The quality of the yarn used effects the product as much as the fabric used in apparel and ready wear. The low performance of yarn in apparel industry means to have loss in materials, equipment, and design and workforce investment. Thus, it is important to know the yarn well. In order to obtain the desired sewing performance and sewing quality, it is highly critical to evaluate the parameters related with yarn, to select the right yarn and to use accurately. Sewing treats are specially designed yarns so as to operate in sewing machine speeds. Performance alongside the sew, and aesthetic appearance are the fundamental functions expected from a sewing treat.
Factors determining the aesthetic and performance properties also determine the features of a sewing thread. Factors determining the aesthetic features, color, brightness, fineness, thickness are features taken into consideration in the selection of yarn for decorative top stitching or embroidery. On the other side, its other important features are color match, fastness, stitch and stitch to create conformity.
Factors determining the performance are sewing treats used in apparel production, friction in yarn and needle heating, its resistance against finishing process to be applied to the apparel. Sewing thread resistance is evaluated according to criteria such as abrasion resistance, flexibility, chemical resistance, fire resistance and color fastness.
Sewing Feature
Sewing property definitions are used for the performance of a sewing thread. A tread having a good sewing property shall have a smooth surface and a regular diameter measurement. The fact that the tread is homogenous and has a uniform structure enables the resistance to be high while the fiction is low during the passage of sew creation mechanisms. At the same time, tread breakage is minimized and the cost increasing factors such as repair works and second quality product are diminished.
When we look into the sewing feature parameters, we can list the parameters which defines the properties of a superior tread as follows: the number of breakage during high speed sewing process, the ability to create regular sewing, the lack of sewing jumps, the required smoothness in order not to create tension variation during sewing, high friction resistance and surface smoothness enabling easy passage through sewing machine guides.
The Categorization of Sewing Tread
Sewing threads may be classified according to various characteristics. Sewing treads classified according to the materials they are manufactured are divided into two classes as natural and synthetic. The use of natural sewing treads, sewing treads manufactured from natural materials are considerably low in today’s industry applications while the mostly used natural fiber is cotton. As treads made of natural fibers is limited, manufacturers are directed to use treads made of synthetic fibers. At the same time, synthetic yarns are preferred due to their high resistance, resistance against fiction and chemicals. On the other hand, they are not affected significantly by external factors such as moisture, mold, fungus and bacteria. Treads are also classified according to the nature of the sewing thread as staple fiber yarns, core spun yarns and continuous filament yarns.
Staple fiber yarns, natural or synthetic fibers are produced by spinning process. Polyester staple fiber is one of the most widely used sewing treads types. Their resistance is higher than cotton treads. They have a wide thickness spectrum and color variety
Core spun yarns are a combination of staple fiber and endless filaments. The most common yarn structure is the multi-ply. Each ply of the yarn is manufactured by winding cotton or polyester fiber on endless filament. Within this yarn structure, the strength of the central filament polyester and the cotton or polyester fiber winded around effects the sewing performance altogether. Core spun yarns are used at sewing machines operating at high speed, all types of clothing, particularly in products that require high strength sewing resistance.
Continuous filament sewing threads are more resistant compared to staple fiber treads made of the same raw material. There are three types used mostly in continuous filament yarns: Monofilament yarns are produced from a single filament of a particular thickness. Monofilament yarns are smooth, strong and low cost, but the lack of flexibility, the uncomfortable feeling and harshness limits the usage. Generally the stitch sewing is used in home furnishing and upholstery. Soft multifilament sewing treads made of nylon and polyester is mainly preferred for sewing requiring resistance. The yarn structure is formed by twisting two or more yarns together with the tread. The common usage fields are shoe stitching, leather goods and industrial products’ sewing. Textured filament treads are mainly made of polyester and used as looper tread in sewing. Texturing process adds volume and flexibility to the filament, but on the other hand a structure that can be damaged easily occurs consequently. All classic sewing threads start as a simple raw yarn to production processes. The raw yarn at the beginning is manufactured of a relatively short fiber or thinner endless filament.
Features Required for Quality Sewing Tread
The fact that the resistance is good enables the sewing to remain strong after washing and usage. Smooth surface and purity minimizes the friction between the needle and the material during sewing at high speed. So that the sewing feature is high and the fiction is low, the yarn lubrication should be smooth. Thickness/ high sewing property mean a regular sewing form enabling the yarn passing from the needle and the fabric. Smoothness also influences resistance, friction resistance and twisting structure. A tread lacking smoothness can twist and get stuck in the needle eye.
Elasticity means to return to its original scale as soon as the tensile force on the yarn disappears to means. The elasticity of the yarn affects the quality of the sewing strength and appearance. The perfection of color fastness prevents being affected by materials to be exposed to during production, and washing. Sewing thread dyeing should be smoothen the sewing to fabrics having a high tensile property is performed with low tensile value treads the sewing shrinkage problems is less observed. Resistance to chemicals is a property expected from the sewing treads of products to be exposed especially to washing, bleaching and dry cleaning. A good abrasion resistance improves sewing performance and ensures the durability of yarn.
Resources:
Hüseyin Kadoğlu, Fundamental Textile Technology, Fibers, Yarn Creation, İzmir, 2012
Werner Kline, Rieter Spinning Guidebook, Germany, 2009
