The Effect of Sewing Parameters and Washing Cycles on Seam Performance of Single Jersey Fabrics

Abstract

Abstract The objective of this study is to improve the production performance of apparel companies by identifying the appropriate sewing parameters for specific knitted fabric groups. For this purpose, knitted fabrics of 100 % cotton, 100 % viscose, 100 % polyester, and their blends with elastane were produced with different masses. The specimens were sewn with different sewing parameters. Then, seam strength and seam pucker values of the sewn specimens were measured before and after ten repeated washing cycles. The data were used to analyze the factors affecting the seam quality. The findings of this study revealed that fabric composition is an important factor in the selection of sewing thread. For polyester-based samples, the highest seam strength values were measured for samples sewn with core-spun thread both before and after washing. At the same time, the cotton and viscose-based fabrics generally gave better results with spun polyester thread before washing. However, after washing, the highest seam strength values were measured for these samples sewn with mercerized cotton thread. In addition, mercerized cotton and polyester spun threads had lower pucker values before washing, regardless of fabric type. Mercerized cotton threads, on the other hand, were more prone to seam puckering after washing. It was also found that increasing needle size from 70 to 90 resulted in a decrease in seam strength. As stitch density increased, seam strength and seam pucker increased in the same way. However, the study showed no effect of needle size on seam pucker.