE OF CONSTRUCTION - A step-by-step set of instructions on how to construct the product in the most efficient order.

SEW BY SAMPLE - A completed, original garment of one size. In development it is used as a visual representation of the tech pack and pattern. In manufacture it used to provide costing prior to committing to production. Also know as just a ‘sewn sample’.

SOURCING - The search for fabrics, trims, and other findings needed to build or test your design idea during development. This includes ordering swatches or samples to review before purchasing enough to sew your sample, and we assist you with this process! Large scale sourcing is only necessary once your signed a production agreement with a manufacturer.

TECHNICAL SKETCHES- A computer vector drawing of a finished design. These can be done as 2D flats; however, 3D schematics, if created on a correctly sized avatar so they represent real world proportions are also acceptable. 3D drawings can be much faster and visually more appealing and representative of the final look. MADE Apparel only uses 3D sketches.

TECH PACK - Short for technical package or specification packet. This is a manual that contains the supplies needed, and instructions on how to construct, a particular garment. Manufacturers require this before they can put any design into production. Read more about Tech Packs.