QUALITY CONTROL

• Prior to purchase
• Customer focus on aesthetics (style, color, fit, fabric, trim, construction)

• After purchase:
• -Durability
• -Comfort
• -Care
• -Appearance retention

• Must interpret the quality expectations of the customer into concepts understood by all members of the management team (design, production, factory managers)
• Must consider quality at the START of product development

• Price
• Brand image
• Competitors' quality

• The process of establishing rules for corporate quality expections
• Provide a means to evaluate and compary similar products (ex: fewer stitches per inch in a cheaper shirt)
• Can be industry-based or voluntary

• When the industry adopts a particular standard
• Ex: 1/4" seam allowance on a collar

• When a need for a standard exists but not all companies follow that standard
• Ex: Fusible rather than sewn-in cuffs on a shirt

• Federally regulated
• Includes flammability laws, draw-cords, small trims that could detach
• Important in childrens wear

Counting the number of threads contained in one square inch of fabric

• Thread count
• Where the fiber is grown (ex: Egyptian cotton)
• Where and how it has been woven (ex: Italian weave)

• Raw materials
• Designs
• Fit
• Construction
• Details
• Finishing

• Fiber
• Size of yarn
• Fabric count
• Fabric gauge
• Weight
• Finished width
• End use of fabric
• Finishes that are used and their effectiveness
• Tensile, tear, and bursting strengths

• Fit sessions
• End use of garment
• Fit adjustments need to be communicated (via spec sheet)

• Inspection of raw materials (color variances, soiling, holes)
• Proper marking, spreading, cutting
• Sewing and assembly both before and after completion
• Finishing (correct labels, loose threads, packaging)

Signed by an approved independent QC inspector based on raw materials at source, assembly, and finished goods

• Critical defect: potentially harmful
• Major defect: detracts from performance or aesthetic
• Minor defect

Based on a pre-determined quality level

• Tensile strength: resistance to pulling/tearing
• Shrinkage: more difficult to control for knits
• Shading/dye lots: variances between different dye lots
• Colorfastness: change in color over a garment's lifetime
• Bleeding: staining of one color of fabric into another
• Crocking: transference of fabric color to another surface when rubbed
• Pilling
• Torque: twisting of seams
• Differential shrinkage: uneven shrinkage on a garment

• Seam strength
• Wrong stitch type
• Tape seam sealing
• Wrinkle/crease resistance
• Soil/stain resistance
• Waterproof/breathable

• Created by PD team to communicate a garment's specs both within and outside of the company
• Important that it is precise and easy to read
• Shows a pattern maker how the prototype sample should look

• Garments can be difficult to measure - not transparant between each company/factory
• Size specs must indicate precise measurements plus the method of measuring

• "On the flat"
• Size range (list of sizees for a specific style)
• Sample size
• Size scale
• Grading
• Tolerance
• Point of measurement (POM)

• Style and/or design number
• Sketch
• Swatches of fabric
• Usage and cost of fabric, trim, etc.
• Identification of pattern pieces
• Special sewing instructions
• Notation regarding placement parts

• Style identification
• Sketch or photo
• Sizes and tolerances
• Color-ways
• Usage of fabric, trim findings
• Swatch of fabric, samples of trim and findings
• Construction details (seam allowances, stitches per in, etc)
• Labeling info and placement
• Graphic placement and details

• Should be made using exact fabric/colors/details
• Only one size
• Size spec should be checked again
• Fit session
• Tweak where needed

• Quality control takes place throughout production
• Factory visits
• Production lots
• QC team makes spot checks on production