Tracksuit Manufacturing Process

Tracksuit production is usually described as making a jacket and making a pair of bottoms. In a factory it is really three jobs, because the third one is making sure the two garments still look like a set after they have been cut from different rolls, sewn on different lines and washed twenty times. This page covers the top, the bottom and the matching separately, because those are the three places where things go wrong.

Knitted or woven: two different tracksuits

The first decision changes everything downstream, including which machines the garment runs on.

Top: track jacket construction

A track jacket is a zipped top, and the zip changes the sequence. The front is two panels, the collar has to meet the closure cleanly, and the hem is interrupted.

• Collar. A stand-up funnel collar is the classic; a hood is the alternative and changes the pattern at the neck and upper back.
• Zip. Open-ended, full length, graded per size. Tape colour, teeth finish and puller are all visible and all specifiable. A chin guard at the top stops the slider touching the skin.
• Sleeve construction. Raglan for a sporting look and more shoulder movement, set-in for a more structured line. They are different patterns.
• Pockets. Side-seam pockets are simplest, welt pockets read cleaner, zipped pockets add a component and a construction step. Specify pocket bag fabric, since a heavy bag shows through a light shell.
• Cuffs and hem. Rib for a classic set, elasticated for a sportier one, plain for a modern minimal look.
• Colour blocking and piping. The characteristic tracksuit detail, and the one that creates alignment work: blocks and stripes must meet across the side seam and the shoulder.
• Lining. Only on woven shells, where it changes the whole assembly into a two-layer job.

Bottom: where the fit is actually decided

Tracksuit bottoms look simple and are the piece customers complain about, because waistband and ankle behaviour decide comfort.

• Waistband. Three common constructions: elastic inserted into a self-fabric casing, a ribbed waistband, or a wide flat elastic with a folded finish. Each feels different and each has a different recovery behaviour.
• Drawcord. Specify width, construction, tipping and finished length, and whether it exits through metal eyelets, stitched buttonholes or a gap in the waistband seam.
• Rise. The measurement that decides whether the bottoms sit at the waist or below it, and one of the most common fit complaints when it is left unspecified.
• Pockets. Side-seam, zipped side, or a back pocket. Pocket bag fabric matters again, because a heavy bag prints through a light leg.
• Ankle finish. A ribbed cuff for the classic look, an elasticated hem, a plain open hem for a straight leg, or a zipped ankle where the bottoms go over footwear.
• Gusset. A panel at the crotch that removes the four-seam intersection, improving both movement and durability. Worth specifying on anything that will be trained in.
• Leg shape. Straight, tapered or flared, with the taper measured at the knee and hem rather than described.

Making the set match

This is the part unique to tracksuit production, and it is a planning job rather than a sewing one.

• One dye lot for the programme. The top and the bottom should come from the same fabric lot wherever the quantities allow. Two lots dyed to the same standard will be close but not identical, and on a worn set the difference is visible at the waist.
• Different fabrics need a master reference. Where the jacket uses a shell and the bottom a knit, or where rib trims are involved, nominate one fabric as the master and approve the others against it under controlled lighting.
• Trims match too. Zip tape, cord, rib and piping are separate components with separate dyeings. Approve them against the approved body fabric rather than against a paper reference.
• Grading logic. Decide whether the set is sold as a fixed pair or as separates. If people can order a medium top with a large bottom, both must be graded and stocked independently, and packing has to reflect it.
• Panel and stripe registration. Where a stripe runs down the sleeve and the leg, agree how closely they need to correspond and check it on the approved sample.

The controls that hold a set together over repeat orders are the same as for any repeat programme: a sealed approved sample of both pieces, approved physical colour standards and fabric booked for the whole programme. See reorder consistency.

Decoration on tracksuits

• Embroidery. The standard for a chest logo on a track jacket, worked on the panel before assembly.
• Transfer printing. Common for leg and back graphics. On brushed polyester tricot the transfer settings must be tested first, because polyester is heat sensitive and an over-hot press can leave a glazed mark around the graphic.
• Sublimation. Only on polyester, and only where the fabric is light enough to print. Matching leggings are often produced alongside a set. It suits panelled sports sets and allows a design to cross seams, as covered in the sublimated jersey process.
• Colour blocking and piping. Branding built into the construction, durable and distinctive, with no decoration cost per piece.
• Custom zip pullers, cords and printed neck labels. Component-level branding that suits sets well.

Assembly sequence

1. 1Panels for both garments are cut, with colour blocks and stripes kept in register and the nap direction held on brushed fabric.
2. 2Panel decoration is applied where the method requires a flat surface.
3. 3Jacket: front panels prepared, shoulders joined, sleeves set, side seams closed, pockets constructed, collar attached, zip set into the facing, cuffs and hem finished.
4. 4Bottom: pockets constructed, inseam and side seams closed, gusset set where used, waistband assembled with elastic and drawcord, ankle finish applied.
5. 5Both garments are labelled, trimmed and pressed appropriately for the fabric.
6. 6Set matching is checked, then the pieces are packed as pairs or as separates according to the packing specification.

Quality control: tracksuit-specific checks

What to put in a tracksuit tech pack

• Fabric for each garment, with structure, composition and target weight, plus lining where used.
• Confirmation that top and bottom share a colour standard, and which fabric is the master reference.
• Jacket: collar type, zip specification, sleeve construction, pocket type, cuff and hem finish.
• Bottom: waistband construction, rise, drawcord specification, pocket type, ankle finish, gusset, leg shape with taper measurements.
• Colour blocking and piping, with panel dimensions and how blocks should meet at seams.
• Measurement charts with tolerances for both garments.
• Decoration: artwork, method, size and placement on each garment.
• Labels for both pieces, and back-neck finishing on the jacket.
• Packing: as sets or separates, bagging, and how sizes are marked.

Sampling

Sample and approve both garments together, on a body. A jacket that looks correct alone can sit badly against the bottoms, often because the jacket hem and the waistband meet awkwardly. Check the two pieces side by side under controlled lighting for shade, and check a size set if the range is wide, because the leg taper and sleeve length are where grading shows first.