Lesson 5

CLOTHING AFTER OWN CHOICE

T-shirt

T-shirts are most popular garments in the world worn as outerwear or underwear. Since their creation in 1920 T-shirts are available in a variety of colours, patterns, and styles, such as the standard crew neck and V-neck, as well as tank tops and scoop necks. T-shirt sleeves may be short or long, capped, yoked, or raglan. Additional features include pockets and decorative trim. T-shirts are also often customised with different prints featuring political slogans, humour, art, sports, as well as famous people and places. T-shirts can be worn by anyone in any size, from infants to seniors.

Raw materials

The majority of T-shirts are made of 100% cotton, polyester, or a cotton/polyester blend. Environmentally conscious manufacturers may use organically grown cotton and natural dyes. Stretchable T-shirts are made of knit fabrics, especially jerseys, rib knits, and interlock rib knits, which consist of two ribbed fabrics that are joined together. Jerseys are most frequently used since they are versatile, comfortable, and relatively inexpensive. They also are a popular material for applying screen prints and heat transfers. Some jerseys come in tubular form, simplifying the production process by reducing the number of seams. Rib knit fabrics are often used when a snugger fit is desired. Many higher quality T-shirts are made of durable interlock rib knit fabrics.

Neckbands add support to the garment and give the neckline of the T-shirt a more finished look. Neckbands are generally 1x1 rib knits, although heavier fabrics or higher quality T-shirts may require 2x2 rib knits. Neckband fabrics may be tubed rib knits of specific widths, or flat fabric that must be seamed. Additional T-shirt materials include tape or seam binding, made of a twill or another stiff fabric. Binding reinforces the neckline and shoulder seams and by covering the seams, it protects them from ripping apart under tension. Alternatively, elastic may be used at the shoulder seams so they remain flexible.

Thread is of course an essential element in sewing any garment. Several types and colours of thread may be used to make a single T-shirt. Some manufacturers use white thread for seams on all their shirts, regardless of colour, thus eliminating the extra labour involved in changing the thread. Visible top-stitching is done with a colour of thread that blends with the fabric. Colourless, or mono-filament  thread could be used for hems of any colour fabric, again eliminating the need to change thread often, though mono-filament thread may irritate the skin somewhat. Finally, optional decorative features may include trim, such as braiding, contrasting cuffs, appliqués, and heat transfer or screen print designs.

The manufacturing process of a T-shirt

Making T-shirts is a fairly simple and largely automated process. Specially designed machines integrate cutting, assembling, and stitching for the most efficient operations.

1.    Styling

The T-shirt style is designed and the dimensions are transferred to patterns. Adjustments are made for size differences and stylistic preferences.

2.    Cutting

The T-shirt sections are cut to the dimensions of the patterns. The pieces consist of a tubed body, or separate front and back sections, and sleeves.

3.    Assembling the front and back

For fabric that is not tubed, the separate pieces for the front and back sections must be stitched together at the sides. They are joined at the seam lines to form a simple, narrow, superimposed seam and stitched together using an overedge stitch. Care must be taken to avoid a needle cutting the yarn of the fabric, which can lead to tears in the garment.

4.    Assembling the sleeves

a)  The hems of sleeves are generally finished before they are fitted into the garment, since it is easier to hem the fabric while it is flat. An automated system moves the sleeves to the sewing head by conveyor. The edge may be finished by folding it over, forming the hem and stitching, or by applying a band. The band may be attached as a superimposed seam or folded over the edge as binding.

b)  If the T-shirt body is tubular, the sleeve material is first sewn together, and then set into the garment. Alternatively, if the T-shirt is "cut and sewn," the unseamed sleeve is set into place. Later during the final stage of sewing the shirt, the sleeve and side seams are sewn in one action.

5.    Stitching the hem

The garment hem is commonly sewn with an over-edge stitch, resulting in a flexible hem. The tension of the stitch should be loose enough to allow stretching the garment without tearing the fabric.

6.    Stitching the shoulder seams

Generally, shoulder seams require a simple superimposed seam. Higher quality T-shirt manufacturers may reinforce seams with tape or elastic. Depending on the style of the T-shirt, the seams at the shoulder may be completed before or after the neckband is attached. For instance, if a tubular neckband is to be applied, the shoulder seams must first be closed.

7.    Attaching the neckband

For crew neck shirts, the neck edge should be slightly shorter in circumference than the outer edge where it is attached to the garment. Thus, the neckband must be stretched just the right amount to prevent bulging. Tubular neckbands are applied manually. The bands are folded, wrong sides together, stretched slightly, and aligned with the neckline. The superimposed seam is stitched with an over-edge stitch.
Bound seams are finished with a cover stitch and are easy to achieve. Bound seams may be used on a variety of neckline styles. The process entails feeding ribbed fabric through machines which fold the fabric and apply tension to it.

Some neckbands on lower-priced shirts are attached separately to the front and back necklines of the garment. Thus when the shoulder seams are stitched, seams are visible on the neckband.

V-necks require the extra step of either lapping or mitering the neckband. In the former process, one side is folded over the other. A mitered seam is more complex, requiring an operator to overlap the band accurately and stitch the band at centre front. An easier method for a V-neck look is to attach the band to the neckline and then sew a tuck to form a V.

8.    Finishing the neckline

Necklines with superimposed seams may be taped, so that the shirt is stronger and more comfortable. Tape may be extended across the back and over the shoulder seams to reinforce this area as well and to flatten the seam. The seam is then cover stitched or top stitched.

9.    Label setting

One or more labels are usually attached at the back of the neckline. Labels provide information about the manufacturer, size, fabric content, and washing instructions.

10.  Optional features

Some T-shirts will have trim or screen prints added for decorative purposes.

11.  Finishing operations

a)  T-shirts are inspected for flaws in the fabric, stitching, and thread.

b)  High-quality T-shirts may be pressed through steam tunnels before they are packaged. Packaging depends on the type of T-shirt and the intended distribution outlet. For underwear, the shirts are folded and packaged in pre-printed bags, usually of clear plastic, that list information about the product. Shirts may be boarded, or folded around a piece of cardboard, so that they maintain their shape during shipping and on the shelf. Finally, they are placed into boxes by the dozen or half-dozen.

Source: http://www.enotes.com/t-shirt-reference/t-shirt

MEN'S T-SHIRT

Description of the style

Men's blue T-shirt with a print at the front.

Composition

100% cotton

Cloth construction

The T-shirt material is weft knitted. It is a plain, single jersey. It's a structure made with only a single set of needles. The two sides of the fabric have a different appearance. One side shows only face loops, the other side only back loops. It has relatively small extensibility in the width and tends to curl at the edges.

Plain jersey is used in different weights for shirts, blouses, T-shirts and underwear.

T-shirt fabric is knitted on Circular knitting machine. This is what makes it possible to have tubular T-shirts or without side seams. Tubular T-shirts are not very popular, since they could lose shape after wash, unless knitted in the right gauge & weight, using good quality yarn. Maintaining the exact measurements also is an issue of T-shirts with seamless sides.

Cotton

Properties of the cotton fibres are available for the reference in our previous posts.

Printing method 

There are several printing techniques, and each of them is suitable for a certain business strategy.

- screen printing

- direct to garment printing

- heat-press transfer printing

- heat transfer vinyl printing

- dye sublimation printing

The printing method used for this particular T-shirt was screen printing. It is the most common printing technique on the high street. This is because the production costs for high volumes of screen printed T-shirts is very low. Designs are printed on to the T-shirt with plasticol inks (which give a slightly coarse and rubbery texture) and are sealed by a process called heat tunnel curing. The problem with screen printing is that each of the colours needs to be printed on to the T-shirt separately, using its own unique screen.

Weight of the fabric

150g/m2 or 4.40 oz

From a customers point of view
We decided to look at the T-shirt from the perspective of a customer.
Peter is an 17 years old student, who just moved out from home. He is an active young men, who plays football and likes meeting with friends. His mother used to do his laundry, so he doesn't really know the rules. He simply puts all his dirty clothes in the washing machine without looking at care labels.
That is why we wanted to see what will happen to the T-shirt while being used by Peter.

TESTING

Colour fastness to washing DS/EN ISO 105-C06:2010

We decided to run the test on the T-shirt to check it's colour fastness to washing. As we agreed that the person wearing this T-shirt would be a young men who just moved out from home, he probably doesn't know the rules for washing and doesn't check care label instructions. He might just put the T-shirt with his bedclothes . That is why we washed the sample in 60° for 30 minutes and with a bleaching agent. After that we used the ISO 105-A03 light grey scale to asses the sample.

Luckily for him, nothing has changed. The fabric didn't influence any of the materials on the sample.

Shrinkage test DS/EN ISO 6330:2012

When washing in the machine we used the 2A washing procedure with 2+/- 0,1. With a load of 5 kg. 

We washed and tumble dried the top, to find out if there was a dimensional change. After washing and drying we assessed the top again using DS/EN ISO 5077:2008.

Colour fastness to perspiration test DS/EN ISO 105-E04:2009

In order to check how Peter's perspiration could influence the colour of his T-shirt we performed colour fastness to perspiration test where we soaked two pieces of fabric in acid solution and alkaline solution. After that we put them in the oven for 4 hours at 37°. As seen on the results none of the fabrics were influenced by the test. The T-shirt has a very good colour fastness to perspiration.

Bursting strength test DS/EN ISO 13938-1:1999

We did a bursting test to see how must it would take until the t-shirt burst. The pressure was 191.8 kPa, the distension was 37.7 mm and the time was 19.1 seconds. 

Appliqué test by using the bursting strength machine with the extension and recovery program

To find out if the print on the front of the t-shirt would stay we used the bursting strength machine. We put the t-shirt in the machine and added air and took the air out again before it burst. The extension and the recovery test was done 5 times. When looking at the print afterwards we found out that nothing really happened with it, except the t-shirt had extended. These were the results from the test.