CMT Sewing Workshops in Turkey

CMT (cut, make, trim) workshops sew the fabric and trims you supply to your tech pack and deliver finished garments. In Turkish trade this is fason dikim (contract sewing) or kes-dik-teslim. The fee pays for the work, not the product; fabric and main materials usually belong to the buyer. This page helps buyers choose a workshop for their own brand or order.

What does it cover, and what does it not?

The workshop sews. Whether cutting, ironing, labeling and packing are in the quote differs by workshop. Not covered:

• Fabric and trims sourcing. For full-package production, where the factory also buys the fabric, see apparel manufacturers.
• Printing, embroidery and washing, done by separate companies under contract workshops and services.
• Cutting, if done separately: see fabric cutting workshops.

Ask a CMT workshop about product experience, capacity, samples and AQL

• Product experience: Knit (T-shirts, sweatshirts) and woven (shirts, pants) garments need different machines and skills. Ask for a similar reference sample.
• Minimum order (MOQ): Ask per style, color and size.
• Capacity and lead time: How many operators, how many pieces a day, what other jobs in the period? Lead time starts when your fabric reaches the workshop; get both dates in writing.
• Sampling and approval: Is the sample charged? The approved sample and the pre-production (PP) sample should be the reference for bulk production.
• Quality control: In-line inspection? Which AQL (acceptable quality limit) at delivery? Who pays for rework?
• Documents and compliance: Tax registration certificate, business license, social-security registration of workers. If your brand requires a social compliance audit (for example amfori BSCI or SMETA), ask for the report's scope, date and audited address.
• Subcontracting: Does it pass work to another workshop? Make written permission a condition.

In CMT sewing, sewing time, quantity and fabric set the price

Sewing time of the style (number and difficulty of operations), order quantity, fabric behavior (stretch or slippery fabric can slow the work), quality expectations, scope and lead-time pressure. We give no single figure. If a quote is very low, ask why and whether the scope differs.

Where are CMT workshops concentrated?

CMT workshops operate in many provinces, and we found no sourced data that counts them separately. The closest sourced data is the figure from Turkey's Social Security Institution (SGK) for all apparel manufacturing (NACE 14), which includes contract workshops. In 2025 SGK data, Istanbul held 62.2% of Turkey's 35,514 apparel manufacturing workplaces but only 35.1% of their 499,204 insured employees, while workplaces in Batman, Mardin, Diyarbakır and Adıyaman together employed 16.4% of that total (SGK Statistical Yearbook 2025, Table 1.11, in Turkish). That works out to roughly 8 insured employees per workplace in Istanbul against about 14 nationwide, so Istanbul's workplaces are smaller on average. The data covers only registered (compulsory, Article 4/1-a) insured employees, not informal work.

Export records are a second indicator, but they do not show location: of Turkey's roughly US$15.5 billion clothing exports in January-November 2025, about US$10.7 billion were registered in Istanbul, followed by İzmir (US$1.2 billion) and Denizli (US$964 million) (AKİB, December 2025, in Turkish). These figures show where exports are registered, not where workshops are; ask the firm for its production address.

Starting with CMT: three quotes, a fabric count, a small first lot

1. Ask at least three workshops for quotes on the same tech pack, quantity and scope; see how to choose a contract workshop.
2. Count the fabric as you deliver it to the workshop, and get a written record of what came in, what was cut, the wastage and the remainder.
3. Start small. For the steps of the process, see our contract garment manufacturing guide.