Page 24 - Industrial Cutting of Textile Materials

Initial preparation and quality control of textile materials in textile cutting operations 11

during fabric winding (e.g. holes). It is not possible to describe or predict every type of
fault as the variety of textile materials is very large and fabric manufacturing processes
differ. Some of the most important details are discussed below.

2.6.1 Irregularities in fabric width
One of the problems that seriously affect the cutting process is irregular width within
the same fabric roll or in different rolls of a particular fabric and colour. The admis-
sible irregularity of fabric width is always shown on the marking at the point of sale.
Manufacturers usually allow irregularities of ±2–5 cm width. However, it is not un-
usual to find that the fabric width in one or more rolls is narrower than the acceptable
irregularity. In this kind of situation, a fabric buyer has the problem of not being able
to produce the planned number of garments. The cutting process is also impeded if,
the markers prepared in advance, are wider than the narrowest part of the fabric. The
difference of width may be very slight but even a difference as little as a couple of
centimetres cannot be ignored.
It may be possible to move the pattern pieces in the marker closer, and this is done
by direct manual correction of the marker on a spreading table. Additional time has
to be spent to perform these corrections. If the pattern pieces in the marker cannot be
moved closer, the whole marker must be redone. The time taken by this process will
depend on the location of a marker-making office and the manner in which the mark-
ers may be delivered (e.g. by mail, courier, or e-mail). Correction of the problem could
be therefore taken between a few hours and several days.
Mistakes of this kind that halt the production process are unacceptable. Markers
should therefore only be made after all the delivered fabric rolls have been inspected.
However, for greater efficiency and reduction in the production time, the marker-
making process is often performed not checking fabric width in all delivered rolls.

2.6.2 Shade variations within a fabric colour
Different shades of one colour in one or more fabric rolls may cause serious problems
in the production of garment sets of identical colour (e.g. lighter jacket and darker
skirt). The shade differences may be very slight and even invisible in artificial light.
However, such differences become noticeable in bright sunlight, that is, in actual con-
ditions of garment usage. Verification of different colour shades is usually a task for an
experienced worker. The number of different shades is determined, and all the fabric
rolls are divided into groups according to their shade. In the cutting process that fol-
lows, full garment sets are cut from every shade, and strict marking and shade numbers
are kept for each garment.
To produce quality garments from rolls in which the colour shade gradually changes
along the length of the roll, the components cut from one fabric ply must be joined
in one article. This principle is always strictly adhered to, even when working with
high-quality textile materials where there are no colour problems. The sequence of
cut components gathered into bundles is never altered, either during the transporta-
tion of the cut components to the sewing lines or during joining. The cut components