Page 202 - Industrial Cutting of Textile Materials

12
Fusing of cut textile components

12.1 Introduction

Fusing is a process in which cut components, separate parts of a lay (blocks of compo-
nents), or a whole roll of fabric is fused with interlinings that are coated with thermo-
plastic resin by the application of heat and pressure over a controlled period of time.
Fusing certain components creates strength and stability and improves the shape and
crease resistance of a garment.
Garment components that are traditionally fused are as follows:
Skirts and trousers: waistbands, overlap, and underlap;
●
Blouses, shirts, and dresses: collars, facings, and cuffs;
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Jackets and coats: fronts, facings, collars, pocket flaps, pocket openings, etc.
●
In fusing blouse and dress components, (depending on the face fabric qualities)
only one type of interlining is used. Two types are used in fusing the components of
skirts and trousers: softer interlining to allow for the fastener and harder and thicker
interlining for the waistband. Three or more interlinings may be used for jackets, ac-
cording to the size and function of the face fabric components. For example, the fronts
and facings of ladies' jackets are fused with hard interlining, whilst the collars, the
front of armholes, and the pocket openings use softer interlining. The softest interlin-
ing is used for the upper part of the backs, the back of armholes, the sleeves, and the
bottoms of jackets. At least 90% of fusing is carried out on small components such as
cuffs, collars, waistbands, belts, epaulettes, and plackets.

12.2 The general characteristic of interlinings

The fusible interlining is a base fabric with a deposit of thermoplastic adhesive glue
(usually on one surface), which can be bonded to another fabric by the application
of heat and pressure. The base fabric can be nonwoven, woven, knitted, or another
similar textile fabric. Woven fabrics are composed of threads/yarns in a warp and weft
orientation; knitted fabrics are composed of threads/yarns that are joined into a fabric
by means of machine binding. Nonwoven fabrics are composed of individual fibres
that are thermally, mechanically, or chemically bonded. In certain instances, nonwo-
ven interlining may be stitched to reduce its flexibility.
Base fabric may be produced from different types of fibres, polyester, polyamide,
rayon, viscose, and cotton and in combination with polyester, rayon, viscose, wool,
acrylic (as the smallest component), and other blends. Adhesive substance on the sur-
face of the base fabric may be fixed as a scattered or dotted coating. In scatter coating,
the adhesive is dispersed randomly on the base fabric. In dot coating, the adhesive is

Industrial Cutting of Textile Materials. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-102122-4.00012-3
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