Alternative Methods of Fabric Joining

Alternative Methods of Fabric Joining

Noor Ahmed Raaz
Specialized in Apparel Manufacturing
Owner and Editor in Chief Textile Merchandising
Asst. Prof., Department of Textile Engineering
Atish Dipankar University of Science & Technology
Email: textilemerchandising1@gmail.com

 

 

Alternative Methods:

The dominant process in the assembly of garments is sewing, which is done by needle and thread for joining of fabrics. The methods/systems/processes that have been developed as alternatives to sewing are known as ‘alternative methods of joining. Now I would like to discuss alternative methods of joining fabric and their types.

Types of Alternative Methods in the Apparel Industry:

The following are the available alternative methods of joining-

1. Fusing
2. Welding and Adhesives
3. Moulding

1. Fusing:

Fusing is the most widely used system, which is mostly used in the case of joining interlinings. The attachment of interlinings by sewing on large parts of some garments, such as jacket fronts, is expensive. In this case fusing is used instead of sewing in order to reduce some cost. Fusing is the popular and time-consuming joining process in the apparel industry. Which is mostly used for joining interlining in garments.

2. Welding and Adhesives:

Welding is the procedure of apparel industry where, include the sealing composed of thermoplastic materials but the heat is not applied so much. In this process fabrics are joined in a limited quantity. Two or more fabric plies which have made by at least 65% thermoplastic materials can be attached by providing heat and pressure along the seam line.

Adhesive means a substance that is initially a ‘sticky’ fluid than can flow over a substrate, and then it hardens or solidifies to form a bond. The main way of achieving the hardening process is polymerization, whereby time, heat, pressure or light leads to chemical changes in the adhesive.

3. Moulding:

By moulding process the essential definite shape of garments is found without making seam. Generally, moulding is done in case of knitted fabrics, because it is easy to stretch or shrink the fabrics.

The shape is given to the fabrics by stretching or shrinking and the entered thermoplastic fibers are softening by applying heat. Then the temperature is reduced to be normal, as a result, the new shape or area of fabrics are made.