Apparel Analysis Study Guide

Seams
- stitched joint resulting from sewing 2 or more pieces of fabric
- line of stitching joining edges in a single piece of fabric (dart)

Seam line
stitched line of a seam

Seam allowance
narrow width of fabric between seam line and cut edge of fabric

Seam type choice is based on
- Location of seam within garment
- End use
- Design
- Fit
- Fabric
- Care of garment
- Current fashion trends
- Cost

Width of seam allowance affects
- Strength
- Durability
- Appearance
- Comfort
- Cost

Superimposed seams (SS)
- MOST POPULAR
- Created by superimposing or stacking plies with edges evenly
- Sewing plies together near the edge
- Majority of seams are SS
- Plain seam, most common
- Ex. Side, waist, sleeve

Butterflied or busted seam
- Seam is pressed open
- Reduces bulk by distributing seam allowance to each side of the seam line

Superimposed seam enclosed (SSe)
- Plies sewn together, face-to-face
- Piles open, turned back, seam allowance, enclosed
- Occur only at edges, stitches not visible
- Necklines, collars, cuffs
- 2nd most common seam types

French seam (SSae)
Expensive, designer couture
- Prevents raveling
- Stronger than plain seam in non-slick fabrics
- Adds elegance
- Suitable for short, fairly straight seams

Lapped seams (LS)
- Constructed by joining all thicknesses from the face side
- Uses
- Patch pockets
- Decorative lapped seams
- Overlapping seam allowances of two or more plies
- Plies extending in opposite directions
- Always topstitched; looks more casual
- Special purpose seams
- Ex. Rain gear, waistline of underwear or sportswear
- Less bulky - good for non-raveling materials
- Ex. Leather and vinyl

Flat-felled seams (LSc)
- Most common type of lapped seam
- Are strong and durable
Ex. Jeans, work clothing
- Prevents raveling, raw edges enclosed
- Bulky and rigid in heavy fabric
- Difficult to alter
- Only used on straight or fairly straight edges

Bound seams (BS) aka Hong Kong seam
- Made by using fabric binding strips to encase raw edges
- Found only at edges
- Ex. Necklines, armholes, waistlines, hems
- Produces a neat finish to edges
- Prevents raveling
- Covers raw edge to help with comfort
- Seam binding provides high-quality finish
- Can be used when inside appearance important

Flat seams (FS)
- Joins fabrics along the edges, butting them together, or overlapping slightly
- A.k.a - butt seam or exposed seam
- Has a low-profile, stretch, comfortable to wear
- Used in cut-and-sew and full-fashioned knit garments
- Ex. Underwear, foundation garments, sweatshirts, children's wear)

How can bulk in a seam be minimized or reduced?
By distributing seam allowance to each side of the seam line

Folded hems
- Raw edge is turned under and stitched to garment
- Most frequently used method of finishing the lower edge of garments
- Higher-end garments may include interfacing in hem

Blind hems
- Hems attached to garment so that thread is not highly visible on outside of garment

Glued hems
- Adhesive used to attach hem to garment used when needle holes could weaken fabric
- Ex. Leather
- Or in low-price garment

Shirttail hems
- Narrow hem folded under twice and topstitched in place
- Used on garments with a lot of flare or unusual shape; gives a casual look, but could be included on eveningwear

Rolled hems
- Very narrow hem rolled up to enclose raw edge of hem
- Roll about 1/8 inch wide secured with topstitching, blind stitching, or over edging
- Used on edges of garments, ruffles, scarves, handkerchiefs, and lightweight fabrics

Facings
Any piece of fabric used to finish raw edge of garments

Plackets
- Finished garment opening that allows a body part to pass through for dressing and undressing
- Required when garment opening is closely fitted and does not stretch
- Applied at open necklines, waistlines, sleeves; uses a closure

Preliminary assembly steps
- Serging
- Constructing pockets
- Attaching labels
- Applying decorative stitching
- Ex. Embroidery
- Attaching trims
- Partially making zippers
- Making belt loops
- Applying interfacing and underlining

Parts assembly stage
Edges serged, labels attached (500 class stitches)

Panel assembly stage
Darts, pleats, elastic, tucks, ease, gathers, seams

Piece assembly stage
Collar set, sleeves set, etc.

Produce assembly and finishing stage
Buttons attached, buttonholes made, finish pressing, etc.

Patch pockets
- Constructed in preliminary assembly
- Outer edges turned under; no raw edges exposed
- Rounded - more difficult to make than square
- Mitered - more costly, but less bulk, raw edges do not show
- Square - easiest to make; should have sharp, even corners

What type seam is used to apply patch pockets?
Lapped seam

What stitch class is used to apply patch pockets?
300 Lockstitch

Patch pockets - underlying fabric
Large size or on tailor garments, or made from limp fabrics usually are lined and/or interfaced
Lining reduces raveling, makes inside smooth
Lining should not show at pocket edge

In-seam pockets
- Opening of pocket occurs where the garment seam is left partially unsewn
- Ends of opening reinforced with bar tacks
- Can also be inserted in side seam of skirts or pants

In-seam pocket bag
Functional part of pocket
Can be made in during preliminary assembly
Generous pocket bags indicate high quality
May be double-stitched and edge stitched for security, prevent raveling and holes

Slashed pockets
MOST EXPENSIVE
- Bound or faced slits within body of garment
- Pocket bag sewn behind slit, inside garment
- Most difficult to construct
- In RTW, produced partially or fully in preliminary stage
- Marks for high-quality
- Perfect rectangle
- Even lips
- Lips do not sag or gape

Cut and fold labels
- often used on center back
- stitched on two ends to facing or back panel
- ends are folded an caught securely in stitching (back tacking)

Single and loop labels
- used on tops and bottoms of garments
- sewn into seam as seam sewn
- loop - folded into loop
- single - no fold

Four side sew labels
- used primarily on shirts and outerwear
- applied by sewing all 4 sides

Mitered labels
- used primarily on tops and outerwear
- sewn into seam
- ends folded with mitered corner

Tagless labels
- transfer printed, digital printed, or thermo printed to center of garment
- smoother feel
- care instruction may be printed on label

Less expensive labels
- Sewn into seams
- Single-layer (may roll)
- Glued label
- Monofilament thread

More expensive labels
- Sewn to garment section (four side sew)
- Loops (less likely to roll)

Monogram
- Embroidery that forms initials of wearer's name
- Denotes ownership
- Gives an impression of custom-made

Hemstitching
- Ornamental stitching
- Fashion trend dependent
- Process
- Remove group of yarns
- Tie remaining yarns together with decorative stitches

Fagoting
- Ornamental stitching
- Fashion trend dependent
- Joins 2 separate plies of fabric

What stitch class is used to apply zippers?
300 and 400
- hand-picked 200 class

Slot zippers
- Centered application
- Two visible rows of topstitching on outside of garments
- Folded seam edges abutted to cover sipper
- Designer may want zipper to be exposed

Lapped zippers
- Only one line of visible stitching on outside
- Folded seam edge conceals zipper closure
- Used at center front or center back and for most side openings

Fly front zippers
- Form of lapped zipper
- One side of zipper stitched to a facing, facing topstitched to garment
- Width of facing lends support and helps zipper withstand stress
- Used in jeans, pants, casual skirts

Invisible zippers
- Specially designed zippers required
- No stitching lines visible on outside of garment
- Looks like plain seam, if correctly inserted
- Not common in low-price garments

What is used to reinforce high stress areas in a garment?
Rivets and bar tacks

Bar tack
- Reinforcement consisting of several adjacent or overlapping zigzag stitches
- Helps absorb stress of use
- Ex. Slipping pants on and off

Belt loops
- Narrow fabric strips or thread chains at waistline to keep belts in positions
- Wide enough to accommodate belt width
- Should be located at center back to prevent riding up (at a minimum)

Miscellaneous loops
- Loops may be used to hang a garment when it is not being worn
- Lingerie strap keepers - hold bra and slip straps in place

Locker loop
- Attached to yoke seam on back of shirt; formerly functional, only decorative now

Hanger loop
- Help secure women's garments on hanger during storage
- moderate to high in price

Wrist loop
- Attached to trains of bridal gowns

Keeper loop
- Loop on back of men's neckties

Notches
- Small slits or wedges cut into seam allowance
- Key points for matching panels
- Patterned fabric
- The larger the repeat or pattern, the more fabric needed

Set-in sleeve
- Fits body more closely than other sleeve types
- Set-in the round
- Comfortable
- More expertise needed and costly
- Set-in flat
- Less expensive
- One continuous seam to join sleeve and side seams
- Two piece sleeve
- Two portions: main sleeve and a narrow, shaped piece
- Costly, improved fit

Raglan sleeve
- Diagonal seam from underarm to neckline of garment
- Diagonal seam attaches tapered sleeve panel to body of garment
- Can be set in round or flat

Kimono sleeve
- Dolman is a variation
- Simplest to construct because cut as one with the body of garment
- Labor costs minimized
- Less effective use of fabric; more waste possible

Gusset
- Increases roominess and comfort
- Requires extra material and skilled labor to set into seam
- Considered mark of quality

Single layer collars
- Must have adequate body to lie smoothly
- Ex. Lace or knit collars on polo-style shirts
- Low production cost, but raw martials may be expensive

One-piece collar - Folded
- Operator fold single piece of fabric in half lengthwise and sew ends together
- Simple, inexpensive
- Ex. Sportswear, sleepwear in low price lines
- Uncommon because outer edge is folded and cannot be shaped
- Trims (lace, piping) cannot be inserted into folded edge

Two-piece collar
- Most common collars
- Two layers of shell fabric with interfacing between the plies (upper and under collar)
- Two-piece may be more fabric efficient than one-piece collar; two small pieces vs. 1 large piece

Buff-edge jacket
- Collars used on men's suit jackets and sports jackets
- Under collar made of felt
- Pad-stitching also used to shape collar

Three-piece collar
- Upper collar, under collar, made of two halves with a seam in the center
- Under collar pieces cut on bias
- Interfacing, if woven, cut in two piece and on bias
- Require more fabric and labor = high-end garments

Straight waistbands
- Usually 1-1/2' in width
- Wider than 2' stand away from body; detract from appearance, tend to roll up, feel uncomfortable
- Cut from lengthwise grain of fabric going around body
- Constructed from 1 or 2 pieces

Contour waistbands
- Shaped to fit contours of body
- Generally required when waistband is lower than natural waistline
- More material is needed
- More labor needed to construct
- Need stabilizer as bias-cut areas may stretch out

Line-to-the-edge (LTTE) lining
- Lining is an exact duplicate of garment
- Bound or finished with an enclosed seam joining garment of lining

Ease pleats
- Should be added to linings of jackets and coats
- Vertical ease pleats provide adequate room for movement across back and shoulders
- Help absorb stress of movement, preventing distortion of garment

Applying buttons
- Most common type of closure
- Should be positioned at each horizontal stress point; bust/chest, waist and hip levels
- cross-stitching is strongest method for sewing 4-eyed button

Finish pressing or off pressing
- Marks of quality are overall smoothness
- Absence of shine, scorching, melting, clamp marks and water marks