Steps to Production Series - Care Labels

Fittings are an essential step in your launching process. If you skip fittings and go directly to production you are running the risk of sitting on an entire production that doesn’t fit your customers. In this blog post I will run you through how to perform a proper fitting and what needs to happen during the process.

Now that you have picked your fabric and linings, you don’t want to forget to order your care labels. It is also important to have your logo labels and size labels sewn into your samples to make a perfect sew-by-sample to be used later when doing your production, so order those too!  You will be using your samples to do photoshoots, and product photography so having all your labels in the garment is ideal! 

Care labels do not have to be fancy. If you look in your closet, most care labels are simple black and white on satin. If you are doing activewear or a fashion line for anyone with sensitive skin, you should consider a heat transfer care label or screen print the label directly on the fabric to avoid anything sewn in. 

When it comes to the care label you must make sure you include the following information: 

Country of Origin

This is specific to where your actual garments are made. If you are making your garments domestically but the fabric is imported what you would say is “Made in the USA from imported fabric” 

Fabric Content

You will need to specify your self fabric, contrast, and linings separately here. Your self fabric is the fabric you use most of, the contrast is any other fabric used in your garment (listing all fabrics), and the lining is all fabric used on the insides of your garment. Here is an example:

Self 60% cotton

Contrast 40% wool

Lining 100% polyester

Wash Instructions

This is simple in description of the washing instructions. Is your garment machine washable, can you lay flat to dry? Does the garment need to be hand washed? Does the garment need to be dry cleaned? Within the washing instructions part of the care label this is where symbols can be utilized. The symbols can help summarize your washing instructions to make it easier for the reader to understand. For reference here is what some of the washing instruction symbols mean:

Bet you learned something here! 

Clients ask me who in the product development process would be the point person to give them proper instructions to care for the garment. While fabric vendors sometimes will give you directions on how to care for their fabrics, it could be more complex than that. If you look at the above example, you’ll see that cotton can be machine washed, while wool can not. This garment would not be machine washed, and would need to be possibly hand washed, or dry cleaned. So if you are mixing different fabrics, you will have to determine the washing instructions on your own. When you have a sample created, tested it, washed it in the machine, and sent it to the dry cleaner (yes, this might ruin the sample but better to know now then have your customer buy it and find out then).

You will also want to be testing your garment for shrinkage and bleeding. If you have a white shirt and red buttons, those buttons might bleed on to the white. Or a contrast color might bleed or shrink differently than other fabrics. Like if you have a lined jacket and when washed the lining shrinks but the shell doesn’t. This would mean the jacket would no longer lay right. There are solutions for this, (pre-washing the lining, using alternate dying processes for buttons, etc.) but all testing needs to be done to the garment before it hits the market. There is nothing worse than  buying something that is ruined after the first wash, so while it can be heartbreaking to find out your buttons bleed, it’s much better to find out now and fix the problem and keep moving! 

RN number

What is an RN number? A registered identification number, or RN, is a number issued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to a business residing in the U.S. that is engaged in the manufacture, importing, distribution, or sale of textile, wool, or fur products. 

It basically is a number registered to you as a business owner. It is especially important if you plan to export your goods for customs. This number can be  can be easily obtained through the Federal Commission Trade website HERE.When they ask what type of business you are, always say “manufacturing” even though you yourself are not a factory. When owning a clothing line you are always considered in the manufacturing field.  

This number should only take a few days to obtain. If it doesn’t, you may have filled something out wrong, best to give them a call and get it straightened out.  

If you are ever in question of your care label, just look through your clothing! All garments are required to have care information either sewn in on a label or in a heat transfer/screen print somewhere, so it’s not hard to find references. 

Interested in hiring us for care labels and sampling? V.mora offers a wide range of Sample Making services. From the initial sketch to the first sample: we create patterns and samples, correct the fit, adjust design details and make improvements, then ensure that patterns are production-ready by digitizing and grading them to specific sizes, as well as create care labels. V.Mora ensures a perfect production-ready sample. Our team can help you with all the steps to get your product through development in as little as three months.

Steps for the Product Development

• Sourcing 

• Technical sketches 

• Pattern Making

• Prototype making 

• Sample Making

• Fittings 

• Digitizing and Grading

• Marker Making

• Manufacturing

For product development services, please email vmorainquiry@vmora.com