Garment Sampling, London
Garment Sampling in London, Built for Production
The stage where your concept becomes real, and where production is either set up to succeed or quietly set up to fail.
Garment sampling in London is where your concept takes physical shape, and at CMT Studio we build every sample so it can move smoothly into production. Not samples that only work in isolation.
Sampling starts from £40 per hour + VAT, with a rough estimate given before any work begins.
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Why a Sample That Only Works Once Is an Expensive Mistake
A beautiful sample isn't the same as a producible one. It happens more often than you'd think. A sample is made by one skilled person, using techniques and shortcuts that live only in their hands, and it photographs perfectly. Then production starts, and nobody can make it the same way twice.
The result is costly. Construction gets re-engineered mid-season, fabric consumption changes, and the price you quoted stockists no longer adds up. The sample did its job for the lookbook and failed at the one job that pays the bills.
A Sample Maker That Builds for Production, Not Just the Photo
As a sample maker, we treat every sample as the first garment of your production run. Construction methods are chosen because they can be repeated, whether your run is 4 pieces or 150. Finishes are chosen to suit your market level. Every decision is recorded, so what gets approved is exactly what gets made.
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This is where we work like an extension of your team rather than a supplier waiting for instructions. Planning a run afterwards? See small batch production. For bridal, where there's no minimum at all, see bridal manufacturing.
The Questions We Ask Before We Cut
Before sampling starts, we'll ask what you plan to retail the garment for, who your customer is, and a few other questions along those lines. It isn't small talk.
A garment retailing at £400 and one retailing at £4,000 can share a silhouette and need completely different finishes. French seams or overlocked? Hand-finished hem or machine? Fully lined or half? The answers shape the sample, the making time and ultimately your margin. Getting them right at the sample stage costs far less than changing them in production.
First Sample, Toile, Pre-Production Sample: What Each One Is For
Sampling isn't a single step. A toile, usually in calico or a similar test fabric, checks fit and proportion before your real fabric is touched. Our toiling and fitting service covers that stage in detail.
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The first sample is made in your chosen fabric, or something very close, to prove construction and finish. The pre-production sample comes last. It's made in the actual bulk fabric, just before production, because bulk cloth can behave differently from sample lengths. Skip it and you find the problem after cutting, not before.
What Garment Sampling Costs, and How We Estimate It
Sampling starts from £40 per hour + VAT. Before any project begins, we'll give you a rough estimate based on the design, the fabric and the construction involved.
Our estimates are deliberately conservative, essentially a worst-case figure, so the actual cost usually comes in at or below the quote. Occasionally something genuinely unexpected pushes it higher. Either way, it's adjusted and settled on the final invoice, never sprung on you as a surprise. And if we make a mistake, we correct it at no charge.
Need a Sample in 48 Hours?
Sometimes a buyer appointment moves forward or a shoot date lands early. When a single sample is genuinely urgent, we can usually turn it around in 48 hours, at a 25% surcharge on the standard rate.
Full collections need booking in advance, around six weeks typically, so the urgent route is best kept for the moments that really need it.
What to Bring to Your First Sampling Session
The more you bring, the faster we move. Ideally that's your pattern, your fabric and trims, and a tech pack. But you don't need everything in place to start. We work with clients at every stage of readiness.
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If you don't have a pattern yet, our sister studio, Pattern Cutting Studio, develops patterns from scratch. If you're stuck on something outside our scope, we'll match you with the right consultant. For a simple list to work through, our Discovery Session Preparation Checklist covers what to gather before the first conversation, and our guide to your first meeting with a manufacturer is worth ten minutes too.
Ready to Make Your First Sample?
Start with the quiz, or book a complimentary Discovery Call if you already know what you need.
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