A lot of merchants these days take custom clothing manufacturing as a business option because of its popularity in the market. The only problem in this is a lot of them are not really knowledgeable in the custom clothing business and are still new to the industry. They see custom clothes manufacturing as a business opportunity but their lack of knowledge pose as a problem for them to thrive in such business.
One of the most common FAQs we hear from those who are interested in custom clothes manufacturing is “how long does it take to manufacture custom clothing?” On average, it takes 4 to 6 weeks to finish a custom clothing order. However, this really depends on a lot of factors which is why some orders may take 3 months to finish due to the complexity of the custom apparel design and there are some which only takes a couple of weeks because of availability.
In this article, let us take a look at the entire process of dealing with custom clothing manufacturers. This will help you assess the actual lead time of custom clothes manufacturing for your business given your specifications and other factors involved.
Factors to Custom Clothes Manufacturing
There are certainly a lot of factors involved in custom clothing manufacturing. Garment and materials availability, production line efficiency, workload of the tailor/seamstress and a lot more. Other factors include the type of clothing being produced. For example, suits and coats take longer time to manufacture compared to dresses and shirts. The season is also a factor towards manufacturing since fall/winter season is the best time for t-shirt printing orders since manufacturers are often loaded with work during the spring/summer season for the following year’s main seasons.
All of these factors would add up to lead time in manufacturing custom apparel. It would be safe to assume it takes at least a month to finish custom clothes. It would be a huge plus if the manufacturer is able to finish it earlier than that. However, if the order is still unfinished after 10 weeks then it is no longer considerable. How to manufacture your product is very individual and also depends on how prepared you are with respect to your design.
Finding a Manufacturer for your Custom Clothes
The clothing manufacturer which you are going to work with is your partner-in-crime on your custom made clothing business. Whether it would be a small tailoring shop, a local seamstress or a major custom t-shirt printing company, their performance would be crucial to your clothing line. If you look at the factors to custom clothes manufacturing, it would be easy to identify how the clothing manufacturer could impact lead time since most of these factors can be attributed to them.
Finding a manufacturer which is perfect for your clothing business is crucial. Their lead time performance can dictate the status of your business. Make sure you are working with the right manufacturer who is on the same page as you are. Let us take a look at the step by step process of custom clothes manufacturing to help you assess the steps and intervene with your manufacturer if they aren’t doing things right.
Step-by-Step Custom Clothing Manufacturing Process
1. Creating the pattern
Your clothing manufacturer would normally create a pattern on a cheap cotton fabric as basis. This pattern’s dimensions are all adjustable depending on your preferences and will be continuously tweaked until you arrive at the perfect pattern which you will use onwards. This may take a week or two depending on your manufacturer’s skill.
2. Deciding on the clothing product to make out of the pattern
This is the part where you can put your creative mind to work. You work with the manufacturer to come up with the design for the type of clothing which you will create. This may take a few days after a few back and forth in terms of decision making. As soon as you are satisfied with the design then you are good to go.
3. Choosing the fabric
Choose the right fabric to use for your custom clothes. If you are into silk screen printing then cotton fabric is the best to use while it is ideal to use wool for jackets. There could be specific types of fabric depending on the style of custom clothing you are trying to create. Work around your budget since the fabric you will use could make up a big percentage of your custom clothing materials.
4. Cutting and fitting
This is when the apparel manufacturer will cut and fit your custom clothes from the fabric you have chosen following the pattern you have decided on. Other expenses such as linings and notions will be added on to the process. This could take a week until the finished product is out.
The Standard Lead Time in Custom Clothing Manufacturing
If you decipher each of the steps involved in manufacturing custom clothes, the four to six week timeline is ideal. The lead time could be greatly reduced for reproduction later on but the 4-6 week timeline is standard for new and fresh designs. This is why it is important to have chemistry with your manufacturer to ease out disagreements and avoid miscommunication which could prolong the product design & development and manufacturing process.
Obviously, lead time can be reduced in the long run as soon as you and the manufacturer are already comfortable of the entire process. Everything will get efficient in time and both of you can work out on sub-processes which may cause a delay in your custom made clothing business. If you are able to maintain a 4-week lead time for the entire manufacturing process then you are on the right track. Further lowering such mark may already compensate the quality of your clothing products or custom shirts.
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