Engineering Apparel Fabrics and Garments

J Fan, L Hunter

• Publisher: Woodhead Publishing
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9781845691349
• eBook ISBN: 9781845696443
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Materials Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

As consumer demands for specific attributes in their textiles increase and global competition intensifies, it is important that the industry finds ways of engineering certain performance requirements into textiles and apparel. This book reviews how fabrics and garments can be engineered to meet technical performance and other characteristics required for the specific end-use.Chapters begin with fabric and garment handle and making – up performance, followed by wear appearance issues, such as wrinkling, pilling and bagging. Further chapters include fabric and garment drape, durability related issues, as well as physiological and psychological comfort. Key topics of fire retardancy, waterproofing, breathability and ultraviolet protection are also discussed.Written by two highly distinguished authors, this is an invaluable book for a wide range of readers in the textile and apparel industries, ranging from textile and garment manufacturers, designers, researchers, developers to buyers. - Reviews the engineering of fabrics to meet technical performance requirements for specific end-use - Chapters examine various wear appearance issues such as wrinkling, bagging and fabric and garment drape - Discusses durability related issues including fire retardancy and waterproofing as well as psychological and physiological fabric comfort

1

Handle and making-up performance of fabrics and garments

L. Hunter; E.L. Hunter

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the use of Fabric Objective Measurement (FOM) in characterising fabric handle and garment making-up performance. It discusses the development of FOM and the influence of changes in fibre, yarn and fabric properties, as well as that of dyeing and finishing on handle and making-up performance. Reference and benchmark values for the various parameters are also given.

Key words

Fabric Objective Measurement (FOM)

fabric handle

garment making-up performance

Kawabata system

FAST system

1.1 Introduction

Handle and making-up performance (tailorability) are interrelated and represent key quality parameters for clothing manufacturers and consumers, handle (or hand) being defined¹ as ‘the subjective assessment of a textile material obtained from the sense of touch’. Consumers expect their clothing to perform to their satisfaction in terms of handle (feel), appearance, fit and comfort, when new and for an acceptable wear period thereafter. Clothing manufacturers require that the fabric is easy to tailor, passes through the making-up (garment manufacturing) process easily and without undue problems and that the finished garment has a good appearance (see Table 1.1²).

Table 1.1

Assessment of fabric performance in apparel.

For consumer
Aesthetic impression	Visual	colour and pattern *drape
	Tactile	*feel
	Audible	rustle etc.
Cover	Light transmission *body shape (obscure or enhance)
Comfort	Permeability Skin contact	heat, moisture, air *feel (local and distributed)
Strength and durability	Breakage and loss of fibre *damage-prone sharp folds
Appearance retention	*Wrinkling and creasing change of aesthetics ease-of-care
For clothing manufacturer
Handling characteristics	*Laying down, cutting, *transporting, *sewing manipulation, needle and stitch action, *forming and pressing

Source: Hearle, 1993²

^* All involve complex buckling of fabrics related to fabric hand

Traditionally, the quality of fabrics and ‘fitness for purpose’, including their performance during making-up (tailoring) and in the garment, were assessed subjectively in terms of the fabric handle (also referred to as fabric hand), by experts in the clothing industry (see Fig. 1.1³ In assessing the fabric, these experts used sensory characteristics, such as surface friction, bending stiffness, compression, thickness and small-scale extension and shear, all of which play a role in determining handle and garment making-up and appearance during wear. Such experts, who were frequently highly skilled, assessed the fabrics using their hands to perform certain physical actions on the fabric, such as rubbing, bending, shearing and extension (stretching). They expressed what they felt (i.e. their perceptions) in terms of subjective sensations, such as stiffness, limpness, hardness, softness, fullness, smoothness and roughness, which then formed the basis for the fabric selection.⁴ Because of the way this was assessed, i.e. by tactile/touch/feel, and the terminology used, i.e. ‘fabric handle or hand’, it is sometimes incorrectly ...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright page
• Author contact details
• Woodhead Publishing in Textiles
• Preface
• 1: Handle and making-up performance of fabrics and garments
• 2: Wrinkling of fabrics and garments
• 3: Pilling of fabrics and garments
• 4: Bagging of fabrics and garments
• 5: Fabric and garment drape
• 6: Appearance issues in garment processing
• 7: Durability of fabrics and garments
• 8: Physiological comfort of fabrics and garments
• 9: Psychological comfort of fabrics and garments
• 10: Flammability of fabrics and garments
• 11: Waterproofing and breathability of fabrics and garments
• 12: Ultraviolet protection of fabrics and garments
• 13: Laundry performance of fabrics and garments
• 14: Applications of artificial intelligence in fabric and garment engineering
• Index