If we've to form an inventory of things “everyone working in apparel industry must definitely know” the primary point will always be ” FABRIC – The Raw material”.
Textile in itself may be a very vast field but during this article we are only getting to mention fabric parameters that affect apparel production industrially like sort of fabric , CSV Grades, Repeat Variation , Shrinkage, Grain line etc. this text will form the bottom for upcoming articles where we'll be talking about markers ,cut plans ,cutting etc.
Woven Fabric
Woven – woven fabrics are produced by Interlacement of yarns, perpendicular yarns cross over and under one another , in repetitive manner to make the material as shown in figure below. Shirts and denims are made from woven fabric.
Warp – Warp is that the set of lengthwise yarns that are stretched over the frame of the loom in such how that a filling yarn are often inserted between them to make the weave.
Weft – The yarns that are inserted between the warp are called Weft. they're sometimes also referred as filler.
Arrangement of warp and weft to supply designs called weave. And this arrangement are often varied to offer us many various sorts of weave.
The basic weaves are:
A. Plain
B. Twill
C. Satin and sateen
Woven Fabric parameters that affects stitching
1. Selvedge – In woven fabric, Selvedge is that the edge of the material running parallel to the warp. it's formed because the weft thread returns back at the top to form next filling between the warp. Since one weft yarn loops to and fro over and under the warp, the material doesn't fray from the selvedge. it's interesting to understand that that the word selvedge has been derived from ‘Self – Edge’.
2. Grain line – Grain line refers to the direction during which a pattern is placed on the material . Generally Grain line is placed parallel to selvedge but in some cases to change the behaviour of cloth or visual appearance of a print or pattern, designers may change direction of grain line.
Grain line should be parallel to selvedge because warp thread is stronger and is kept stretched during weaving so it's least likely to stretch therefore if fabric is cut during this direction the dimensional stability of the garment are going to be better and garment parts won't twist.
To identify the grain line during a fabric, stretch the material in both directions, the direction which stretches less is that the warp and hence it's the grain line. Bias grain line (45 degrees) stretches the foremost and is employed in garment parts where high stretch is required. this text on cutting class beautifully explains Grain line intimately . link
3. Shrinkage – Fabric features a tendency to shrink or expand after washing. Industrially, shrinkage is employed to ask shrinkage also as expansion. it's measured in percentage where ‘-‘sign refers to shrinkage and ‘+’ sign refers to expansion. Fabric shrinks/expands in lengthwise also as breadthwise direction hence it's measured as warp shrinkage (warpwise) and weft shrinkage (weftwise).
For example if a cloth has warp shrinkage = +2% and weft shrinkage = -2% meaning that the garment will expand II Chronicles in warp direction and Shrink II Chronicles in weft direction(image 2).
How does shrinkage affect garment manufacturing and stitching?
It is a known incontrovertible fact that that buyer specifies measurements during which a garment of particular size has got to be made. If shrinkage isn't taken into consideration, it's likely that the garment will fall out of measurement tolerance. to make sure that the garment doesn't fall out of measurement patterns are modified supported the warp and weft shrinkage.
4. CSV (Centre to Selvedge variation)– CSV stands for centre to selvedge variation. For solid fabrics Shade of the material varies between centre and selvedge. This variation is named Centre to selvedge variation(image 3).
Fabric shade is compared on a grayscale. There are 10 grades of shade variation on grayscale except for garment production fabric are often classified in just 3 grades, which are :
Grade 4
Grade 3 to 4
Grade 3
Where grade 4 means very minimal variation and grade 3 means maximum shade variation. Grades greater than 4 isn't produced and lesser than 3 is rejected for possessing more shade variation.
Note that only solid fabrics will have CSV variations since checks and stripes are yarn dyed CSV won't be exhibited by them.
How CSV Grade affect Garment manufacturing
Depending upon the grade the markers are altered to make sure that each one parts one garment are cut on minimum shade variation.
5. Repeat Variation – The pattern or repeat is that the smallest unit of the weave which when repeated will produce the planning required within the fabric. the dimensions of the repeat varies in lengthwise and breadthwise direction this is often called as repeat variation. it's measured by a measuring tape and therefore the unit of measure is millimetres.
If the repeat size in any fabric is 2 mm the amount of repeats contained in 10 mm should be 5 but it'll vary this difference is named repeat variation.
6. Bowing: Bowing refers to a state in fabric where the ends of weft(filling) yarns are straight to every other but is drawn away at the centre forming a bow like structure. it's measured as maximum displacement of weft yarn from being during a line because the ends.
7. Skewing: When the weft thread aren't straight but slanted then the material is named be skewed.
How to measure bowing and skewing:
Fraying: Unravelling of yarns from the weave is named is named fraying. Fraying fabric is handled by factories by anti- fray sprays.
Also Read.1. What is Manufacturing Process of Denim Garments ?