The five checks before a uniform leaves our floor

A final check is the least glamorous part of making a garment and the one that decides whether the customer ever has to contact us again.

Ours has five steps, in this order.

The first is measurement. Every piece is laid flat and checked against the size sheet for chest, length and inseam. Not the average of the batch, each piece. A garment that is two centimetres narrow at the chest will be returned, and it is cheaper to find it here than after dispatch.

The second is the seam check. We pull at the stress points: the crotch, the armhole, the pocket corner and the waistband join. A missed bartack is invisible until the first week of wear and then it is a hole.

The third is the embellishment. If the order includes embroidery, the name or logo is checked for placement, alignment and thread colour against the approved sample. A name stitched five millimetres off centre is not a small thing to the person wearing it.

The fourth is colour. Pieces from the same order are held together under neutral light. If one panel reads differently from another, the garment does not ship.

The fifth is the count and the labelling. Every carton is counted against the order, and for institutional orders sorted by department so the stores officer is not sorting on arrival.

Each check takes seconds per garment. Together they catch almost everything that would come back.

If you want to know what a supplier actually does, ask about their final check. Anyone can describe their fabric. The final check is where the promises get tested.