1 Design / Sketch
The first step in garment Manufacturing is designing the sketch for the dresses that have to be prepared. For this purpose the designer first draw sketches. The designer also draws working drawings along with the sketch. Working drawings are flat drawing of the sketch and it help pattern maker in understanding the pattern details involved in the construction
2 Sample Making:The first patterns are sent to the sewing unit for assembling them into garment. This is usually stitched on calico or muslin which is an inferior quality of fabric and it reduces cost. This sample is constructed to analyse the pattern fit and design too. After the sample garment is stitched it is reviewed by a panel of designers, pattern makers and sewing specialists. If any changes have to be made they are made at this time.
3 Production Pattern
The pattern design is now taken for creating the production patterns. The production pattern is one which will be used for bulk production of garments. The pattern maker makes the patterns on standard pattern making paper. These papers are made-up of various grades.
Garment patterns can be constructed by two means: manual method, CAD/CAM method. Today many companies have developed CAD/CAM because of the ease of designing patterns, fluency and precision involved which cannot be guaranteed with the manual method and the economy in duplication and correction. Investing once into the CAD/CAM unit is worth in itself.
A garment sewing pattern or garment fabric & patterns draft is developed by calculating the data from the following means,
1. Direct Sample.
2. Specification Sheet/ Measurement Chart.
3. Actual body size measurements.
4. Ease Allowances.
5. Sewing Allowance.
These allowances are different for different type of fabrics and patterns.
4 Grading
The purpose of grading is to create patterns in different sizes. Grading a pattern is really scaling a pattern up or down in order to adjust it for multiple sizes. Pattern grading by manual method is a cumbersome task because the grader has to alter the pattern on each and every point from armhole, to neckline, sleeve cap and wrist etc. by using CAD it is much easier and faster
5. Marker Making:
The measuring department determines the fabric yardage needed for each style and size of garment. Computer software helps the technicians create the optimum fabric layout to suggest so that fabric can be utilized maximum. Markers, made in accordance to the patterns are attached to the fabric with the help of adhesive stripping or staples. Markers are laid in such a way so that minimum possible fabric gets wasted during cutting operation. After marking the manufacturer will get the idea of how much fabric he has to order in advance for the construction of garments.
Computer marking is done on specialized software’s. In computerized marking there is no need of large paper sheets for calculating the yardage, in fact, mathematical calculations are made instead to know how much fabric is required.
6. Spreading
Spreading is the layering of fabric ready for cutting, the lay length will be calculated according to the marker and the lay height (number of lays) will be according to the cut order plan of the specific order. Marker is placed on top of the lay to guide for cutting. The lays are put on One-way or Two-way direction methods
Two-way:- two way spreading is done on the symmetrical fabrics such as poplin. The fabric are laid continuously from left to right and right to left without cutting at the end. This method the fastest and efficient method of spreading but cannot be used for grain restrictions and one directional or most of the printed fabric. In this condition the fabric is placed as face to face.
One-Way:- the fabric is laid from onside to other side and the fabric has to cut in length of the marker to put the second lay, fabrics such as corduroy, velvet etc. are laid in this method. According to the fabric used the face side of the fabric may face upward or downward direction for example the corduroy is placed face down and printed fabrics are faced up
7. Cutting
The fabric is then cut with the help of cloth cutting machines suitable for the type of the cloth. These can be a straight knife, band knife, Round knife, die clickers similar to die or punch press; or computerized cutting machines that use either blades or laser beams to cut the fabric in desired shapes.
8. Sorting/Bundling:
The sorter sorts the patterns according to size and design and makes bundles of them. This step requires much precision because making bundles of mismatched patterns can create severe problems. On each bundle there are specifications of the style size and the marker too is attached with it. Each part is numbered for later matching.2.9.
9.Sewing/Assembling
The sorted bundles of fabrics are now ready to be stitched. In this workplace, there are many operators who perform a single operation (generally for product which have more than 5 operations). One operator may make only straight seams, while another may make sleeve insets. Yet another two operators can sew the waist seams, and make buttonholes. Various industrial sewing machines too have different types of stitches that they can make. These machines also have different configuration of the frame. Some machines work sequentially and feed their finished step directly into the next machine, while the gang machines have multiple machines performing the same operation supervised by a single operator. All these factors decide what parts of a garment can be sewn at that station. Finally, the sewn parts of the garment, such as sleeves or pant legs, are assembled together to give the final form to the clothing.
10. Inspection
Open seams, wrong stitching techniques, non- matching threads, and missing stitches, improper creasing of the garment, erroneous thread tension and raw edges are some of the sewing defects which can affect the garment quality adversely. During processing the quality control section needs to check each prepared article against these defects. There are inline, end line, and final audits to control the defects and to separate critical defected garments from the lot.
11. Pressing/ Finishing
The next operations are those of finishing and/or decorating. Moulding may be done to change the finished surface of the garment by applying pressure, heat, moisture, or certain other combination. Pressing, pleating and creasing are the basic moulding processes. Creasing is mostly done before other finishing processes like that of stitching a cuff, decorating the garment with something like a pocket, appliqués, embroidered emblems etc. There are lot of machineries used in finishing the garment. Pressing machine, steam presses, form press, etc. Are examples
12. Final Inspection
For the textile and apparel industry, product quality is calculated in terms of quality and standard of fibres, yarns, fabric construction, colour fastness, designs and the final finished garments. Quality control in terms of garment manufacturing, pre-sales and posts sales service, delivery, pricing, etc are essential for any garment manufacturer, trader or exporter. Certain quality related problems, often seen in garment manufacturing like sewing, colour, sizing, or garment defects should never be over looked.
Sewing defects: - Open seams, wrong stitching techniques, non- matching threads, and missing stitches, improper creasing of the garment, mistaken thread tension and raw edges are some of the sewing defects which can affect the garment quality adversely.
Colour defects:- Variation of colour between the sample and the final garment, wrong colour combinations and mismatching dyes should always be avoided.
Size mixing:- Wrong gradation of sizes, difference in measurement of various parts of a garment like sleeves of XL size for body of L size garment can deteriorate the garments beyond repair.
Garment defects:- Broken or defective buttons, snaps, stitches, different shades within the same garment, dropped stitches, exposed notches and raw edges, fabric defects, holes, faulty zippers, loose or hanging sewing threads, misaligned buttons and holes, missing buttons, needle cuts or chews, pulled or loose yarn, stains, unfinished buttonhole, short zippers, inappropriate trimmings etc. all can lead to the end of a brand name even before its establishment.
13. Packing
The finished garments are finally sorted on the basis of design and size and packed to send for distribution to the retail outlets. Basically packaging acts as a consumer guide which is meant to create Attraction, Interest, Desire and Sale, hence most care is taken when doing the packaging.
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