How to Brief a Knitwear Factory for Your First Custom Sweater

Most first emails we receive look the same: a hand-drawn sketch, a target retail price, and a question — what would this cost in 30 pieces? That is a fair starting point, but it is not yet a brief. Without fibre, finished weight, size run, and what is in or out of the first order, a factory can only guess. Guessing produces a number that looks useful and a sample that does not match the drawing.

What a factory can work from — and what it cannot

A fashion sketch shows silhouette, sleeve volume, and mood. It does not show gauge, rib height, neck drop in centimetres, or grams of yarn. Those decide knitting time and cost. You do not need a full tech pack on day one. You do need enough decisions that two factories would quote the same garment, not two different ones.

• Enough to start: front / back / side views, intended fit, fibre family, target retail, one colour, a size plan
• Not enough to lock a price: a styled outfit photo, a moodboard, or "something like this, but softer"
• Better than a perfect drawing: a sweater you already own, with chest, length, and sleeve measurements written down

Write the silhouette in decisions, not adjectives

"Feminine but relaxed" is useful direction. The factory still has to turn it into numbers. Before sampling, decide the points that change the knit program — especially anything that looks small on a sketch and is expensive to reverse later.

• Fit: close, regular, or oversized — and whether the hem sits on the waist or the hip
• Neck: V-depth (moderate vs deep) and whether the back neck must cover a bra strap
• Sleeves: set-in or raglan; if balloon, how far the volume runs toward the wrist
• Ribs: cuff and hem height. A 2–3 cm cuff under a full balloon sleeve often stretches open; 4–5 cm usually holds better
• How it will be worn: over a skirt, tucked in, or both — that sets hem rib and length

Yarn and weight decide the quote more than the drawing

Unit cost in merino knitwear is mostly yarn plus knitting minutes. Yarn is bought by the kilo; a voluminous sleeve uses more metres than a straight sleeve at the same gauge. That is why a factory that quotes "around 120 yuan a sweater" is describing a familiar weight and construction — not every silhouette at every fibre mix.

• Name the fibre you can actually run at 30 pieces. Opening a new yarn lot for a 70% mohair blend usually leaves leftover cones and a higher cost
• Fine 70s Australian merino is a clean first-collection choice: soft, next-to-skin, and already in most serious programs
• Want a slight halo like brushed mohair? Ask whether finishing (a light brush or soft wash) can do that on merino before you change fibre
• Say whether the sweater is mid-weight for spring/autumn or heavier for winter. That is the fastest way to set finished grams
• One colour for the first run. Each yarn dye lot is a colour; splitting 30 pieces across two colours is two tiny programs

Size the first run so each size can actually be knitted

"15 pieces S–M and 15 pieces L–XL" sounds neat and usually means four sizes with a handful of units each. Knit programs are set per size. A workable first run is one colour and two or three sizes, with a real minimum per size — in our workshop, ten pieces. Thirty pieces then means three sizes of ten, not four sizes of seven.

• Prefer: one colour, three sizes (for example S / M / L at 10 each)
• Acceptable: one colour, two sizes (M and L) if you are still testing the silhouette
• Avoid: four sizes, two colours, or a graded run you cannot replenish
• If you are not a technician, ask the factory to draft the measurement chart and approve it before the proto

Separate sampling from bulk — and say how the goods should arrive

A proto is a development cost: pattern, knit program, and one garment. Bulk is a production cost. Mixing them into one "how much for 30" number hides both. For a first-time brand without a freight forwarder, door-to-door express (for example DHL) is usually simpler than a port term. The garment price, the freight, and destination VAT or duty should be three lines — not one all-in promise the factory cannot legally keep.

• Ask for a proto price (pattern + sample garment) and whether it credits against bulk
• Ask for a bulk estimate only after fibre, weight, and size split are agreed
• Say where the parcel should land. A personal address in the EU is fine for 30 pieces by express
• Expect freight to be confirmed after the carton is weighed, and paid before the courier collects
• Import VAT in the destination country is normally collected by the courier on delivery — it is not the factory's selling price

A first email that a factory can answer in one reply

You do not need a company registration to start a proto conversation. You do need a brief a technician can price. Send the list below. If anything is still open, say so — "please recommend weight and cuff height" is a brief; "make it beautiful" is not.

• Front, back, and side views — or photos of a reference garment
• Fit, neck, sleeve, cuff, and hem in the terms above, even if some are "please advise"
• Fibre you prefer, and whether you can stay with the factory's standard merino for the first run
• Target retail and the market (so the factory can sanity-check weight and cost)
• Total quantity, number of colours, and pieces per size
• Whether the sketch's skirt or trousers is styling only, or a second garment to develop
• Where the sample and the bulk should be delivered

How we work from a first brief

At Langfield we develop OEM sweaters in 100% fine 70s Australian merino — machine-washable and mercerized silk-finish. From an approved brief, a production-representative sample is typically five to seven working days. Pattern and sample fees are charged separately and credited toward bulk when you proceed. Trial runs start at 30 pieces per colour, with a ten-piece minimum per size. Final inspection follows AQL Level II, with major defects judged at 2.5. If you have a first sweater on paper and want it priced against a real knit program, send the brief — we will tell you what is missing before we quote a number that cannot hold.