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Quality control and quality assurance in the apparel industry


Interlinings, also called interfacing, are generally nonwoven fabrics that add more structure and body to garment components like collars, button plackets, waistbands, and cuffs. Interlinings may be fusible or sew-on. Interlining fabric durability is important for garment construction. Fusible interfacing can become unglued from fabric and shift, creating rippling, puckering, and unevenness. Hence, the fusible interfacing should be tested for their performance for defects such as cracking, bubbling, and delamination during their regular use. Fusible interfacings are susceptible to the adhesive bleeding through causing darker spots on the surface called strike-through. Fusible interlinings are assessed for their ability to stay bonded to the fashion fabric and not shift during wear and cleaning. They are also tested for compatibility and shrinkage. Compatibility indicates good drapability, bulk, and support of the fabric at the attachment point. Shrinkage can cause puckering of the attached point and bubbled appearance. The three parameters such as temperature, pressure, and time should be appropriately selected to avoid improper interlining attachment.


However the quality of the face fabrics and non woven interlining used in making samples does not always conform to the materials delivered for production. The face fabrics and their interlinings must therefore be tested again to verify the previously accepted fusing parameters.


One of the first successful applications of nonwovens was as interlinings for clothing (Assent, 2003). Nonwovens are still widely used for this purpose but are also used as the main material for protective clothing (Haase, 2003) and increasingly as the outer layer in fashion-based and technical garments (University of Leeds, 2007). The making-up of nonwovens is therefore an important consideration. Patterning, cutting and joining are considered very basically here.


Nonwovens for interlinings are processed in such a way as to give them an adhesive surface. The patterns for these nonwovens are designed and made together with the patterns for the upper fabric and garment lining during the pattern design and grading stages. Table 8.2 outlines the functional aspects of nonwovens that impact on their performance as interlinings, and highlights the stages of fabric production that affect these aspects.


Fusing of interlinings in garment manufacturing is a very important process. Interlinings are the accessories used between two layers of fabric to keep the different components of apparel in a desired shape or to improve the aesthetics and/or performance. Generally, interlinings are soft, thick, and flexible fabric made of cotton, nylon, polyester, wool and viscose or their blends, which may be coated with some resins. There are two types of double dot non woven interlining in use in the garment production: fusible and non fusible. The interlinings are carefully selected so that they can withstand the conditions during the fabric care and maintenance without any damage during the useful life of a garment. Once the garments are finished and inspected, they are packaged and transported to the retailers or the point of sale to the consumers.


The garment construction and type, notably the number and type of seams, linings and interlinings as well as cut and style, clearly play a significant role in the draped appearance of the garment, the presence, nature and bonding of interlinings, etc. having a major effect. So too will the fabric colour, depth of shade and pattern have a significant effect, although these effects are essentially optical in nature and not due to actual changes in the fabric drape per se. With respect to the effects of seams, including seam and stitch type, these have been studied and reviewed in detail by Chung,12 Hu17 and Sharrouf,36 their main effects being on the stiffness (both bending and shear) of the fabric in their immediate vicinity and on their positioning within the garment. 


The garment construction and type – notably the number, positioning and type of seams, linings and interlinings – as well as cut and style, play significant roles in the draped appearance of the garment, with the presence, nature and bonding of interlinings having a major effect. Fabric colours, depths of shade and patterns also have significant effects, although these are essentially optical in nature and not due to actual changes in the fabric drape per se. Seams mainly affect fabric stiffness (both bending and shear) in their immediate vicinity, the magnitude of the effect depending on their positioning within the garment. For example, bending length tends to increase with the insertion of a vertical seam, while drape coefficient increases with the addition of radial seams, and increasing the seam allowance has little effect.


The most important factor for performing qualitative fusing is temperature. It must correspond to the glue line temperature, required for the certain interlining. However, the temperature setting or reading on the control panel of a fusing press indicates its belt temperature, not the temperature applied to the interlining. The real temperature that will be delivered to the interlining through the face fabric can be determined only during the test. It can be performed putting special temperature control tape in-between the face fabric and its interlining sample and fusing them. The colour of the tape will show the real temperature applied to the interlining. The optimal fusing temperature must be found for every fabric of the order to avoid its shrinkage or damaging during the fusing process.


Normal cotton sheeting fabrics were applied with a layer of adhesive that can be fixed to the shell fabric by application of heat or pressure. This formed a composite part of the fused shell part and supported the outer shell for better drape and look.


Woven interlinings are majorly 100% cotton based with a thread density of variable count as required for the weight or stiffness needed for a particular use. Now poly-cotton blends are also available to overcome the problems of shrinkage faced in cotton fabrics together with a variety of warp and weft combination like rayon, texturized poly and wool etc.


Advantages of woven interlining


The main advantage of woven fabrics is its strength and stability, hence used for all such applications where strength and stability are needed like the waistband.


However, this could be a disadvantage at times where flexibility and soft hand feel is required.


Woven is majorly plain weaves, sometimes crepe, herringbone or twill weaves are also offered according to the application need.


In such cases, texturized poly yarns are used for voluminous body, soft and natural hand feel or drape of the fused composite at the same time strength, flexibility and lightweight of the fused laminate is achieved without much altering the natural drape or texture of shell fabric.


However, woven is expensive and not suitable for less expensive casual garments hence, it was replaced by knitted fabrics that used a combination of synthetic yarns with rayon and wool for body and volume according to different application intended for.


As the name implies there is no involvement of any yarn for interlacement to make the fabric.


It is made directly from fiber to fabric stage in the process reducing the cost of base fabric. As there is no yarn used in making nonwovens, it lacks in strength needed for apparel use and there are many techniques applied to impart required strength to nonwoven textiles, called Bonding. They are the most versatile product available from 10gsm to 200gsm and above, offering light, soft, flexible or strong for any application one can think of. The basic manufacturing technique is using mostly synthetic fibers to form a layer, which are imparted strength by bonding.


Let us understand the different layering and bonding methods, their use and their advantages and disadvantages.


Seema Impex, Established in 2018 at Delhi in Delhi, is leading Importer, Supplier of Interlinings & Linings in India. Seema Impex is one of Trade India's verified and trusted sellers of listed products. With their extensive experience of supplying and trading Black Double Dot Stretch Lycra Fusing Interlining, Seema Impex has made a reputed name for themselves in the market with high quality Black Double Dot Stretch Lycra Fusing Interlining, Grey Stretch Microdot Fusing Interlining, Fine Finish Microdot Fusing Interlining etc.


Focusing on a customer centric approach, Seema Impex has a pan-India presence and caters to a huge consumer base throughout the country. Buy Interlinings & Linings in bulk from Seema Impex at Trade India quality-assured products.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of pressing on bending rigidities of the face fabric, adhesive paste dot non woven interlining and bonded composite fabric and verify the prediction method for bending rigidity of those. Predicting methods of bending rigidity for composite with face fabric and adhesive interlining based on laminated theory were verified with measured bending rigidities and thickness of samples. Bending rigidities and thicknesses of woven fabrics, adhesive interlinings and composites with those were measured by the KES-FB system. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) film was used for measuring mechanical properties of pressed adhesive interlining. Bending rigidities of adhesive interlinings became larger and thicknesses were reduced compared to those before pressing. Bending rigidities of face fabrics didn't change though the thicknesses became thinner than before pressing. It was found that the case of considering mechanical properties of pressed face fabric and pressed interlining was more efficient to predict bending rigidity of composite with laminated model.