Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine April Issue 2019 | Page 52

Shirt Making: Technical Excellence
or Design Nightmare
Solid or stripe, print or check, casual or formal, men’s shirt requires basic minimum quality characteristics. While
most of the quality requirements are achieved during the cutting stage, few quality requirements are achieved
during sewing. While the solid requires least amount of time in the cutting department, cutting of check takes the
maximum time in cutting department due to mitering requirements in different areas of the garment. While mitering
or matching of checks (in different parts of the shirt) to enhance the visual look of the garment can be considered
value addition, mindless mitering to create brand identity/USP without adding value that customer is ready to pay
for is questionable. Along with check matching, there are other pattern making and construction parameters that
make any shirt a technically correct product. Unable to meet those requirements may lead to a design nightmare.
Dr. Prabir Jana, Professor, NIFT, Delhi (India) questions some of the critical parameters of shirt making.
The technical characteristics of any
garment are generally defined by the
brands, which are results of years of
experimentation by pattern makers,
sewers, combining user’s experience
towards delivering functional and
aesthetic comfort. Over the years,
these technical characteristics
or parameters have been copied
from one brand to another across
continents and have become a norm
without much reasoning. To achieve
these technical parameters, the
manufacturing process has to follow
certain rules.
Check matching
in a shirt
This is purely an aesthetic
requirement based on visual look.
Warp wise stripe position should be
matched in shirt collar point as well
as cuff (see Figure 1). This is a kind
of norm or mandatory quality feature
and can be easily achieved during
marker making process without
any increase in fabric consumption.
Other such mandatory matching
requirements are stripe matching in
armhole join (see Figure 2) and stripe
matching at sleeve closing creating
V-shape look (Figure 3) which is a
combined requirement of marker
making process as well as sewing
process.
There are other check or stripe
matchings which are optional
requirements. Weft wise stripe
matching in collar (see Figure 4)
and cuff (see Figure 5) are optional
as this matching is required (makes
sense) only in symmetric stripes.
The popularity
of casual shirt
added a strap
(inside sleeve)
at the middle
of the sleeve
length. The
positioning of
the strap at
the fold line
of the sleeve
creates quality
problem as well
as higher cycle
time while the
shirt is being
ironed.
Check matching in sleeve placket
(see Figure 6) and between front
& back at side seam are also often
considered optional. Achieving all
these optional matching during
marker making process will
increase fabric consumption.
Apart from referring to check not
matching between sleeve placket
and sleeve, Figure 7 also shows
weft wise stripe not matching at
side seam. This is acceptable for
moderate quality of garment. Apart
from these obvious check matching
at visible face of the shirt, some
brands resort to check matching
inside the cuff, collar back which are
invisible while the garment is worn
or displayed. Another interesting
check matching requirement
some brands resort to is when the
garment is being displayed (but
not while worn); these are done to
augment visual merchandising and
increase saleability of the garment.
Figure 1: Warp wise stripe position matched in shirt
collar point as well as cuff
52 Apparel Online Bangladesh | APRIL 2019 | www.apparelresources.com
Figure 2: Stripe matching between yoke and sleeve
Seam construction and
assembly
Side seam operation in shirt is
invariably done using flat n fell seam
(also called lap seam) where the
seam is having some measurable
width (generally 1/4 th inch or less).
Any seam having width, when folded
at the seam, will add the seam width
to one of the components, leading to
measurement confusion. Whether a
flat n fell seam is appropriate for shirt
side seam is highly debatable; let's
see how side seam construction can
create problem.
The requirement of front over back
at side seam (which is flat n fell
seam) is maintained in all branded
shirts, and is achieved by sewing left
and right side seam from opposite
direction. That means if the left side
seam of shirt is sewn starting at
bottom hem and finishing at sleeve,
the right side seam of the same shirt
should be sewn starting at sleeve and
Figure 3: Stripe matching at sleeve closing creates
a V-shaped look