IMPORTANT TOPICS IN AMT

1.Fabric Inspection | Four Point System

Inspection: The essential process of maintaining the quality of raw
materials used during making the finished product is called inspection.
For garments, need to check the quality of fabric, sewing thread, trims
etc. The process is done following a specific SOP to check the specific
items.

Four-Point System: Most used method in garment industry for fabric

inspection which is performed following ASTM D5430-93 ( Standard
Test Methods for Visually Inspecting and Grading Fabrics ). Defects are
indentified at a clearly noticeable distance of 3 feet and marked with
points. Every possible defects has a demerit point depending on its
severity in this system.

To use this system someone have to know following things:

1. Fabric inspection method or preparation

2. Vast idea on nature of fabric defects (how an error looks and

its appearance)

3. Criteria of giving penalty points based on defects and defect length

4. Calculation method of total penalty points for total defects found in

a fabric roll or than

5. A Check sheet or format for recording data

Fabric Inspection Method: 

Fabric is inspected to determine its acceptability from a quality view
point.  There are various fabric inspection systems such as- 
1.    4- point system

2.    10- Point system

 Defect Classification: The 4-Point System assigns 1, 2, 3 and 4 penalty points according
to the size, quality, and significance of the defect. No more than 4 penalty points is assigned for
any single flaw. A defect can be measured either length or width direction; the system remains
the same. Only major errors are considered. No penalty points are assigned to minor defects.
Whenever errors are recognized during fabric inspection under 4 points system and defect must
be assigned a number of points depending on the severity or length.

INCHES ( ˝ ) (MM) POINTS

From 0 >
Up to 75mm  1 point
3″ length/width

From 3.1″ > 75mm  >

 2 points
6″ length/width 150mm

From 6.1″ > 150mm  >

 3 points
9″ length/width 230mm

More More than

 4 points
than 9″ length/width 230mm
3. Only major defects are taking into account. A serious defect is any
defect that would cause a final garment to be considered a
second.
4. * Upon the number and the size of the imperfections in the
given yard, a maximum of 4 points can be given to one linear
yard.
5. * Four points can be given for each linear yard when a defect
is running continuously along the length of the fabric.
6. * Hole point may be evaluated by size.
HOLES AND OPENINGS (THE LARGEST
POINTS
DIMENSION)

1“ or less 2

Over 1“ 4

General Inspection Procedures

1. Fabric inspection is done in suitable and safe environment with

enough ventilation and proper lighting.

2. Fabric passing through the frame must be between 45-60 degree

angles to inspector and must be done on appropriate Cool White

light 2 F96 fluorescent bulbs above viewing area. Back light can be

used as and when needed.

3. Fabric speed on inspection machine must not be more than 15

yards per minute.

4. Standard approved bulk dye lot standards for all approved lots

must be available prior to inspection (if possible)

5. Approved standard of bulk dye lot must be available before starting

inspection for assessing color, construction, finish and visual

appearance.

6. Shade continuity within a roll by checking shade variation between

centre and selvage and the beginning, middle and end of each roll

must be evaluated and documented.

7. Textiles like knits must be evaluated for weight against standard

approved weight.

8. Fabric width must be checked from selvage to selvage against

standard.
 9. All defects must be flagged during inspection

10. The length of each roll inspected must be compared to

length as mentioned on supplier ticketed tag and any deviation

must be documented and reported to mill for additional

replacement to avoid shortage.

11. If yarn dyed or printed fabrics are being inspected the repeat

measurement must be done from beginning, middle and end of

selected rolls.

No penalty points are recorded or assigned for minor defects. Only

major defects are considered.
 

Calculation of total points per yards

In 4 point system fabric quality is evaluated by unit  points/100 yd2

Acceptable Level:
Many used to say that up to 40 points per 100 square yards is
acceptable. In the apparel and textile industry, textile mills, apparel
brands and buyers set their own standards for acceptable points. A
standards level is set by ASTM. 
Many mills grade fabrics as first quality and second quality instead of just
Pass/Fail the fabric roll or fabric lot. Again grading is done based number
of penalty points per 100 square yards.
One more thing you should remember that acceptable points can be
defined as points per 100 linear yards as well as points per 100 square
yards. Secondly, acceptable points for individual roll and acceptable
average points of all roll are set at different level.
An international buyer that explains something like following 
any running defect more than 4 continuous yards will cause the roll
to be rejected.
1. Fabric width up to 64-66 inches shall be classified as first quality if

number of penalty points there in does not exceed 50 points per

100 linear yards. 

2. For fabric width wider than 64-66 inches acceptable penalty points

should be proportion of 50 points per 100 linear yards. (Use 64

inch for such calculation) 

In general, acceptable level of ‘points per 100 linear yards’ or ‘points per
100 square yards’ are different for different fabric types. For example:

For Cotton Twill/Denim 28 points per 100 square yards (23 points per
100 square meters) for individual fabric roll
For All synthetic fabrics 20 point per 100 square yards (16 points per
100 square meters) for individual fabric roll
Example: A fabric roll 120 yards long and 46 inch wide contains
following defects.
Example: A fabric roll 120 yards long and 46 inch wide contains following defects.

DEFECTS DEFECTS POINT  

4 defects up to 3 4x1 4 points

inch length 3X2 6 points
3 defects from 3 to 2X3 6 points
6 inch length   4 points
2 defects from 6 to 1X4 4 points
9 inch length 1X4
1 defect over 9 inch
length
1 hole over 1 inch

Total defect points   24 Points

                                              =15.652. So, defect is acceptable.
Check sheet or Inspection
Format                                                              
To record or to collects defects during inspection a simple check sheet
must b used. A check sheet includes general details, details of fabric lot,
fabric defects according their sizes, summary of fabric defects, quantity
inspected and total penalty points and result of the fabric lot after
inspection. Use tally marking for recording of number of defects. A
sample 4 point system fabric inspection format has been attached at the
bottom.
Types of defects found in fabric
Fabric checker should know common defects found in fabrics and he
must recognize defects on the fabric at the time of fabric inspection.
Some fabric defects are given below:
A major defect is any defect that, if found in a finished fabric /garment, would classify that
fabric / garment as a second- rated.

SLUBS, HOLE,
MISSING YARN,
MAJOR WOVEN FABRIC CONSPICUOUS YARN
DEFECTS  VARIATION, END
OUT, SOILED YARN,
WRONG YARN.

mixed yarn, yarn

variation, runner, needle
Major knitted fabric defects
line, barre, slub, hole,
and press off.
 out of register, dye
spots, machine stop,
Major dye or printing defects
color out, color smear,
or Shading.

The Quality Inspector may include any other defect which he feels are of
a major category and may forward such defect details to the customer
for feed back as and when required.
Minimum acceptable width
This width is excluding selvedge. Fabric width will be checked minimum
of three times during the inspection of a piece (beginning, middle and
end of a piece). Pieces having a width of measurement of less than the
specified purchased width shall be graded as second quality.

Defects Rules:
1. A continuous of defect shall be assigned four points for each linear

meter or yard in which it occurs.

2. Any piece having a running defect through more than three

continuous linear meters or yards shall be rejected. Regardless in

point count.

3. Any piece with a full width defect over six inches in length shall be

rejected.

4. Any piece that contains more than three full width defects per one

hundred linear meters or yards shall rejected.

5. No piece shall be accepted that contains a full width defect in the

first and last three meters or yards.

 6. A hole or torn is considered to be a major defect and shall be

penalized four

7. Fabric construction and weight, No tolerance will be allowed.

8. The distance between major defects should be more than 20

meters.

9. All major and full width defects should be seemed a polyester

thread at the selvedge.

10. Waviness, tightness, ripples, puckering in body of fabric

which would prevent the fabric from lying flat when spread in a

conventional manner is not acceptable.

Following defects will be penalized penalty points as per rules:

Kinks, Knots, slub, contamination, spot, and half/double pick, cockled
yarn, coarse pick. Heavy weft bar below 6” in length, set mark, rapping,
broken pick, out mark, holes & float up to ¼ “

Following defects are cut table and will be rejected:

1. Frequent kinks, knots, slub, contamination, spots etc

2. Any continuous defect

3. More than one meters broken end, double end, wrong draw reed

mark

4. Holes torn and float above ¼ “

 5. Irregular selvedge, light weft bar, count variation, Lecco, shade

variation

6. Heavy weft bar above 6: in length

7. The most commonly used system is the American 4 point system.

8. The ASTM D5430 standard explains how to assign points to each

defect–mostly based on its size.

9. The overall result consists of two numbers (and they are all most

buyers want to know regarding defects):

10. The average number of points (on a 100 meters basis) of all

inspected rolls,

11. The proportion of rolls above acceptance limit.

Maximum Acceptable Points = 20 points per 100 sq. yards or 22

points per 100 sq. meters.

2.Raw materials used in Apparel Industries

What Are Our Clothes Made From?

Clothes today are made from a wide range of different materials.

Traditional materials such as cotton, linen and leather are still sourced
from plants and animals. But most clothes are more likely to be made of
materials and chemicals derived from fossil fuel-based crude oil.

There are nine major types of raw materials commonly used in clothing
today.

Synthetic materials

The source of synthetic fibres and fabrics is the fossil fuel crude oil. It is
estimated that 62% of all fibres used in the fashion industry are made
from a synthetic material – mainly polyester, but also nylon, acrylic,
polypropylene and elastane. The global synthetic fibres market
is predicted to grow 7.39% CAGR over the period of 2021-2025.

Cotton

One of the oldest used fibres and the most important non-food crop in
the world is cotton. Currently, cotton makes up around 24% of all fibre
use globally – about 26.2 million tonnes – but its share of the market is
declining due to competition from synthetic alternatives. Cotton
production is particularly important for farmers in lower-income countries,
where approximately 350 million people are involved in its cultivation
and processing.

Cellulosic fibres/viscose

These materials begin as cellulose extracted from a natural resource

(such as bamboo or trees) that is then crushed, pulped and transformed
into fibres using a similar process to the one for making polyester. The
most common cellulosic fabric is viscose, prized for its silk-like qualities
(rayon, the first type of viscose fabric invented, was created to mimic
silk). Around 6.5 million tonnes of man-made cellulosic fibres are
produced each year for the textile market with a share of six percent of
the total fibre production volume. This share is expected to grow by
around 8.1% per year to 2025. Major processing centres for cellulose
are China, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Taiwan and Indonesia.1

Wool

A traditional fibre, particularly in colder climates, wool has a tiny, and

decreasing, share of the world market (around 1%). About 1.155 million
kilograms (kg) of clean raw wool raw wool per year are produced from a
global herd of around 1.177 billion sheep. This roughly equates to just
under one wool sweater per person per year for everyone on the planet.
These figures include wool textiles used for items other than garments –
such as furniture or carpets.

Silk

An ancient, highly prized fabric, silk is mostly derived from the thread
produced by the domesticated silkworm species Bombyx Mori. Around
0.11 million tonnes of silk were produced in 2020 (about 0.10% of total
fibre)2 in more than 60 countries, but the bulk of production is
concentrated in a handful: China, India, Uzbekistan, Brazil, Japan,
Korea, Thailand and Vietnam3. Compared to other natural fibres, silk is
incredibly valuable and commands a price of around $15 per kilo,
making the value of production around $3.03 billion per year.

Leather

This is one of the oldest forms of material used by humans as clothing

and it remains an important fabric particularly for footwear and
accessories. Around 3.8 billion cows and other bovine animals, sheep
and goats are used in the leather production industry each year – around
one animal for every two people on the planet. More than half the world’s
supply of leather raw material comes from developing countries, with
China being the dominant buyer and processor. The global trade in raw
leather is around $30 billion per year.  

Bast fibres

Bast fibres like flax (for linen), hemp and nettle are a traditional source
that has been used by humans for thousands of years, although they
presently make up only a small proportion of total fabric use. These
fibres are found in the inner bark layer (phloem), of the plant that sit
between the woody core (xylem), and the outer-most layer (epidermis).
The long phloem cells must be separated from the xylem and epidermis
before being further treated to make them ready to weave or knit into
fabrics4, either as a pure fibre or in a mix with other fibres such as cotton.
Most bast fibres are used for other products such as paper, ropes and
carpets.

Experimental fabrics

This is a broad category of fibres and materials that are diverse but
make up only a tiny fraction of the entire amount of fabrics used. Many of
these are experimental in nature – for example, they may be made from
materials originally derived from mushrooms, pineapple or milk.

Notions and hardware

Metals, plastics, wood and other assorted materials go into making the
‘hardware’ that is intrinsic to many clothes (zip fastenings, buttons,
buckles, clasps and so on). These items may be small but their
production is far from small-scale – the zip market alone is worth $13
billion in sales per year.5

Sewing Threads

Sewing thread is the yarn used to combine two or more fabric pieces
together in garments, accessories, and other textile products. Thread
may be comprised of the same construction and fibre content as the
garment, but is often different.

Cotton sewing threads, polyester spun and filament threads, Nylon

threads, Core-spun threads are widely used in Garment manufacturing.
Sewing thread must possess desirable properties like strength and
fineness to produce neat seam which might enhance longevity of
garment. Unmercerized cotton thread used in sewing of cotton garments
produces a solid dyed inconspicuous seam. Polyester threads purposely
enhance the effects in the seams due to their dye uptake resistance and
mercerized cotton threads increase the dye uptake, resulting in darker
appearance in shade. For cotton thread sewn garments meant for
dyeing, it is not possible to switch-off directly from conventional spun
polyester or core-spun threads to 100% cotton threads and retain the
same seam characteristics. Equivalent seam strength can be obtained
using heavier cotton threads. Similar degrees of elasticity in seam can
be obtained by increasing stitch density but care must be taken to
ensure damage of garment due to it. Seam pucker resulting from thread
shrinkage during garment dyeing can be avoided by slacker stitches on
lock stitch and chain stitch operations.
Selection of fibre to produce sewing thread depends on type of fabric to
be sewed. Generally, a common selection is made for the thread used
for fabric preparation and sewing both. However, this is applicable
mainly for cotton, as sewing threads made of other fibres do not possess
affinity for cotton dyes. This unarguably hikes the cost of garment
manufactured as well as the production speed.

Raw materials used for apparel 

Raw materials used for apparel and allied products may be classified

according to construction. Strand construction converts yarns into
woven, knitted, and braided fabrics. Matted construction converts fibres
into felts, paper, and padding yardage. Molecular-mass construction
produces plastic film, metal foil, and rubber sheetings, and cellular
construction is the building block for skins, furs, hides,
and synthetic foam.

All four constructions are used for all types of apparel, though only
minute quantities of molecular-mass and cellular construction are used
for underwear. Most outerwear is made from woven and knitted fabrics
with some use of hides, skins, furs, plastics, rubber, foams, and
metallics. Footwear that was originally made exclusively from leather
(treated hides) may now be made from fabrics, plastics, rubber, foams,
and metallics.

Textile fabrics
Woven fabrics are constructed by interlacing two or
more yarns perpendicularly to each other. Braiding is an interlacing in
which two or more yarns are interlaced diagonally to each other. In
knitting, yarns are interlooped. Yarns are strands spun from
either natural fibre such as cotton, linen, or wool or from synthetic fibres
such as rayon and nylon. Practically all synthetic fibres are made
originally in filament form and then cut into staples, or fibre lengths. A
textile filament is a single hairlike strand of indeterminate length. The
only natural filament is silk.

Basic weave constructions are plain, twill, satin, basket, jacquard, lappet,
leno, and pile. The two basic knit constructions are warp, or flat,
and weft, or circular knitting. Types of weft knitting are jersey, rib, purl,
run resist, tuck stitch, and interlock. Types of warp knitting are tricot,
milanese, and raschel simplex. The classifying is based on principles of
linking the yarns in structuring the fabric.
Leathers and synthetics

Leathers are made from skins of many animals, including sheep, goats,
kids, calves, pigs, horses, cattle, lizards, snakes, alligators, elk, buffalo,
ostriches, kangaroos, chamois, walrus, elephants, and seals. The most
common leathers are from the first seven listed; the others are exotic
leathers, used to a lesser degree. Suede and patent leather are types of
finishes. Plastics, foams, felts, paper, rubber, and metallics are used in
thicknesses ranging from gossamer, cobweb thinness to the thickest of
hides.

3. Apparels, Clothing and Garments

In general, apparel and garment are interchangeable. But there are
some basic different in apparel and garment. Garment refers to single
 piece to clothing. Apparel refers to collection of clothing means it
refers more than one piece.

A garment can be called an article or a piece of clothing, as a coat, a

gown, etc. a piece of clothing. The garment is one of the items of a full
dress. This word is used, especially when talking about the production
and sale of clothes.

Apparel is a particular type of clothes. For example, children’s/women’s

apparel riding/sports apparel.

Clothes or Clothing is a collective term for items worn on the body.

Clothing can be made of textiles, animal skin, or other thin sheets of
materials put together. The wearing of clothing is mostly restricted to
human beings and is a feature of all human societies. Clothing refers
collectively to the garments of a wearer separately pants, shirt, sweater
or coat, etc.

Essentially, apparels are stitched, semi stitched, or even unstitched

materials made out of the textiles used for dressing, covering, and
protection.

Apparels are referring to the dresses.

 4. Classifications of Apparels
Clothing is generally mad of cloth. Clothing can be defined
as the wearable material in human body which is made by
textile materials. These materials can be natural, cellulose
and synthetic fibres. There are many types of cloth like
woven or knitted with different names and uses.

Clothing Materials
Clothing materials are those materials which are used to
make clothes, to complete an apparel product or a garment.
Main and sub materials are used to make an apparel
product or a garment aesthetic, functional and commercial.
Classification of clothing materials
Style Classification
1. Blouses 2. Cloak 3. Coat 4. Jacket 5. Long Dress 6. Polo shirt or
Sport shirt 7. Robe 8. Shirt 9. Short Dress 10. Suit, Suit of clothes 11.
Sweater 12. Jersey, T-shirt 13. Undergarment, Upper body 14. Uniform
15. Vest, waist-coat

1. Dresses 2. Jackets and coats 3. Jeans 4. Jumpsuits 5. Lingerie 6.

Pants 7. Shirts 8. Shorts 9. Skirts 10. Suits and blazers 11.
Sweaters 12. Swimwear 13. Tops 14. Underwear and loungewear

Classification of Garments
 Garments could be classified based on several aspects as there is no
standard classification system available. However, the garments could
be classified based on the gender as male or female, or age as
children’s garments. Generally, based on use, style and material,
different varieties of garments show different styles (David Rigby
Associates 2002; Fan et al. 2004). Presently, the garments are classified
based on the following aspects.

1. Type of fabric: a. Knit (T-shirt, sweater) b. Woven (shirt, suitings and

denim) c. Nonwoven (diaper, socks)

2. Season: a. Winter (jacket) b. Summer (tank top) c. Spring (singlet) d.

Autumn (shirt) e. Late Autumn (shirt (design))

3. Events: a. Party (fashion wear) b. Active (regular wear) c. Evening

gown (outfit) d. Night (soft fit)

4. Application: a. Formal (collar shirt) b. Swimwear (bikini, cover ups) c.

Sportswear (trouser) d. Lingerie (inner wear, sleep wear)

5. Method of manufacture: a. Readymade (complete) b. Tailored

(measurement) c. Furnishing (automated)

6. Source: a. Leather (leather) b. Natural (leaf) c. Artificial (fur)

7. Gender and age: a. Women’s (skirts) b. Men’s (tongo) c. Kid’s (toga)

d. Toddler (bibs)

8. Shape and styling: a. Dresses (sari) b. Shirts (neck wear) c. Skirts

(elastic and stitches) d. Suits (official outfit)

9. Length of garment: a. Shorts (panty wear) b. Three quarters (cargo

pant) c. Full wear (pant) d. Bermuda wear (thigh wear) e. Pullover
(stockings)

Classification and Categories of Apparel under Harmonised System

The classification of readymade garments is highly complicated due to

diverse assortments of fashions and at the same time highly sensitive
because of the imposition of quantitative restraint under the Multi Fibre
Agreement (Nordås 2004). The classification of garments under HS is
shown in Figure 1.2.

Harmonised system – textile and textile articles

Fibres, filaments, yarns and fabrics (Ch: 50–55)

Special yarns, special fabrics including knitted crochet fabric (Ch: 56–60)

Readymade garments and other made up articles (Ch: 61–63)

Other made up articles (Ch: 63)

Articles of apparel and clothing, accessories – not knitted or crochted

(Ch: 62)

Articles of apparel and clothing, accessories – knitted or crochted (Ch:

61)

Over coats, cape, anorak, etc. (01)

Suits, jackets, trouser (03)

Shirts (05)

Under pants, briefs, pajamas (07)

T-shirts, singlet (09)

Jersey, pull over, cardigan, etc. (10)

Over coats, cape, anorak, etc. (02)

Suits, jackets, trousers (04)

Blouses, shirts, shirt blouse (06)

Slips, briefs, pajamas (08)

T-shirts singlet (09)

Jersey, pull over, cardigan, etc. (10)

Silk and noncotton (90)

Manmade (30)
Cotton (20)

Wool (10)

Women’s/girls’ Me n’s/boys’

Silk and noncotton (90)

Manmade (30)

Cotton (20)

Wool (10)

FIGURE 1.2 Garment classifications under harmonised system

5. SALIENT FEATURES OF INDIAN APPAREL INDUSTRIES

From exquisite and invaluable handiwork to personal critical to

its growth story and directly impacts the lives of 45 Mn
workers. 
India is a world leader in textiles and possesses the entire
manufacturing value chain, from fibre to apparel, and provides
the distinct advantage of backward integration.
India has one of the most liberal investment policies for foreign
investments in the textile and apparel sector with 100 per cent
foreign direct investment (FDI) allowed through the automatic
route.
 
Throughout history, the richness and diversity exhibited by
India’s textile potential has transcended borders. From the
presence of exquisite, traditional handloom and handicrafts to
the fabrics produced in capital intensive mills, India is proud of
its rich heritage in textiles.

Today, the textile and apparel industry in India is marked by

radical innovation, shifting markets, evolving supply chains and
distribution channels and is gradually drifting towards
responsible and sustainable manufacturing. Being the second
largest in the world, this industry holds immense potential to
double its share of five per cent in the global trade in the
coming five years. India’s strengths have been defined in
traditional textiles and natural fibres globally wherein, it is the
largest producer of cotton and second largest producer of
polyester and silk in the world.
Widely referred to as a change agent owing to its
transformative powers, this industry alone has the capability to
generate 70 jobs for every INR 1 crore ($ 132,426) invested, as
compared to 12 jobs created on an average in other industries.
Diving deeper, this report elaborates on the current scenario of
textiles and apparel industry in India and highlights the ways to
tap into India’s growth potential in this sector.
Global overview
The current global apparel market size is around $ 1.9 Trn and
is expected to grow to over $ 2.6 Trn. The global demand for
apparels is estimated to grow at a Compound Annual Growth
Rate (CAGR) of five per cent. Among the world’s top five
markets for apparel, India and China are anticipated to grow at
a steady CAGR of 12 per cent and 10 per cent respectively, as
compared to the global total of five per cent over the next few
years. China is widely expected to become the largest apparel
consumer in the world by the year 2025 with a market size
worth $ 450 Bn, while India will overtake Japan to occupy the
4th position on this list with an estimated market size of over $
160 Bn.

In 2018-19, India was the 5th largest textiles and apparel

exporter globally, followed by Bangladesh and Germany with
their exports worth $ 35 Bn and $ 34 Bn respectively.

GLOBAL TRADE
The global trade in the textiles and apparel sector has seen
consistent growth in the recent years. In 2018, the world’s
textile and apparel trade stood at $ 823 Bn while it has grown at
a CAGR of four per cent since 2005. Apparel was the most
traded category in the sector, commanding a share of 57 per
cent of the total textile and apparel trade. The exports in this
category too, have been growing at a CAGR of four per cent
since 2005. A close second to apparel was fabric, which
accounted for 19 per cent of the total textile and apparel trade,
with its exports growing at a CAGR of three per cent since
2005. The global trade of textiles and apparel is expected to
see similar growth in the future too, growing from the current $
823 Bn to $ 1 Trn in 2025, growing at a promising rate of over
three per cent when compounded annually.
Domestic overview
India’s domestic textile and apparel market is worth over $ 100
Bn as of 2018-19 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12 per
cent to reach to a size of $ 223 Bn by 2021. Apparel demand in
India currently stands at $ 78 Bn, dominated by the domestic
with a share close to 74 per cent of India’s total textile and
apparel market. Technical textiles, one of the fastest growing
sub-segments at CAGR of 12 per cent is also witnessing a
substantial increase in its market size in India, currently pegged
at $.
EXPORTS
India is the 5th largest textiles and apparel exporter globally,
with its exports worth $ 40.4 Bn in 2018-19.
India’s textiles and apparel exports are expected to reach $ 70
Bn by 2025-26, growing at a CAGR of 12 per cent. The exports
have grown at a five per cent CAGR since the year 2005-06.
IMPORTS
India‘s textile and apparel imports in 2018-19 reached around $
7.3 Bn. The imports of textile and apparel have been growing at
a CAGR of eight per cent over the last 13 years from 2005-06
to 2018-19.

Sub-segments
India Advantages
India is a rapidly growing industrial economy with availability of
key resources such as land, power, water, manpower and a
conducive regulatory framework for industries in textiles and
apparel sector to thrive. The textile industry can capitalize on its
strengths of extensive raw material base, large manufacturing
infrastructure, availability of large workforce, presence in all
levels of manufacturing value chain (from fibre to finished
goods), to achieve better growth rates than in the recent past.
PRESENCE OF COMPLETE MANUFACTURING VALUE
CHAIN

India is one of the few textile manufacturing countries in the

world where all levels of textile value chain i.e., from fibre/
filament to garment manufacturing are present, in both natural
and synthetic fibres. On the contrary, other nations in the
region, except China, have disjointed value chains; mostly
focused on end-product and dependency on the other countries
for fabric and yarn. The presence of several large integrated
players in the country spread across its vast geography has
proved to be of strategic advantage in maintaining this
presence of complete manufacturing value chain.

ABUNDANT AVAILABILITY OF RAW MATERIAL

India is the largest producer of cotton (share of ~30 per cent of

the global cotton production), 2nd largest producer of polyester
and silk, 3rd largest producer of viscose, 4th largest producer of
acrylic and nylon in the world. This vast raw material base has
adequately supported the development of downstream
manufacturing value chain along with securing India’s position
to capitalise on opportunities presented by both, domestic and
international.

MANPOWER AVAILABILITY

India possesses one of the largest pools of young, trainable

workforce with 62 per cent of Indian population being in the
working age group of 15 to 59 years.5 Based on the current
demographics of India, the current workforce is expected to
work until 2055. Textile manufacturing is a labour-intensive
industry and is cost competitive in terms of manpower. With this
 abundant availability of manpower coupled with relatively lower
costs, India possesses the necessary preconditions for this
sector to thrive.

COMPARATIVE FACTORS OF PRODUCTION

India has taken a quantum leap in its Ease of Doing Business

(EODB) rankings and continues to position its labour costs,
power and water costs as competitively as possible.

LARGE AND GROWING DOMESTIC MARKET

In the last decade, Indian domestic market has performed

better than the largest consumption regions like US, EU and
Japan. Beyond the increasing income of Indian consumers, the
market growth is led by following important drivers:
 Indian consumers shifting from need-based to aspiration-
based buying
 40 per cent of the Indian population is expected to be in
urban areas by 2030, up from 21 per cent in 2011 
 India is expected to become the world’s fastest growing e-
commerce market • Increasing participation of women in
workforce
 Growing presence of international brands and retailers
and the emergence of new product categories
READY STATE-OF-THE-ART INFRASTRUCTURE

India, having the 2nd largest road network in the world,8 4th
largest rail network in the world9 and being the 16th largest
maritime country in the world,10 has been receiving much
impetus for bolstering up infrastructure furthermore. The
government has been dedicating a high proportion of fiscal
stimulus to infra spending by means of launching priority mega
projects (freight corridors, high speed rail, expressways),
creating a multiplier effect on the economy.
To make India a global hub for manufacturing, the government
has dedicated a significant proportion of fiscal stimulus to
infrastructure spending, awarding $ 66 Bn worth of highway
contracts, totalling about 50,000 kilometres to build national
highways and expressways. Strategic focus on economic
corridors, investments in high speed rail, and dedicated freight
corridors are causing India to undergo an unprecedented
physical transformation. The National Infrastructure Pipeline
(NIP) is a major step in that direction, with investments over $
1.4 Trn to be made by the government to build world-class
infrastructural facilities.

MARKET ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS

Trade agreements have provided India a preferential market

access to nations leading to various economic and dynamic
benefits ranging from trade creation, market expansion to
capital accumulation and productivity improvement.

India’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with partner

countries are as follows:
 Out of the total exports,
 43 per cent of the exports are to the biggest consuming
markets such as Europe and USA
 17 per cent of the exports are to China, UAE and
Bangladesh

Ready and Upcoming Infrastructure for Textiles and

Apparel Sector

SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE (SEZs)

 Duty-free import and domestic procurement of goods for

the development, operation, and maintenance of your
company.
 100 per cent income tax exemption on export income for
the first five years, 50 per cent for five years thereafter, and 50
per cent of the export profit reinvested in the business for the
next five years. These incentives will be withdrawn, and the
Sunset Clause would become effective from April 1, 2020.
 Exemption from Central Sales Tax, Exemption from
Service Tax, Exemption from Sales Tax. They have now been
 subsumed into GST and supplies to SEZs are zero rated under
IGST Act, 2017.
 Single-window clearance for central and state level
approvals.
 Exemption from Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT).
 External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) by SEZ units up to
$ 500 Mn per year without any maturity restriction through
recognised banking channels.
CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE

Ministry of Textiles had launched the Technology Mission on

Technical Textiles (TMTT) with two mini- missions for a period
of five years from 2010-11 to 2014- 15, which entailed the
creation of the following eight Centres of Excellence to provide
infrastructure support, leading research and conducting tests of
various technical textiles:
UPCOMING MEGA TEXTILE PARKS

The Ministry of Textiles has a vision to set up to 8-10 mega

textile parks across the country, aiming to create the right
conditions for higher quality and better productivity. The
proposed parks would have state-of-the-art infrastructure
manufacturing facilities for ginning, spinning, weaving and
processing along with availability of plug and play infrastructure
and common facilities. The proposed mega textile parks are to
be developed in partnership between central and state
governments along with participation from the private sector.

FDI Trends in the Textiles and Apparel Industry in India

A major part of textile and apparel manufacturing has moved

from developed countries like the USA, the EU and Japan to
regions like China, South Asia and South-East Asia. Currently,
the industry is undergoing major structural changes. China, a
dominant player, is now seeing its share in global trade falling
due to rapidly increasing domestic consumption and rising
wages. The unprecedented changes propelled by the ‘trade
war’ and onset of COVID-19 is creating trade opportunities for
competing nations like India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and
Ethiopia. India has the potential to benefit the most.
ATTRACTIVE SUB-SEGMENTS FOR FDI

SEGMENT-WISE INVESTMENTS

Garment sector has attracted the maximum investment

followed by spinning, weaving and technical textiles sector.
The following are going to be the focus sectors in the textile
and apparel sector:
Initiatives and Support from Government of India

SCHEME FOR INTEGRATED TEXTILE PARKS (SITP)

The scheme aims to facilitate textile units to meet international

and environmental standards by providing support for common
infrastructure and buildings within parks.
Funding: The project cost covers common infrastructure and
buildings with financial support of 40 per cent of the project cost
subject to a cap of INR 40 crores ($ 5.2 Mn) for each park.
There are currently 59 parks under SITP, out of which, 19 are
operational.

AMENDED TECHNOLOGY UPGRADATION FUND SCHEME

(ATUFS)

Launched in January 2016, the aim of the scheme is to enable

technology upgradation in textile and apparel sector by
providing capital investment subsidy across different segments
of the textile value chain. The objective is to facilitate
augmenting of investment, productivity, quality, employment,
exports along with import substitution in textile industry and to
indirectly promote investment in textile machinery
manufacturing.
Funding: The government provides capital investment subsidy
of 15 per cent to garmenting and technical textile segments
with an upper limit of INR 30 crores ($ 3.9 Mn) and 10 per cent
for weaving brand new shuttle less looms, processing jute, silk
and handloom with an upper limit of INR 20 crores ($ 2.6 Mn).
For a composite unit or for multiple segments, if the eligible
capital investment in respect of garmenting and technical
textiles category is more than 50 per cent of the eligible project
cost, the rate would be 15 per cent (cap of INR 30 crore/$ 3.9
Mn) and if it is below 50 per cent, the rate would be 10 per cent
(cap of INR 20 crore/ $ 2.6 Mn).
The scheme has been designed to mobilize new investment of
about INR 95,000 crore ($ 12.5 Bn) and employment for 3.5 Mn
persons by the year 2022.

INTEGRATED SKILL DEVELOPMENT SCHEME FOR THE

TEXTILES AND APPAREL SECTOR (ISDS)

This scheme aims to provide specific skills as per the

requirement of apparel and other segments of the textile
industry, as well as employee-trained persons in related
occupations. The scheme would be implemented through
institutions/textile research associations under Ministry of
Textiles, state government agencies and private bodies in
Public Private Partnership (PPP).
Funding: 75 per cent of the cost subject to the ceiling of INR
10,000 ($ 132) per person. Balance 25 per cent to be mobilized
by the Implementing Agency (IA) which include institutions/
textile research associations under Ministry of Textiles, state
government agencies and private bodies in Public Private
Partnership (PPP).

SAMARTH (SCHEME FOR CAPACITY BUILDING IN

TEXTILE AND APPAREL SECTOR)

The aim is to provide demand-driven, placement-oriented

skilling program to incentivize the efforts of the industry in
creating jobs.
Funding: The scheme would target to train 1 Mn persons (0.9
Mn in the organized sector and 0.1 Mn in the traditional sector)
over a period of three years (2017-20) with an estimated
budget of INR 1,300 crore ($ 172 Mn) and another INR 6,000
crore ($ 794 Mn) has been earmarked for the future

POWERTEX INDIA

The scheme aims at boosting the already existing infrastructure

and encourage the adoption of modernisation in the power
loom sector at an even larger scale.
Funding: The total outlay for PowerTex India Scheme and
knitwear scheme is INR 487 crore ($ 64 Mn). A significant part
of the budget will be spent on skilling, facilitation, IT,
awareness, studies, surveys, and market development and
publicity.

INTEGRATED PROCESSING DEVELOPMENT SCHEME

(IPDS)

This scheme is introduced to enable the textile processing

sector to meet environmental standards through appropriate
technology including marine, riverine and Zero Liquid
Discharge (ZLD).
Funding: The scheme has an outlay of INR 500 crores ($ 66
Mn). Seven projects have been approved by the Ministry: three
projects are in Rajasthan, three are in Tamil Nadu, one project
in Gujarat. Total support provided by the government in these
projects is INR 339.95 crores ($ 44 Mn), out of which, INR
47.81 crores ($ 6.2 Mn) have already been released.
 PROJECT SURE

Sustainability is the next big step that the textiles and apparel
industry in India is going to undertake. Awareness to adopt
green, low carbon and an environment friendly approach is
gradually percolating across players in the industry. In this light,
Minister for Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani launched Project SU.RE,
which stands for Sustainable Revolution, a move towards
sustainable fashion, at the Lakme Fashion Week in August
2019. The SU.RE project is a commitment by India’s textile and
apparel industry to set a sustainable pathway.
Project SU.RE aims to contribute to the UN Sustainable
Development Goals 2030, especially SDG-12 for responsible
consumption and production. Driven by the Clothing
Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI), along with IMG
Reliance, this will be the first step by the apparel industry to
introduce critical sustainability goals. This would help the
industry reduce its carbon emissions, increase resource
efficiency, tackle waste and water management, and create
positive social impact to achieve long-term sustainability.
NATIONAL TECHNICAL TEXTILE MISSION

Technical textiles is one of the fastest growing sub-segments in

India and has been recognised as a champion sub-segment
under textiles. With a view to position the country as a global
leader in technical textiles, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet
Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) have given the
approval to set up a National Technical Textiles Mission with a
total outlay of $ 194 Mn in February, 2020.
The Mission shall be set up for a four-year implementation
period from FY 2020-24 and will have the following four
components:
 Component - I (Research, Innovation and Development)
 Component – II (Promotion and Market Development)
 Component - III (Export Promotion)
 Component- IV

REMISSION OF DUTIES AND TAXES ON EXPORTED

PRODUCTS (RODTEP) SCHEME

In order to enhance exports to international markets, CCEA

chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its
approval for introducing the Scheme for Remission of Duties
and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP). This would lead to
cost competitiveness of exported products in international
markets and better employment opportunities in export-oriented
manufacturing industries.
RoDTEP scheme will take under its ambit refund of GST taxes
and import/customs duties for inputs along with VAT on fuel
used in transportation, mandi tax, duty on electricity used
during manufacturing.
The refunds under the RoDTEP scheme would be a step
towards “zero-rating” of exports, along with refunds such as
Drawback and IGST. The rebate would be claimed as
a percentage of the Freight On Board (FOB) value of exports.
A monitoring and audit mechanism, with an Information
Technology-based Risk Management System (RMS), would be
put in to physically verify the records of the exporters. As and
when the rates under the RoDTEP scheme are announced for
a tariff line/ item, the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme
(MEIS) benefits on such tariff line/item will be discontinued.

Upcoming initiatives by the government:

NEW TEXTILE POLICY 2020

The Ministry of Textiles is in the process of formulating a New

Textiles Policy 2020 with a vision to develop a competitive
textile sector which is modern, sustainable and inclusive with
special focus on manufacturing of apparel and garment,
technical textiles, man-made fibre products and exports while
maintaining pre-eminent position in handicrafts and handlooms
sectors.

PRODUCTION LINKED INCENTIVE SCHEME

To help boost local manufacturing, attract large investments in

the textile and apparel sector, the government is planning to
expand its production-linked incentive scheme.
Earlier announced for electronics and pharmaceutical industry,
the total incentives under this programme could be as high as
INR 50,000 crore ($ 6.6 Bn). While this has been the vision of
the government under its Make in India programme, the drive
under the incentive scheme has been accelerated following
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for an Atmanirbhar Bharat,
or self-reliant India.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Textiles and Apparel Industry in

India
The outbreak of Covid-19 has affected the textile and apparel
industry globally as well as in India. The spread of the virus is
having serious implications and companies have started feeling
the impact owing to uncertainty in demand, supply chain
disruptions, decline in raw material prices having implication on
livelihood of workers as well. As estimates suggest, for the
Indian textile and apparel industry, there is a 12-15 months'
slowdown causing at least a 30 per cent shrinkage in the FY21
market size globally.
To support the industry, the government of India has launched
several measures including INR 3 lakh crore ($ 39.7 Bn)
collateral-free loans for businesses, including Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), barring global tenders for
government procurement up to INR 200 crore ($ 26.4 Mn),
infusing more liquidity into banking and non-banking
institutions, deferment of EPF/ESI payments, amending the
definition of MSMEs by increasing the investment limit and
including annual sales turnover as an additional criterion. The
Reserve Bank of India has also announced several stimulus
measures to ease down the financial stress on the companies
in the sector.
Turning crisis into opportunity, the textiles and apparel industry
in India came to the forefront to help India combat Covid-19.
Major shortages of masks and personal protective equipment
(PPE) were being reported across the country, posing much
danger for frontline workers who tend to Covid-19 patients.
What followed then was a remarkable collaboration between
governments at the central and state levels, textile and apparel
industry players and workers to revamp existing production
lines to manufacture a completely unknown product, from
scratch.
An import dependent India then charted a journey to become
not only self-sufficient but the 2nd largest PPE manufacturer in
the world in just 60 days.
To know more, refer to an exclusive report by Invest India on
PPE in India: A $ 1 Bn industry in the making
 STRATEGY TO ADDRESS THE CRISIS

Short Term (3-6 months)

 Provide fast track clearances for movement of goods from
ports.
 Provide interest free loans to firms to manage their
operating capital.
 Provide GST exemptions.
 Create a financial package to help MSME units that have
taken loans from the informal sector.
 Incentivize manufacturing of essential products such as
Masks, Gowns, PPEs etc.
 Provide moratorium for repayment of principal and interest
amounts.
 Expedite release of dues under GST refunds, ATUFS,
export subsidies.
 State Governments could reduce power tariff for all Textile
units.
 Exempt raw materials from basic customs duty & anti-
dumping duty.
Medium to Long Term (6-12 months)
 Bring out policies that will lead to the creation of vertically
integrated units.
 Provide fiscal incentives for technical textiles segment.
 Sign FTAs with Europe, US and other large consumption
economies in the world
 Diversify into MMF and winter wear manufacturing.
 Remove import duties on import of textile machinery.
 Textile Industry stimulus package by combining unutilized
funds across different schemes.
 Incentivize domestic sourcing by Retailers/Brands (Both
Global and Indian).
RECOMMENDATIONS

Way Forward for the Industry

The textiles and apparel industry in India is expected to grow
significantly in the coming years. However, below are a few
areas where there exists much scope for improvement and the
government taking major strides to ensure conducive industry
ecosystem to transform India into a global textiles and apparels
hub:
TECHNOLOGY UPGRADATION

There is a need to focus on modernization of existing

technology in textiles and apparel industry to achieve scale and
become globally competitive. There are several machineries
and components that are needed to be imported for
technological upgradation for which the import cost is relatively
high. Thus, it is recommended that certain machinery or
components not manufactured in India like certain shuttle-less
looms, knitting machines, nonwoven machines, etc. should be
identified and their import should be permitted at zero or
nominal rate of duty for a period of three years. After this
timeframe, duty should be raised to 15 per cent. This will
facilitate Indian sector to acquire new, technically superior
machinery at reasonable costs and signal foreign machinery
manufacturers to invest in India.

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT AND CLUSTER

UPGRADATION

Textiles production not only requires the creation of world class

infrastructure but also for the creation of plug and play facilities
to meet the growing demand, especially in times of ‘fast
fashion’. Ministry of Textiles is well under way to create an
ecosystem model that would allow for the creation of new mega
textile parks having seamless connectivity with national
highways, dedicated freight corridors, railway lines and ports.

SKILLED MANPOWER

India has the advantage of productive workforce owing to a

promising demographic dividend where over 65 per cent
population is below 35 years of age. The Indian workforce is
expected to increase to approximately 600 Mn by the year 2022
from the current estimate of 473 Mn. 
Since few individuals attend any kind of formal training in India
as compared to other nations, it becomes important to focus on
skill advancement and have an industrious pool of ‘work-ready’
skill-based individuals for textiles and apparels. There should
be investment in improving skills as a collaborative effort
between the private sector and the government. Abundant
availability of trained and certified manpower should become
the norm and efforts must be made to achieve per man hour,
per machine output in terms of quality and quantity of the levels
prevailing in competing countries. Existing skill development
initiatives through the Sector Skill Council should be
appropriately scaled up in partnership with the industry along
with putting in place a credible mechanism for assessing quality
and productivity of workers to hold them more accountable.

DIVERSIFICATION OF EXPORT MARKETS

Traditionally, the European Union and USA dominate the global

apparel market with a combined share of over 41 per cent while
they account for only 11 per cent of the world population.19 But
there is a gradual rise in other markets across the globe that
can be tapped into, including Japan, Russia and Brazil. To
increase India’s share, it is recommended that country specific
export strategies should be developed and implemented.
Initially four to five major markets should be identified in which
share of Indian exports can be increased and for each market,
a pin-pointed market specific strategy must be devised to fully
tap into the available opportunities.
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT (R&D) PROPELLING
INNOVATION

Amplifying the R&D ecosystem for the Indian textiles and

apparel sector will be crucial for its unhampered growth. The
government must continually invest in R&D and innovation to
help industry develop capabilities in emerging technologies and
enable it to create breakthrough products. In this regard, multi-
stakeholder collaboration must be undertaken between the
government, academia and industry, specifically in the case of
technical textiles. Asia is emerging as a powerhouse both for
production and consumption of technical textiles with China
being a market leader. Korea, Japan, India and Taiwan are the
other key players of technical textiles in Asia. The production of
technical textiles requires large investment in developing
specialised high-performance fibre, high technology and
modern production facilities which can grow only on the back of
a well-developed ecosystem for R&D in India.
MACHINE MANUFACTURING

The Textile Engineering Industry (TEI) in India is one of the five

key capital goods industries. The industry has more than 80 per
cent of the units as SMEs with a total investment of $ 1.2 Bn.20
Domestic manufacturing and consequent availability at
affordable prices of state of the art textile machinery is an
essential requirement for cost and quality competitiveness. 
In order to promote investment in textile machinery
manufacturing, it is recommended that incentives under
Scheme of Hire Purchase and ATUFS in specific segments
should be made available only on indigenous machinery after
period of three years. This will give sufficient time for
international and Indian investors to join hands or make
independent investments for manufacturing machinery within
India.
Moreover, existing customs tariff on textile machinery and
components are inverted in nature wherein import of complete
machinery attracts five per cent basic customs duty in general
while raw materials and number of components attract an
average duty rate of 7.5 per cent and above. For promoting
indigenization of machinery manufacturing, basic duty of
complete machinery should be at least five per cent higher that
on inputs. It is recommended that a detailed exercise should be
carried out to assess whether the import duty on the raw
material needs to be decreased or import duty on complete
textile machinery need to be increased to maintain this
differential.
BRANDING OF INDIAN TEXTILES AND APPAREL
INDUSTRY AS A SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURER
In order to position India as a value-added destination for
textiles and apparel industry globally, sustainability will prove to
be of critical importance. There is a need to develop an
understanding of the environmental impact of the garments
being produced and making the right decisions about how,
where, and what we source across the value chain by selecting
sustainable and renewable materials, processes and ensuring
their traceability. Such crucial understanding around
sustainability can thrive in a sourcing policy which prioritizes
and utilizes certified raw materials that have a positive impact
on the environment.
There is also a consistent need to incentivise investments in
energy and water efficient manufacturing systems, create
compliant factories and leverage India’s strength in organic
cotton and recycled fibre capacities.

6. TEXTILE AND APPAREL INDUSTRIES,

PROCESSES
Textile Manufacturing Process with Flow chart
Textile fibres have certainly provided an essential element in
contemporary society and physical formation pointing out
human comfort. Human is a companion of fashion. Textile
Manufacturing process is beginning towards the production of
any garment or Textile Products. The aspirations for quality
garment and apparel gave rise to development of textile fibres
and textile production units.  The textile companies meet the
requirements of human in terms of attire and this attire is
brought into the market after a specific procedure. Textile
manufacturing is an extensive and immense industry having a
complex procedure. It undergoes range of stages as converting
fibre into yarn, yarn into fabric and so on ending up with
clothing as a concluding product. 

EXPLAINATION OF THE 4 STAGES IN TEXTILE

MANUFACTURING PROCESS
Currently, textile production units include significant quality of textile
process for manufacturing that adds value in fiber. The cloth production
is not an output of few stages but it do undergoes from various steps.
The process describing the stages of manufacturing procedure is listed
below:

 STEP1: Spinning
 STEP 2: Weaving
 STEP 3: Dyeing + Printing + Finishing
 STEP 4: Garments Manufacturing

The description of all stages of Textile manufacturing process are

provided below:

SPINNING PROCESS:
Spinning is a procedure of producing/converting fiber materials in yarns.
On an initial stage it goes through the blowroom where the size of cotton
becomes smaller by the help of machinery followed by carding. After
carding, the process is continued by drawing which includes attenuating
in spinning mills. The silver produced by drawing is then processed for
combining where consistent size of cloth is attained. It is then stepped
further for roving for purpose to prepare input package. This roving is
attenuated by rollers and then spun around the rotating spindle.
WEAVING PROCESS:
Weaving is second level after spinning. Here, the yarn from spinning
section is sent further for doubling and twisting. It is than processed for
shifting of yarn in convenient form of package containing sufficient yarn
length. At the stage of creeling the exhausted packages are replaced
with the new ones which is followed by wraping. The wrap yarn is
provided a protective coating to lessen the breakage of yarn which is
called as sizing. It is considered as an important segment. This yarn is
then processed for winding on weavers beam supported by the final step
of weaving.

DYEING + PRINTING + FINISHING PROCESS:

Dyeing as well as printing of fabrics are usually carried before the
application of other finishes to the product in dyeing mills. It provides
colour to fabric and also improves the appearance of it. The product is
then converted from woven to knitted cloth known as finishing. Finishing
is specifically carried after dyeing or printing to give a specific look.

GARMENT MANUFACTURING PROCESS:  

Garment manufacturing is the end procedure converting semi-finished
cloth into finished cloth. There are various steps completed by garment
manufacturing companies for the production of cloth. These processes
include- Designing, Sampling, Costing, Maker Making Cutting, Sewing
Washing, Finishing, Packing, Final Inspection, Dispatch and much more.

The above description could provide you a brief idea about the textile
process in industries. Apparel/cloth is not an outcome generated in
simple steps instead it includes lengthy mechanical procedures.
Decades ago, the traditional method of producing cloth was used which
is now been replaced by automated textile machinery in specific mills
like spinning mills, Ginning Mills, Dyeing Mills, Processing Units and
more. 

The garment manufacturing process involved a number of processes

from order receiving to dispatching shipment of the finished garments. A
process flow chart helps to understand how raw materials are moved
from one process to another process until raw materials are transformed
into the desired product (garments).
 Image: Garment finishing section

It is noted that a process flow chart made for the garment manufacturing
processes will vary based on manufacturing facility and product types.
As some companies do the whole process in a single plant when others
do production jobs and other auxiliary processes are outsourced.

Based on the present apparel industry, garment manufacturing

processes are categorized as

 Pre-Production Processes - The pre-production process includes

sampling, sourcing of raw materials, Approvals, PP meetings, etc.
Read this for further reading on pre-production processes.
 Production processes - Production processes are cutting, sewing,
quality checking, etc.
 Post-production processes - thread trimming, pressing, checking,
folding and packing, shipment inspection, etc.

Instead of making a single process flow chart, I have made one chart for
major processes and two separate charts for cutting room processes,
and finishing processes for detailed process charts.
Chart-1. Garment manufacturing process flow chart (major
processes)
Chart-2. Cutting Room Process Flow Chart
Chart-3. Finishing Process Flow Chart
 7.Different Departments in a Garment
Factory and Their Functions
A garment factory is a place where complete garments are made from
the fabrics following a chain of processes. A process flowchart will give a
better idea of how things are done in a garment factory. Departments are
set-up based on the group of activities to be performed by a team of
people.

Garment manufacturing is a complex process that starts with sample

development and end after shipping the finished garments to the buyers.
 Different departments of a garment factory
Here is the list of garment factory departments. These departments
include the pre-production departments, production, and post-production
departments. The supporting departments are also listed here.

1. Marketing and business development department 

2. Design department 
3. Merchandising department 
4. Pattern Making, CAD department 
5. Sampling department 
6. Fabric Store and fabric sourcing 
7. Trims and Accessory Store 
8. Fabric Testing Lab 
9. Production Planning and Control 
10. Cutting department 
11. Sewing department 
12. Quality Control department 
13. Machine Maintenance department 
14. Garment Washing department
15. Finishing department 
16. Printing department 
17. Embroidery department 
Supporting departments in a garment factory
In the above pre-production and production departments are listed. To
run the factory smoothly, with production departments, one needs to set
up some auxiliary departments. Some of the supporting departments of
a garment manufacturing setup are as followings

1. Industrial Engineering Department 

2. EDP / IT department 
3. Accounting Department 
4. Human Resource and Administration 
5. Shipping and documentation 
 Various functions and activities of different departments in
a garment factory
1. Marketing department

The marketing department in a garment company is responsible for

marketing products made by the factory, finding new customers, and
bringing more and more orders for the company. A marketing
department is headed by the marketing manager and supported
marketing team.

 They meet with prospects and existing buyers. They show their
latest product development (designs) to the buyer. They are given
responsibility for business development for the company. 
 This department showcases factory’s ability for developing new
designs, factory compliance, and quality policy and quality performance. 
 The most common marketplace for manufacturers is international
apparel shows and exhibitions, where buyers and sellers meet to find
each other. In the exhibition, buyers pick their interesting design and
place orders if their target price is met. 
 In this internet age, garment factories build websites for marketing
purpose and increase their visibility to potential customers. Small
factories post their product in online yellow pages and do content
marketing to reach a bigger market. Social Media like Facebook,
LinkedIn and Twitter are used as marketing tools. 
 More than just developing new clients, retaining existing customer
is also important. To retain your existing customers, you need to satisfy
your customers by shipping quality products and timely delivery and
providing quality services. The main mantra to retain customers and
making them marketer for you is to deliver more than you are paid for.
Deliver more than commitment and customer expectations. 
2. Design department activities

 Apparel design department is responsible for product

development. They focus on developing garment designs in similar
product categories the company does its business. Designers develop
new design collection every season. Designers make designs as per the
latest trends and buyers test. For big manufacturers, the designing
department plays an important role in retaining customers by showing
new designs to their buyers in every season. 
 Designers develop a library for fabrics, trims and accessories, and
for garments. 
 Apparel retailers and brands those have own manufacturing set-
up, normally set up the design department for developing new designs. 
3. Merchandising Department

Merchandising department works as a mediator in between factory and

buyers. This department is considered as the heart and soul of the
company. They coordinate with buyers for orders, send garment
samples for buyer approval and receive comments on samples and
other approvals. Merchandiser prepares the bill of materials, prepares
garment costing sheet and follows up of production activities.

Merchandising department is formed with a team of senior merchants

and junior merchants. Where factories work with many buyers, each
merchant is allocated specific accounts with a couple of buyers.

In bigger factories merchandising team is given specific responsibilities

as sampling merchant and production merchant. Based on their profile,
sampling merchants look into sampling activities and communicate with
buyers only for sample development and queries on sampling.
Production merchant is involved in merchandising activities related to
bulk production, planning, sourcing and production follow up.

Merchandising department activities 

 Communicate with buyers 

 Review the garment sample 
 Develop garment sample 
 Product costing 
 Develop good relationship with customers 
 Scheduling of pre-production and production activities 
 Preparing Bill of Material (BOM) and fabric indent
 Source raw materials 
 Provide quality approval 
 Prepare Production File 
 Conduct Pre-Production Meeting 
 Execute orders 
 Providing after sales services 
4. Pattern Making Department

Pattern making department makes garment patterns and digitize

patterns to CAD. CAD stands for Computer Aided Design. Pattern
making department is headed by Pattern master. Pattern making
department is also known as the technical department.

Following are the major Activities of Pattern Making Department

 Pattern Making 
 Pattern Grading 
 Sample Development 
 Garment FIT checking and correction of patterns 
 Incorporate buyer’s comments on samples 
 Making production viable sample 
 Fabric Consumption Calculation 
 Marker planning 
5. Sampling Department

Sampling department makes all kind of samples that need to be

submitted to the buyer. Sampling department checks fit of the sample.
Sampling department communicates problems related to orders to the
production department.

As mentioned in the above that in small size factories, pattern making,

and sampling is kept in one department. They have common activities.
Sampling department’s activities are

 Reading garment spec and understanding workmanship of the

garment. 
 Assisting merchants in preparing bill of material for the sample 
 Calculating fabric consumption 
 Making garment samples by following complete processes of
cutting, sewing, finishing and checking. 
 Measurement all samples and check the quality of the garment
samples. Prepare quality inspection report for measurement and
visuals. 
 Fabric shrinkage test is done in garment form. 
 Coordinate with production team about communicate about critical
points for stitching and handling of a style 
6. Fabric Store and fabric sourcing department 

The fabric store is handled by Fabric in-charge and the in-charge is

assisted by a team of helpers for loading and unloading fabrics and
issuing fabric to cutting department. Fabric department receives and
stores all kind of fabrics. Fabric rolls are kept in the rack or on wooden
pallets.

Following are the major Activities of the fabric store

 Sourcing of Fabrics 
 Receive Raw Materials 
 Checking of Greige and Finished fabric 
 Prepare shade band for dyed and printed fabrics 
 Basic Testing of Physical properties of fabrics 
 Maintain inventory record for fabrics 
 Fabric Issue 
 Fabric printing 
 Fabric Reconciliation 
 Communication with Fabric supplier 
7. Trims and Accessory Store

Like fabric store, this store receives all kind of trims and accessories and
store in racks. Small size factories, fabric and trim store are headed by
the same person. And the functions of this department includes
followings.

 Sourcing trims like sewing thread and packing accessories 

 Checking of Trims and accessories in term of quality and quantity 
 Storing trims and inventory maintenance 
 Trim and accessory issue 
 Dying of trims like twill tape 
 Arranging trims in racks or bin to get trims easily when the request
received from someone. 
8. Production Planning and Control department

Production planning department is responsible for planning and

scheduling orders. This department is known as PPC department. They
execute production and do follow with all production processes.
Production planning and scheduling of activities are essential to procure
raw material on time, complete production activities on time and able
handover shipment on time.

Small size factories do not keep a separate department for production

planning. Merchandisers do planning of pre-production activities and
production head prepares a production plan.

Factories those have separate PPC department, following activities are

carried out by them.

 Job or Task Scheduling 

 Material Requirement Planning (Inventory) 
 Loading Production 
 Process selection & planning 
 Facility location 
 Estimating quantity and costs of production 
 Capacity planning 
 Line planning 
 Production follow up and execution 
Learn more about PPC in the apparel industry by reading my book on
this subject.
9. Cutting department activities 

This department is responsible for cutting of fabrics and feeding sewing

department with cuttings. Cutting department’s capacity is planned as
per daily feeding requirement to the sewing lines. Cutting department set
up with cutting department head, cutters, spreaders, quality checkers,
 and helpers for sorting, ply numbering and bundling.

List of activities of the cutting department is as follows

 Fabric receiving from the fabric store 

 Fabric relaxation 
 Cut planning 
 Fabric spreading/layering on the cutting table 
 Marker Planning 
 Marker making 
 Cutting of fabrics 
 Sorting, Bundling and numbering of garment plies (parts) 
 Inspection of cut components 
 Sorting of printed and embroidery panels 
 Re-cutting of panels 
 Fusing Garment Components 
10. Sewing Department

Main jobs of the sewing department are stitching of garment. In the

sewing floor, various types of production systems and line layout are
used. Factories either work in an assembly line or group system. Major
tasks of this department are as follows but not limited to these only.

 Line setting 
 Garment stitching 
 Marking parts 
 Ironing garment components 
 Checking of stitched garments 
 Stitching Alteration 
 Documentation 
11. Machine Maintenance Department

This department repair machines and look after maintenance of sewing

machines. Major activities of the machine maintenance department are
 Machine set up 
 Repairing sewing machines 
 Maintaining inventory of machine parts 
 Doing preventive maintenance for machines and equipment 
12. Industrial Engineering Department

Industrial Engineering department assists production department in

setting line, improving production and measuring production
performance. Major activities of Industrial Engineering department are
product analysis, making operation bulletin, calculating garment SAM,
making line layout and workstation layout. They capture production data
and prepare daily production report.  

In a typical garment unit, industrial engineering department handles

following activities

 Estimating the SAM of the garment for a new style for costing 
 Calculating thread consumption for garments 
 Providing operational breakdown with SAM and target for each
operation for an order (style) 
 Selection of machines and work-aids and number of machines for
each operation of a particular order 
 Method improvements through method study 
 Time study of the operators 
 Capacity Study of operators 
 Line Balancing 
 Calculating direct labor cost 
 Develop detailed production methods, from detailed manual
movements to major decisions on technology. 
 Documentation of all methods using manuals, computer-based
system as appropriate. 
 Operator performance improvement 
 Operator training program 
 Production Control system 
If you planning to set up a garment factory, you must consider employing
industrial engineers. Don’t fear about extra manpower cost but you will
 get a return of it. You have to utilize IE’s skill in product and production
planning.
13. Washing department

Sometimes garments need to be washing after stitching to remove dust,

tracing mark and to give a washed look to the garment. This department
washes the garments, cut panels (if required), wash garment samples as
required. 

14. Finishing department

Stitched garments are finished prior to packing into poly bag. Major
activities of a finishing department include thread trimming, checking of
garments and ironing. Packing department in a factory works side by
side of the finishing department. Folding, tagging and packing of
garments are done in the finishing department. Based on product
categories finishing room activities may vary.

Activities of the finishing department are listed below

 Thread trimming 
 Attach button and button holing in case these jobs are done in the
stitching section 
 Checking of garments 
 Stain removing 
 Garment Pressing / Ironing 
 Folding and Tagging 
 Packing 
 Communicate with internal department 
15. Quality Control / Quality Assurance department

Responsibilities of the quality control department may vary organization

to organization but main activities almost remain the same. Activities of
the Quality control department are as follows.

 Setting up Quality Standards 

 Establishing Quality SOP 
 Quality Assurance 
 Quality Control activities at the Pre-production stage: 
 Auditing inward fabric and trims and ensuring only quality goods
are accepted. 
 Involvement in product development and sampling stage and take
care of quality aspects of samples. 
 Ensure that no faulty fabric is sent for cutting. If a minor fault is
present in the fabric, defects should be marked on the fabric and the
same thing must be communicated to the cutting department. 
 Preparing the audit report of the fabric and trims quality. 
 Conducting pre-production meeting before production start. 
Supporting departments and their activities

Departments if a garment factory those are no directly involved in

garment production but support garment production team to perform
their work smoothly. Necessary supporting departments are Accounting,
EDP, Shipping and documentation, Human resource and Administration.

16. Accounts department activities

 Accounting department prepare payroll for employees, give

payments to workers and write checks for staffs. They manage accounts
of the company. 
 Maintain records of supplier payment and follow up with buyers for
pending payment. This department is involved in all kind payment and
cash management. 
17. Human Resource and Administration

 This department is concern about the social issue of the employee.

They look after recruiting and employee welfare. 
 This department maintains employee attendance and absent
records. 
 Handle labour issues 
 Factory compliance and social compliance 
 New employee orientation
 18. Electronic Data Processing (EDP)

Garment factories use many electronics items such as computers,

printer, Barcode systems etc. Computers are used for daily activities like
mailing, making reports and accounting software, EPRs etc. An EDP
department is necessary for troubleshooting of the computers and
software.

The major activities of this department are

 Purchasing electronic items 

 Breakdown maintenance of computers and other hardware 
 Supporting internet and mailing activities 
 Protecting the company’s server from outside bugs and viruses 
 Database maintenance 
 Report generating 
19. Shipping and documentation

Shipping and documentation department prepare shipment related

documents. They communicate with buyers for shipment dispatch and
send the shipment to buyers.

8.Garment Manufacturing Process from

Fabric to Finished Product
The clothes we wear are mostly made of textile fabrics. The textile fabrics are made of
yarns through the weaving and knitting process. Fabrics are converted into wearable
garments through the garment manufacturing process in garment factories. At the time
of garment making, functional trims and accessories are attached to the garment at
various stages.
There are different ways of making garments. The most
conventional process of making readymade garments in mass
production is explained here.

Garment manufacturing workflow

Following is the manufacturing workflow and the steps involved in the
process of garment making. For a typical apparel product, the garment
manufacturing workflow looks like the following -
 Some of the above processes are parallel processes and can be
performed simultaneously.

As a garment maker, garment factories normally purchase fabric from

various fabric suppliers. Prior to sourcing the fabric, there are some pre-
production processes handled by the factory merchandiser.

Following steps are involved in the pre-production stage.

  Pattern making,
  Garment sampling,
  Fabric development,
  Fabrics and trims approvals,
  Fabric and trims sourcing,
  PP meeting
Pattern Making

From the design sketch and product specification sheet, garment

patterns are made by a technical person (also called a pattern master).
To cut the fabric for making any kind of apparel product, you need a
template for different body parts. These paper templates are called a
pattern.

The first pattern of a design is made at the time of prototype making. The
patterns are modified and corrected as the sample development
progressed and patterns are graded during size set sample making. The
final patterns are approved after the PP sample approval.

Nowadays most designers and garment factories use CAD systems for
making the patterns. The CAD system has another advantage in maker
making, instead of manual marker making marker papers are printed by
a plotter. The markers are efficiently made by CAD system and fabric
utilization can be improved.

Garment Sampling

Factories develop garment samples and take approvals on the sample

from their buyers. Without sample approval, the factory is not allowed to
start the bulk process. Factories need to develop various types of
samples at various stages of sample development.

Read about different types of garment samples. Garment manufacturers

follow the product tech pack to prepare the garment sample as well as
the bulk production.

In the sampling stage, the factory learns the garment construction details
and material required for a given order. The sampling department is also
working as a research and development (R&D) section for the factory.
The sampling process helps the production team start the bulk
production without many issues.
A pre-production meeting is conducted at the factory by the
merchandising team. In this meeting product design, production
schedule and responsibilities, buyer requirement in all aspects of product
quality, and production completion deadline are discussed.

Fabric Development

Little about Fabrics: Textile fabrics are available in three main

categories - knitted, woven and non-woven fabrics. Fabrics are
manufactured in textile mills, and power looms sectors. Later, greige
fabrics are finished as per the buyer’s (garment manufacturers)
requirement. The factory only needs to find the fabric(s) that is required
for the style/design.

Selection of fabric: There are thousands of fabric designs and fabric

quality. Fabric selection is done based on fabric quality required, like
fabric color, fibre content, surface texture, hand feel, physical and
chemical properties. If the required fabric is already available in the
market, factory purchases those fabrics from the stock. For this factory
need to explore various places for finding the required fabrics.
Otherwise, they work with the fabric supplier to develop the desired
fabric quality.

Fabric development: The garment maker gives the fabric quality

requirement to the fabric supplier for developing a new fabric design. At
the fabric development stage, the negotiation of fabric price is done with
the fabric vendors. Lab dip and desk loom are developed at this stage
prior to bulk fabric order. Prior to bulk sourcing, fabric sample is tested to
check whether the desired quality is matched with the developed fabric
or not. For yarn dyed stripes knits fabric knit-down is developed.

Garment maker takes approval of bulk fabric by sending a fabric swatch

to the buyer.
Bulk Fabric Sourcing

Fabric sourcing: How much fabric is required for each garment? What

is the average fabric consumption for bulk production? At this stage,
there are few calculations on fabric consumption per garment. This work
is done by pattern making department (CAD department). Based on the
fabric consumption, total fabric requirement is generated for an order
and the same is sourced from the pre-approved fabric supplier. The
fabrics are in-house in the factory or in a central warehouse of the
company.

Fabric quality inspection: Whether the fabrics are purchased from the

buyer nominated fabric suppliers or from the open market, garment
makers are not sure whether all the fabrics are without fault and defect
free. So fabric checking is an important process. The fabric may be
required to check 100% or can be checked randomly based on fabric
quality received. For an example, 4 Point System is used by the factories
for fabric inspection and fabric quality grading.

Some fabric tests like fabric GSM, fabric shrinkage and color bleeding in
washing are done by the factory. If the fabric shrinkage is more than the
allowance, fabrics are pre-shrunk for bulk cutting. Sometimes patterns
are modified according to the fabric shrinkage which gives the correct
measurement in the garment after washing.

Fabric sorting and shade banding: It is a common fact that when

fabrics are sourced in bulk, the fabrics are processed in different lots
(batches) depending on dyeing machine capacity. So, there are chances
of having shade variations of fabrics of the same colors. To avoid shade
variation in garments shade band is prepared by the factory.

Sourcing for trims and accessories: Similar to fabric sourcing all

required trims and accessories are purchased. Trims and accessories
are sourced in advance to production start. Trims requirement is
calculated based on the trims consumption per garment.

Quality checking of trims and accessories: The quality of the trims

are inspected and approved for production. Trims like laces, twill tapes,
buttons, zippers, and drawcords are tested for color bleeding. Defective
and damaged trims are separated and are not used in garments.

Production Planning

All the processes and activities are planned and scheduled in advance
by the production planner. The production planning team executes and
controls production activities. They keep track of the actual process
activities to ensure on-time order completion. A time and action calendar
is prepared by the planning team for production scheduling and
controlling. Mostly the T&A is made by a merchandiser.

Cutting Process
Fabric is the most costly item in garment manufacturing. About 60-70%
cost of the garment is incurred in fabrics. For this reason, garment
makers wisely utilize fabrics. Some of these fabric saving tips in the
cutting room surely help garment makers to save fabric as well as
money.

Bulk fabric cutting using a straight knife cutting machine

The bulk cutting is done by means of cutting machines. Different types of
fabric cutting machines are available for bulk cutting. Before the cutting
of fabric, cut order plan is prepared and the fabric is taken from the fabric
store according to the requirement. The following steps are followed in
the cutting section.

Fabric spreading: First the fabric rolls are opened and spread on a

cutting table layer by layer. This process is done by hand or by using an
automatic spreading machine. The length of the layer is decided based
on the marker size and marker length. Multiple numbers of fabric layers
are spread on the table and all the fabric layers are cut together.
Depending on the fabric thickness number of plies in a lay is decided.
Normally the height of the lay is kept according to the cutting machine
blade height.

Marker making: For manual marker making, cutter use paper pattern for
marking and use chalk to mark outlines of the patterns. After marking the
outlines on the lay, patterns are removed and the cutter follows the
outline to cut the garment parts.

Component numbering on the marker: Normally in a marker, more

than one garment is cut and the garment may be of different sizes. To
avoid mixing of different garment sizes during bundling and sorting, the
size is marked on the top layer after manual marking. For automatic
cutting or paper printed marker, this marking is not required, as all
patterns are already come with style and size marking.

Lay Cutting: After marker making, the lay is cut by using a cutting

machine. For a single ply and a small number of plies, hand scissors are
used.

Ply numbering: Ply numbering is done to all the garment components.

This process is included to avoid color variation in the garment
components of the same garment. In single piece production system
bundle numbering is not required. A hand machine is used for
numbering the cut plies.

Sorting and Bundling: Cut components are sorted by size, color, and

bundle size. Then bundling is done and stored in the cutting room. A
ticket (bundle tag) is attached to the bundle to identify the component
and style details.

Dispatch cuttings to stitching section: Cut bundle are sent to stitching

section as per the need of sewing floor and loaded to the line. Some
factories prefer to send the whole lay to stitching section and bundling of
the layer are done on the production line.

Quality checking in cutting section: In the cutting section, quality of

the cut components like notches, pattern shape, components
measurement, and major fabric defects (hole in the fabric, cut mark etc.)
are checked. Parts measurement is taken from the top, middle and
bottom plies and compared with the actual patterns, and shapes etc.

Garment Printing and Embroidery

Printing and embroidery processes are value-added but optional

process. Printing on the garment is done at either the fabric stage or
after cutting of garment components. For small set up, this is not
necessary to set up facility for printing and embroidery process. If
required printing and embroidery processes are outsourced.

Garment Stitching
After the cutting and printing process (optional process), cut components are sent to the sewing
department. Operators stitch and assemble garment components one by one and make the
complete garment. At the time of sewing, garments are checked by quality checkers. Stitched
garments are dispatched to the finishing or washing department if washing is required.
Garment stitching

The garment stitching process involved the following sub-processes.

 Part preparation
 Marking
 Folding and pressing
 Stitching/assembling
 Quality checking

In the sewing section, operators are also provided various sewing

supplies like stitching threads, sewing machine needles, trims,
operation-specific guides, and attachments.

Parts Preparation: Before assembling the garment, individual garment

parts are prepared in the preparatory section. For example, in shirt
manufacturing, shirt collars, sleeve cuffs and sleeves are prepared in the
preparatory section and later loaded in the shirt assembling section. The
preparatory section is introduced in the line to improve line balancing. Be
noted preparatory section is not required for products like t-shirt, boxer,
leggings.
Marking part: In a garment, some part requires marking to attach one
garment component to another precisely. Marking is normally done by
using chalk or magic pencil by using a template or laser ray.

Like in a formal shirt for button holing and button attachment, front
plackets are marked manually to define the correct location of the button
positioning. The marking process helps operator deciding where the job
needs to be done accurately.

Part folding and pressing: Depending on the requirement an operator

may need to fold the component and press it by means of a template.
Like, chest pocket is folded and pressed prior to attaching the pocket on
the chest.

Assembly section: The garment components are assembled by the

operators step by step in a sequence of product construction. To sew
garments different types of sewing machines are used.

Quality inspection on the floor: On the sewing floor, stitching quality is

checked by the checkers. Normally the semi-stitched garments are
checked to detect the stitching faults. The checker suggests a solution to
the operator who is responsible for making the defects. Inline quality
inspection, roaming inspection, and end-of-line quality checking are
done on the sewing floor.

Production line set-up: The stitching floor requires a maximum number

of manpower in a garment production units including sewing machine
operators, helpers, pressman, alteration tailor, feeder, data collection,
work-study officer, quality checker and line supervisors.

In mass garment production, the production line layout and line setting
are done prior to loading every new product (style). The industrial
engineers prepare the operations bulletin and line layout. In the
operation bulletin, they estimate manpower requirements and machine
requirements to produce the target quantity. Learn more about industrial
engineering in apparel manufacturing from my blog.

Production Reporting: Production data capturing and reporting is an

integral part of garment manufacturing. Production and quality-related
data are collected to track the production and monitoring the production.
Various kinds of production reports are made and analyzed by a factory.
Apparel manufacturers prepare a report on key performance indicators
(KPI) of the various production departments.

Garment Washing

Washing is done to remove dirt and dust from the garments. The
washing process involves additional cost, so this process is done only if
the buyer asks for washing of their orders. More than just cleaning of
garments, washing is also done to give a washed look to the finished
garment with different types of finishes.

Garment Finishing
All the clothing articles are finished prior to sending to customers. Even a
tailoring shop does the finishing of tailored shirts and pants. So what
activities are normally done at the garment finishing stage? Here is a
brief list of garment finishing processes.
 Garment pressing

Thread trimming: In case garments contain uncut threads – left by the

stitching operator during stitching, threads are cut at this stage. Uncut
threads can be trimmed by a manual trimmer or a thread trimming
machine.

Removing the sticker and loose threads: I have mentioned above that
in the cutting department, all the garment components are labeled with
paper stickers. Those stickers are removed manually by a team of
workers.

Initial garment checking: This checkpoint is placed prior to ironing the

garments. Visual inspection and measurement checking are done in the
initial checking. Finishing checkers check for loose and uncut threads,
ply numbering stickers, garment construction, garment labeling,
workmanship and measurement after washing / non-wash.

Checkers also check for stitching defects in seams, fabric defects in the
garment and any other kind of defects those need to be repaired. So, at
this stage checkers segregate the defective garments and defective
garments are sent to the repair section.

All stitching defects are sent to repair tailors. Defect like stains and hard
stains, defective garments are given to stain removers. Small jobs like
thread trimming and removing of stickers are done by the checker.

Garment pressing: The garment pieces are pressed by an iron.

Normally steam iron is used for processing cotton garments. In this
process, creases and wrinkles in unfinished garments are removed and
give a fresh look to the apparel products. Different types of pressing
equipment are available for garment pressing. Depending on the product
and production volume, the right pressing equipment is used.

Final garment checking: The pressed garments are rechecked for

measurement and visuals inspection. Shade variation, correct labeling of
size, and content labels are check in this stage. Any defective garment
detected at this stage is sent back for repair.

Garment folding and packing

Folding: The finished garments are then folded in a specific dimension.
Folding can be done by using a template too. The price tags, hang hags
and any other kind of tags are attached to garment after folding. The
garment folding types varied depending on the article and buyers
requirement. Sometimes the whole garment is packed in a hanger
without folding.

Packing: The folded garment is packed into a poly bag to keep it fresh

till it reached to the retail showroom. Different types of packing
accessories are used to keep the garment in a desired shape. Some
products are packed into paperboard cartons directly without packing it
into a poly bag.

Carton packing: For the transport of the finished garment are packed

into bigger cartons.

Internal Audit: The packed garments are then inspected for quality

assurance of the outgoing finished products. This process is followed for
internal quality audit and to ensure that no defective garments are
packed into the cartons.

Finished and ready product: Finally the garments are ready for the
shipment and ready for the end consumers.

Finished garments in a retail store

A garment manufacturing company prepares standard operating

procedures (SOPs) depending on the product type and machines they
used. It is not necessary to follow all the steps explained above.

Garment manufacturers' aim should be producing quality products in the

shortest possible time. Remember, all products do not require going
through the same process flow. The factory needs to decide what steps
they should follow to complete the order.
 7. FEATURES AND LEVELS OF GARMENT INDUSTRIES

Features of an Organization

1. Well laid objectives, principles, rules and

regulations
2. Executive leadership with well organized
and coordinated group of people working
for company goals
3. Proper division of work and
responsibilities for the employees and team
work
4. Clear and well defined policies
5. An effective system of communication and
networking
6. An effective system of communication and
networking
1. Level 1 – mill level – textiles materials,
zippers, thread, trims and buttons are
manufactured and sold to apparel firms.
2. Level 2 – Apparel manufacturing level –
apparel firms are responsible for the
marketing, merchandising and production of
products.
Apparel manufacturers have two types of
organizational structures
  those that perform all or nearly all of
their manufacturing in their own facilities
and by their own employees.
 those that contract some or all of the
manufacturing functions to other firms.

In level 2 apparel retailers also interact with

apparel contractors. This means that retailers
sometimes hire the contractors to produce
apparel that they want to sell in their stores.
3. Level 3 - Retail level - retailers are also
identified by store type in their traditional
roles – retail level.
Apparel contractors are sources of many goods and
services. Apparel firms that hire contractor
services often buy materials, design and sell the
products produced. Sewing contractors may use
the materials and patterns provided by
manufactured or retailers and provide equipment
and labor to produce the finished garments
according to the manufacturer’s or retailer’s
specifications. Many manufacturers and retailers
hire specialty contractors to perform processes for
which they lack skills or equipment. Special
operations such as making belts, pleating, printing,
embroidering are contracted as needed for certain
styles in a line. During peak of seasonal production
period, many manufacturers hire contractors to
supplement their production. At the same time in
level 3 manufacturers enter the retail business
through factory owned business. This makes the
manufacturer to have direct contact with the
consumer which aid in decision making process
during product development.
4. Level 4 – Consumers – who are the target
and purpose of the entire textile and apparel
industry. Satisfied consumers make business
growth and profitability possible.

8. SCENARIO OF TEXTILE AND APPAREL INDUSTRIES

The Indian Textiles and Apparels (T&A) industry accounts for

approximately 4% of the global T&A market. The T&A industry is one
of the largest and the most important sectors for the Indian
economy in terms of output, foreign exchange earnings and
employment. The industry contributes approximately 7% to
industrial output in value terms, 2% to the GDP and 15% to the
country’s export earnings. It also provides direct employment to over
45 million people and is the second largest provider of employment
after agriculture. As per the WTO in its World Trade Statistical
Review 2018, India is ranked as 5th largest exporter of RMG in the
world. Indian readymade garments/apparels (RMG) industry is the
largest segment of the Indian T&A Industry accounting for
approximately 50% of the total industry. The domestic RMG sector
accounts for approximately three-fourths of the total Indian RMG
industry. Given that RMG manufacturing units can be viable at all
size levels, particularly because of low cost of plant and machinery,
the units range from small to large. Consequently, the RMG sector
continues to be dominated by unorganized players. However, the
branded apparel market has made steady inroads in the past few
years. The decentralized power looms and knitting sector forms the
largest section of the textile sector. The major sub-sectors that
comprise the textile sector include the organized cotton/manmade
fiber textile mill industry, the manmade fiber/filament yarn industry,
the wool & woollen textile industry, the sericulture and silk textiles
industry, handlooms, the jute & jute textiles industry and textiles
exports. The government has introduced policies like TUFS, SITP, high
import tariffs (to discourage imports) and NTP for the development
of the textile sector. A growing economy, rising disposable income
and the growing aspirations of Indian consumers is expected to drive
growth in the Indian T&A industry. The textile value chain comprises
of spinning, weaving, knitting and garmenting. Also, it uses different
materials such as cotton, jute, and wool, silk, man-made and
synthetic fibres.

Textile Value Chain

Global Textile and Apparel Trade

The global apparel market is primarily composed of world’s largest economies

of US, European Union (EU), Japan and China. The US and EU are the world’s
largest apparel importers accounting for 60% of total global imports, followed
by Japan with a share of 7-10%. Driven by rising labour cost and strong
currency, China has been losing market share over the last few years. On the
other hand, exports from Bangladesh and Vietnam have been growing rapidly
and Bangladesh is the second largest RMG exporter globally (after adjusting for
intra EU trade). Countries like Turkey, Morocco and Tunisia have emerged as
key exporters to EU recently on account of their proximity to EU nations.

Global apparel trade demonstrated marginal growth due to weak global

demand. Some of the key reasons include economic challenges in China, strong
fluctuations in exchange rates, and financial volatility driven by divergent
monetary policies in developed countries. European Union, US and China
remained the top 3 markets for textile and apparel. They together continued
to account for over 50% of the world textile imports, while top 10 markets
account for close to 70%.

9. MARKER, MARKER MAKING AND MARKER

EFFICIENCY

What is a marker? 
A marker is a diagram of a precise arrangement of
pattern pieces for sizes of a specific style that are to be
cut from one spread.
In apparel manufacturing, a marker is a special
kind of stencil that illustrates how pattern
pieces of one or more garments should be cut
from several layers of fabric.
Generally marker is meant to a piece of paper, on
which all sizes patterns of a garment are drawn so
that the required number of garments can be made
using the minimum quantity of fabrics (minimum
wastage of fabrics).

Marker width is taken as the minimum fabric

width and the length of the marker depends on
how many sizes of patterns are used for making
the pattern.

Some other factors are involved with marker

length:

 How many garments will be made with one lay

of fabric.
 The length of the cutting table.

 Production planning, etc.

A marker and fabric lay/spread is shown in figure.

Fig: Marker and fabric lay/spread
What is marker making?
Marker making is the process of determining a most
efficient layout of pattern pieces for a style, fabric and
distribution of sizes.
It is the marker planner's job to arrange the pattern
pieces efficiently, wasting as little of the fabric as
possible.

What is marker efficiency?
Marker efficiency is defined as a ratio of area of marker
used in a garment and area of total marker.

The success of the jobs a marker man is

determined by the marker efficiency. The
expression in percentage of the occupied area by
the patterns used in a marker in relation to the
total area of a marker is called the marker
efficiency.

Marker efficiency can be measured by the

following formula:
The area of the patterns used in the marker

Marker Efficiency =—————————————--------------- x 100

The area of the marker

The greater the marker efficiency the lower is the
fabric wastage. This means that for making a
specific number of garments, comparatively less
fabric will be required. About 50% of the cost of a
garment is spent for fabric purpose. The meaning
of 1% increase of marker efficiency is the addition
of the cost of that fabric (less used due to 1%
marker efficiency) with the profit. For these
reasons the increase of marker efficiency is very
much important. So, making marker is an
important task in apparel manufacturing
process
10. SEAMS AND SEAM TYPES

In sewing, a seam is the joint where two or more

layers of fabric, leather, or other materials are held
together with stitches.
Seams in modern mass-produced apparel, footwear,
house hold textiles and sporting goods are sewn by
industrial sewing machines.
 Home shoe making, dressmaking, quilting, crafts,
haute couture and tailoring may use a combination
of hand and machine sewing.

In clothing construction, seams are classified by their

type (plain, lapped, bound, flat) and position in the
finished garment (centre back seam, inseam, side
seam). Seams are finished with a variety of techniques
to prevent ravelling of raw fabric edges and to neaten
the inside of garments.

Seams used for assembling sewn products are load

bearing and ideally should be similar in physical
properties to the material being sewn. The stitch type
and sewing thread used will vary with each application.
Hence, it is important to be familiar with various seam
types, their applications and variations available so that
you can choose the right seam to suit your sewing
needs.
This technical bulletin will be your quick reference guide
to seam types.

Seam Classification
Seams are classified according to the type/number of
components used. There are eight classes of seams
defined as per ISO 4916:1991.
In the past, seams were described as Flat,
Superimposed, Lapped or Bound. Stitching (then
differentiated from seams) were described as Edge
finishing or ornamental. Varieties of seams are
illustrated below together with their descriptions under
the above and the new system.
Seam Classes
Class 1 – Superimposed seam
Class 2 – Lapped seam
Class 3 – Bound seams
Class 4 – Flat seams
Class 5 – Decorative/Ornamental stitching
Class 6 – Edge finishing/neatening
Class 7 – Attaching of separate items
Class 8 – Single ply construction

Class 1 – Superimposed seam(s)

These generally start with two or more pieces of material

superimposed over each other and joined near an edge,
with one or more rows of stitches. There are various
types of seams within this class.

Stitches Used
A superimposed seam can be sewn with Stitch Types
301 or 401 to create a simple seam. The same seam
type can also be sewn with Stitch class 500 (Over edge
stitch) or Combination stitches (e.g., Stitch class 516)
Application
Used to create neat load bearing seams for lingerie,
shirts, etc.
Lapped seam Class 2 – Lapped seam(s)
In this class of seam, two or more piles of material are
lapped (i.e., with edges overlaid, plain or folded) and
joined with one or more rows of stitches.
One of the most popular of this class is the Lap felled
type, involving only one stitching operation – a strong
seam with fabric edges commonly used to protect jeans
or similar garments from fraying. The superficially similar
French seam type involves two stitching operations with
an intervening folding operation – a flat, folded seam
with only one row of stitching visible on the top surface.
This seam class consists of a minimum of two
components and can have different varieties consisting
of a number of rows of stitching.
Stitches Used
The lap felled seam is generally sewn with a 401
chainstitch.
Application
The looped seam is the most commonly used seam. It is
used in jeans meanufacture because of its strong
construction. The French seam is commonly used for
rain wear, and edge stitching front facings on jackets
and dresses.
Class 3 – Bound seam(s)
These are formed by folding a binding strip over the
edge of the piles of material and joining both edges of
the binding to the material with one or more rows of
stitching. This produces a neat edge on a seam exposed
to view or to wear. There are a variety of bound seams.
Stitches Used
401 chainstich or 301 lockstitch.
Application
Necklines of t-shirts.

Flat seam
Class 4 – Flat seam(s)
In these seams (sometimes called Butt seams), two
fabric edges, flat or folded, are brought together and
over sewn with stitches.
The purpose of these seams is to produce a joint where
no extra thickness of fabric can be tolerated at the
seam, as in underwear or foundation garments. The
looper thread(s) must be soft, yet strong and the cover
thread may be decorative as well as strong. This seam
is referred to as a flat seam because the edges do not
overlap one another, they will be butted together.
Stitches Used
Zigzag lock stitch, chain stitch or covering stitch (class
600).
Application
This type of seam will consist of two components and
can be seen on very fine knitted garments where seams
are required to be free from bulk.

Piping seam
Class 5 – Decorative/Ornamental stitching
The ornamental stitch is a series of stitches along a
straight or curved line or following an ornamental design,
on a single ply of material. More complex types include
various forms of piping, producing a raised line along the
fabric surface.
Application
The stitching results in decorative surface effects on the
fabric e.g., pin tucks, application of braids, etc. This
seam type consists of a minimum of one component.

Edge finishing-neatening

Class 6 – Edge finishing/neatening

Edge finishing stitch is where the edge of a single ply of
material is folded or covered with a stitch. The simplest
of these operations is Serging, Type 6.01.01, in which a
cut edge of a single ply is reinforced by over edge
stitching to neaten and prevent fraying. The seam class
must include seams whereby the edges are neatened by
means of stitches and can be used in cases where the
raw edge requires finishing. There is only ever one
component to this type of seam. This includes other
popular methods of producing a neat edge like hemming
and blind stitch hemming.
Application
Serging trouser panels, flys, facings, etc.

Class 7 – Attaching of separate items

This seam class involves seams that require the addition
of another component onto the edge of a piece of fabric
e.g., elastic braid onto the edge of ladies briefs. This
type of seam requires two components.

Class 8 – Single ply construction

This seam class consists of one piece of fabric that is
turned in on both edges. It is most commonly seen in
belt loops or bets for which a folder can be attached to
the machine. This type of seam requires only one
component.

Numerical Expressions of Seams

Each stitched seam is identified by a numerical
designation composed of five digits.
The first digit reflects the seam class (1-8).
The second and third are counting numbers (0-99) to
indicate the differences in the location of the needle
penetrations.
For the seam specification to be meaningful, the
designation of the stitch type has to be added after the
designation of the stitched seam. If two or more stitch
types are used, they should be stated from left to right.

Seam Quality
 Though the stitch types chosen for a seam depend on
the functional or aesthetic requirements of the seam,
seam quality can be measured based on the following
parameters:
 Seam size – It is measured with seam depth, seam
length and seam width.
 Seam slippage strength – It is the amount of force
required to pull out a total of ¼” of the opposing sets of
yarns perpendicular to the seam line.
 Seam strength – It is the force required to break
open the seam either by breaking the thread or by
breaking the sewn material.
Numerical Designations of Seam Types
 Different Types of Seams in Garments - A Reference Guide

In garment manufacturing, whether you work as a merchandiser

or an industrial engineer or a quality person, or a production
supervisor, you should know and must have a clear knowledge
of different types of garment seams, and their construction
details.

To learn seams types, take one of your apparel items (t-shirts,

trousers, or shirts) and study all the seam lines (stitching line),
you will find there how the fabric pattern edges are folded for
stitching to layers together and joining components. 

The common seams used in joining garment parts include

 Superimposed seam
 Lapped seam
 French seam
 Flat and Felled seam
 Bound seam
Seam Class 1: Superimposed seam

This is the most common construction of seam on garments.

The simplest seam type within the class is formed by
superimposing the edge of one piece of material on another. A
variety of stitch types can be used on this type of seam, both
for joining the fabrics and for neatening the edges or for
achieving both simultaneously.

Application: Where simply need to join two or more plies of

material. For example, run stitch collars and run-stitch cuffs of a
shirt.

French seam: French seam is another version of the

superimposed seam. The French seam is completed in two
stages as shown in the following diagram.

Seam class 2: Lapped Seam

The lapped seam is formed by lapping two pieces of material 

Lapped seams are not common in clothing because it causes
problems with raw edges.

Doubled lapped seam (Flat and Felled seam): These types of

seams are considered one of the strongest seam. Used in Jean's
side seam and in men's shirts' side seam operation. A special
machine (feed off the arm) is used for forming this double
lapped seam in a single operation.  
Seam class 3: Bound Seam

In this class, the bound seam consists of an edge of material

bound by another, with the possibility of other components
inserted into the binding.

Application: To finish the edge of a garment. Example: Neck

edge finish of T-shirt, edge finish of men’s vests and briefs. For
neck piping bound seam is used. A flatlock sewing machine is
used for piping.

Seam Class 4: Flat seam

In this class, seams are referred to as flat seams because the
fabric edges do not overlap. They may be butted together
without a gap and joined across by a stitch that has two
needles sewing into each fabric and covering threads passing
back and forth between these needles on both sides of the
fabric. This seam is used to avoid thickness/bulkiness on the
seam line.
Application: Knitted underwear, joining waistband elastic.

Seam – What is it? and How to sew

them for your garment
A seam is a term that refers to the stitching line where
two fabrics are stitched (pieced, if you want the
technical term) together. It is the basic building block of
a garment. Seams form the structure of the garment
and help to create the garment. They are also used as a
decorative feature. 

The stitching line along the seam is called the seam

line. The seam allowance (SA) is the space between
the fabric edge and the seam line. You can checkout the
post on seam allowances for some details on how to
sew a straight line and the common seam allowances
used. 

11.STITCHES AND STITCH TYPES

Stitch Classification - Various Types Stitches Used in Garment

Making

In textiles, a stitch is a series of repetitive single turns or

loops of threads or yarns through interloping,
intralooping, or interlacing. It is the fundamental
element for sewing, knitting, embroidery, crochet, and
needle lace-making whether by hand or machine. It can
 be formed by any of the following three methods:

 Interloping: It is formed by passing the loop of one

thread through the loop of another sewing thread. E.g.
Stitch type 401
 Intralooping: It is formed by passing the loop of one
thread through the loop of the same thread. E.g. Stitch
type 101
 Interlacing: It is formed when one thread passes
over another thread. E.g. Stitch type 301
Based on this, there are more than 70 types of stitches
out of which around 18-20 types are used most
frequently and for ease of identification all the types
have been grouped to 6 classes based on the number of
the needle, direction of sewing, the form or shape of the
stitch, purpose of the stitch, etc. The 6 classes of stitch
are mentioned as: 
1. Class 100: Single Thread Chainstitch
The stitches formed here are from one or more needles
by the method of intralooping. Thus, one or more loops
of the needle thread are passed through the fabric and
secured by looping with the next loop of the same
thread after they are passed through the fabric. This
type of stitch is very insecure as each loop is dependent
on the next loop and a single thread breakage can pull
apart the entire stitch.
These look similar to that of lockstitch on the face side
with the loops on the back. The added advantage of
these loops is that it makes the stitch elastic and thus
can be used where the fabric needs a little stretch such
as in back neck tape in t-shirts. Also, with easy removal
of stitch, it is used in basting operations in tailor-made
garments. This kind of stitch is often not preferred for
seaming operations but is widely used in multi-needle
machines, as temporary stitch and blind stitch. 

Stitch type 101 or single needle chain stitch is the most

common of them along with a 103 single thread blind
stitch. The front and back of all the other types are
shown below. 

2. Class 200: Hand Stitch

These types of stitches are hand stitches that are used
for decorative purposes. These are formed by a single
sewing thread and the stitch is held by a single line of
thread passing from one side to the other side of the
fabric. This is mostly used for casual fitting with a simple
sewing needle and thread as domestic needs but is also
found as topstitch in high-priced garments due to its
perfect finish. This can also be done on automatic
machines called pick stitch sewing machines but are very
slow and are rarely in use. The front and back of all the
other types are given below.

3. Class 300: Lock Stitch

Lock stitch is the most common form of stitch in ready-
made garments and is formed when the thread or
threads are introduced from one side of the material to
interlace with thread or threads introduced from the
other side of the material. The top thread is called the
needle thread and the bottom thread is called the
bobbin thread. The interlacing of the threads makes the
stitch secure and difficult to unravel makes it the most
appropriate for a wide range of seams. Also, the
lockstitch has adequate strength for most purposes with
a correct combination of thread and fabric.
  
The main disadvantages of lock stitch are

 Limited bobbin thread length makes it necessary for

changing of the bobbin from when it gets finished.
 Multi-needle stitching with many closed space
needles is not possible due to limited space for the
bobbin. So, at most two needles can be used in a
lockstitch machine.
 The interlacing of thread limits the elasticity of the
stitch and is unsuitable for edge neatening.
 It is not suitable for knitted fabric due to a lack of
elasticity.
Stitch type 301 is the most common type of stitch with
uses in joining garment components, topstitching, etc.
Also, buttonholing, button attaching, blind stitching falls
in this class of stitches. The front and back of all the
other types are given below. 
4. Class 400: Multi-thread Chain Stitch
It is a multi-thread chain stitch type where loops formed
in one set of sewing thread is passed through the fabric
and are held by interloping and interlacing with loops
formed by another set of threads called the looper
threads. It looks like that of a lockstitch on the front side
of the fabric but has a double chain effect created by the
looper thread on the backside. Compares to lockstitch, a
2-thread chain stitch is much stronger and since no
threads are interlocking with each other within the fabric
there are lesser chances of having a puckering in the
seam. Another advantage of this is that both the needle
and looper thread runs from large cones on the top of
the machine unlike that of the limited sewing thread
inside the bobbin. Also, it runs much faster than that of a
lockstitch machine at 8000rpm.
 
Stitch type 401 is the most common of them all and is
used in sewing jeans and trousers and is also used with
overlock as a safety stitch. Stitch type 406,407 are used
for joining lace, braid, elastics with the garment. The
front and back of all the other types are given below.

5. Class 500: Over-edge Chain Stitch

It is mostly known as overlock stitch and is formed by
one or more sets of sewing threads with at least one set
of threads going around the raw fabric edge. All the
stitch in this class has high elasticity which does not
 unravel on thread breakage. Also, the machines are
equipped with a trimming knife to make the edge neat
before sewing. The width of the stitch may vary from 3-
5mm. Overlock stitches are classified according to the
number of threads used for sewing such as 1,2,3,4 or 5
thread stitches. Each of these stitches is different in
appearance and their respective benefits are:

 1 thread overlock stitches are used for butt-

seaming.
 2 -3 thread overlock stitches are used as edge
neatening seam in woven and knitted garments.
 4 thread overlock stitch also known as mock safety
stitch provides extra strength while retaining flexibility.
 5 thread stitch has two needle threads known as
safety stitch which forms a stronger seam.
Also, the speed of the overlock machine is similar to that
of chain stitch machines and can go up to 8000rpm.
Stitch Class 504(3 thread overlock) is the most common
of all and is used for securing the raw edges of the fabric
and for heavy fabric such as denim 514 (4-thread mock
safety) is used. This is because 3-thread stitches are
prone to seam grinning when the seam is pulled at a
right angle to the seam. The front and back of all the
other types are given below.
 
6. Class 600: Covering Chain Stitch
It is known as Flatlock stitch and is formed by three sets
of sewing thread namely, needle, looper, and spreader.
Apart from the needle threads, the other two sets cover
the top and bottom parts of the stitch. It is the most
complicated of all types with up to a total of nine
threads including four needles and the rest looper and
spreader thread. 

These are mostly used for attaching tape, lace, braid,

elastic to the knit fabric, etc. It can also be used as a
decorative stitch. Stitch type 602 is used for the above
functions and hemming in t-shirts. The front and back of
the rest are given below.
 

Stitch classification may not be of so much importance

when it comes to knowledge but a clear understanding
of it is very much important when there is a requirement
of identification of stitching to be done in the garment
especially in the tech pack. The stitch type then acts as a
code at letting the reader know what stitch has to be
done over that part of the garment. 

E.g. 406 2N CS where 406 is the stitch type, 2N stands

for 2 needles & CS is for Cover stitch.
There is a free resource from ISO Stitch Terminology that
includes seam types. This document by American & Efird
is a great resource to see in detail what the stitches look
like and is commonly used in the industry.

Stitch Forming Devices

The basic principle of all machine sewing depends on consistent loop formation.
During sewing the needle descends through the fabric to the bottom of its stroke and
as the needle rises a loop of sewing thread is formed in the scarf of the needle. This
loop of sewing thread is picked up by one of two stitch forming devices namely the
hook or the looper. A third stitch forming device known as a spreader is used in
some stitch types to carry the sewing thread from one stitch forming device to
another.

The sewing machine hook be it rotary or oscillating shuttle interlocks the needle
thread with the bobbin thread. A looper, used in chainstitch formations, interloops the
thread that it carries with another thread.

Steps of Stitch Formation

There are five basic steps to the formation of all stitch types. They are:
1. Penetration – the needle penetrates the fabric carrying the needle thread
2. Loop formation – a loop of sewing thread is formed in the scarf of the needle as
the needle begins to rise from the bottom of its stroke
3. Conformation – this is where the threads are arranged above, below or around the
material being sewn
4. Cast off – is where the needle thread loop is freed from the lower stitch forming
device
5. Stitch setting – when the thread is drawn onto or into the material

Stitch Types
101 – Single Thread Chainstitch
The 101 Single thread chainstitch is formed using just one sewing thread introduced
by the sewing needle. Stitch Type 101 is most often used for temporary stitching [or
basting]. Its main disadvantage is its tendency to run back from the finishing end of
the seam.

103 – Single Thread Blindhemming

A derivative of stitch type 101 is stitch type 103 known as single thread Blindstitch or
Blindhemming. Again its main disadvantage is seam runback. This stitch is formed
by using a curved needle which enters and exits the fabric from the same side
carrying a needle thread. The needle thread interloops with a blind looper on the
surface of the material. Typical applications are hemming and lapel padding
operations.
301 – Lockstitch
The most common stitch type is without doubt the 301 single needle lockstitch. Its
main advantage is that it looks the same on the top as it does on the bottom [it is
reversible]. It produces tight, strong, low-bulk seams but its main disadvantages are
low elongation and low productivity due to the need to frequently change the under
thread bobbin.

401 – Chainstitch
Higher productivity and greater seam elongation can be achieved by using a 401
single needle chainstitch. The disadvantages of using this stitch type are that it isn’t
reversible and being a chainstitch it is prone to seam runback and the seams it
produces tend to be bulkier than those created by a lockstitch. It is true to say that
the 401 chainstitch has higher elongation than the 301 lockstitch and delivers lower
seam pucker when the cause of the pucker is structural jamming.

Multi needle lockstitch and chainstitch

Both 301 lockstitch and 401 chainstitch machines are available to produce multiple
rows of stitching. The most common is twin needle but multiple needle chainstitch
machines are readily available.
Double Needle Lockstitch

Double Needle Chainstitch

Zig Zag Stitch – Stitch types 304 and 404
Where there is a requirement for higher seam elongation with either lockstitch or
chainstitch, a zig zag formation may by used. For example, in corsetry. To produce
either zig zag formation the needle bar moves laterally as the material is fed. The
main drawback is that the zig zag stitch formation may not deliver the desired
appearance.
Zig zag stitch

304 stitch

406 – Coverseam
Derivatives of the 401 chainstitch are the chainstitch coverseam stitch formations.
The most common of these is the 406 twin needle coverseam. This stitch type is
formed using two needle threads and one looper thread and its main uses are
hemming of garments made from knitted fabric and elastic/lace attaching on
underwear and lingerie.

Stitch type 407 coverseam is a three needle version of this stitch type. A four needle
version is available but it is not in common use.

503 – Two thread overedge (serging)

Overedge stitch formations are all contained under the 500 classification. 503 two
thread overedge is the stitch type used for single ply serging and the hemming of tee
shirts. This is sometimes known as welting.

Stitch type 503 is not suitable for seaming operations as it is designed to collapse
and flatten when a seam is loaded laterally.
504 – Three thread overedge
This stitch type is formed with three thread; it has one needle thread and two looper
threads. Stitch type 504 has excellent extension and does not unravel easily. It is
generally used for serging to stop fabric fraying and for joining 2 or more plies
together. These machines are capable of running at higher speeds which can aid in
increased productivity.

Four thread overedge

For over edge seams requiring greater seam security a four thread version of stitch
type 504 is used. There are three, four thread over edge stitch types.

Stitch type 512 is known as four thread mock safety because the upper side of the
stitch type resembles the upper side of stitch type 516 which is an overedge true
safety stitch. Stitch type 512 is also known as four thread overedge, half cover.

The second overedge stitch type is Stitch type 514. This is known as four thread
overedge, full cover. This is because the top looper extends its thread to the left
hand sewing needle whereas stitch type 512 only extends its upper looper thread to
the right hand sewing needle.
Stitch 512
Stitch 514

The third of these stitch types is Stitch type 515.

515 – Four thread safety stitch
This stitch type is formed simultaneously using one row of stitch type 401 and one
row of 503.

516 – Five Thread full safety

For over edge seams requiring greater seam security a four thread version of stitch
type 504 is used. There are three, four thread over edge stitch types.

Stitch type 516 is another combination stitch type. This stitch type combines 401
chainstitch with 504 three thread overedge. It is known as five thread overedge full
safety stitch. The 401 element bears the load while the 504 element covers the edge
of the material and provides additional seam security.

602 – Twin needle coverseam with top cover

The stitch type classifications known as 600 are basic coverseam stitch types with
the addition of a top covering thread produced using a top cover or spreader device.
This top cover element provides decoration and also protection where required to the
upper surface of the seam.

Stitch type 602 is the same as stitch type 406 but with the addition of a top covering
thread.
605 – Three needle coverseam with top cover
This stitch type is formed with five threads. Three needles, one looper and one cover
thread. Stitch type 605 has high seam elasticity and has an higher than average
thread usage. This stitch formation is flat and comfortable and is a popular choice for
stretch garments. This stitch type can also be used as a decorative seam due to the
top cover thread.

607 – Flatseam
The 606 flatlock has over the years been replaced to a large extent with stitch type
607 flatseam. This stitch type is produced using four needles, one looper, and one
top covering thread.
Whilst thread consumption remains high with this stitch type it is lower than the 606
flatseam at 32 metres of thread per metre of seam. The 600 stitch type
classifications have the advantage of delivering flat, comfortable seams with high
seam elongation.

12.Types of Sewing Threads, Its Properties and Classification

 Sewing thread is a yarn which is used to combine two or more
fabric pieces in a garment, its accessories, or other textile
product. It is specially designed and engineered to move
through the sewing needle and various components of the
sewing machine smoothly and rapidly. It is smooth, evenly
spun, and hard twisted ply yarn with a specific finishing to do
the above. 

Its main function is to form efficient stitches at the seams

without breaking or becoming distorted during the useful life of
the product it is used in. Apart from this, it also has to provide
aesthetics to the seams.

Factors affecting the functions of sewing thread

Factors affecting aesthetics:
The appearance of the thread in terms of color, lustre,
fineness/thickness should be considered while selecting a
thread. Apart from these hue and shade matching, colour
fastness, stitch selection and uniformity of stitch formation
affects the aesthetics of the stitch.

Factors affecting the performance:

Thread performance is measured by the ability of the thread to
withstand physical and chemical effects on the seam or during
stitching in the sewing machine. Thread performance in the
garment can be evaluated from its

 Seam Strength
 Abrasion resistance
 Elasticity
 Chemical resistance
 Flammability
 Color fastness

Properties of sewing thread

 Good tensile strength to grip the seam firmly during
wear and wash. The tensile strength should be higher than that
of the fabric so that it won’t rupture during the stretch at the
seams. Also, it would mean minimum thread breakage during
sewing. 
 Higher initial modulus of thread guarantees the
minimum of thread deformation during shock loading while
sewing in the machine. The sewing thread should be
moderately stiff to form the loops for stitch formation.
 Smooth surface without any abnormalities in the thread
results in a minimum of friction between the needle and sewing
thread while sewing at high speed.
 Uniform thickness of the sewing thread provides for
smooth passage of the thread through the needle and the
fabric. Also, it causes less movement of the thread while
passing through the machine.
 Good elasticity facilitates the thread to recover its original
length instantly after the tension has been released. It should
be similar to that of the fabric being sewn, thus the requirement
for woven and knitted fabric will be different. Also, it greatly
influences the strength and quality of the stitched seam.
 Good color fastness of the thread makes it resistant to
the various chemical and physical agents the thread is exposed
to during manufacturing and during its useful life specially
during washing, perspiration, sublimation, etc. This ensures no
bleeding of the color into the garment. Also, it should be dyed
evenly and uniformly.
 Lower shrinkage characteristics of the thread are very
important as it can cause a critical defect in the garment in the
form of puckering at the seams. Cotton thread usually
undergoes washing shrinkage while synthetic thread suffers
from thermal shrinkage during ironing.
 Better chemical resistance as the sewing thread may be
subjected to various chemicals during washing, bleaching, dry
cleaning, etc.
 Higher abrasion resistance provides a good sewing
performance and makes the thread more durable meaning it
would return to its original shape after the tension is removed
maintaining its physical properties. Nylon and polyester offer
the best resistance to abrasion.
 Minimum metamerism is to be attained by utilizing a
shade matching cabinet as a viewing background. Metamerism
is a common color phenomenon when the same thread color
appears to be dissimilar under different lighting conditions.

Classification of sewing thread

Sewing thread can be classified in the following three ways:

 Substrate
 Construction
 Finish 
Classification based on substrate:
 Natural: the sewing thread is made from natural fibers.
Mostly cotton is used for sewing thread but due to various
disadvantages relating to the strength of the thread, it is mixed
with polyester to make it stringer. Other natural fibers are very
rarely used for manufacturing sewing thread.
 Synthetic: the sewing thread is made up of synthetic
man-made fibers. These have several advantageous
characteristics compares to natural fibers as higher tenacity,
better resistance to chemicals, and higher abrasion resistance.
Also, it is resistant to rot, mildew, insect, bacteria, and moisture.

Classification based on thread construction

Spun threads: They can be made from both natural as well as
synthetic fibers. Spun polyester is the most frequently used
sewing thread in the garment. Due to its hairy yarn surface, it
provides better lubrication properties and a much smoother
hand. Also, its shrinkage is very low compared to a cotton
thread. Its sewing performance is also very good but is lesser
than the strength of continuous filament yarn. These are mostly
used in seaming of shirts, trousers, knitwear, jackets, etc.

1. Cotton threads

 Soft cotton threads

 Glazed cotton thread: The glazed process gives the thread
a hard finish that shields the thread from abrasion and
improves ply security.
 Gassed thread: Gassing process also known as singing
process and it is used to burn off the protruding short fibers to
give a lustrous finish. It is done by moving the cotton thread
over a flame at a higher speed to reduce the hairy fibers on the
surface of the thread.
 Mercerized cotton thread: The cotton yarn is treated with
caustic soda with 16%-18% concentration under pressure to
improve the strength and luster.
 Cotton threads are mostly used for sewing cotton threads
that are to be post dyed.
2. Linen thread

3. Silk thread
4. Spun synthetic –fibre threads
5. Spun blended sewing threads
Core Spun Threads: 
It is a mixture of both staple fibers and filaments. The most
commonly used core spun sewing thread has a multiple-ply
structure, with each ply comprising a core polyester filament
wrapped by the cotton or polyester staple fibers. The strength
of the thread is provided by the filament and sewability through
cotton or polyester fiber wrap. It is mostly used in topstitch of
shirts, blouses, trousers etc.

Continuous filament thread: 

It is produced by extruding the filaments from the synthetic

polymer and is given a twist to improve the strength. The
strength of these threads is stronger than spun threads for the
same thread size.

Monofilament threads: 
Monofilament sewing thread is produced from a single
continuous fiber with a specific fineness. They are strong,
uniform, and cheap but its use is very limited due to their low
flexibility and rough feel. These are mostly used in the sewing
of hems, draperies, and upholstered furniture.
Multifilament thread: 
These are mostly produced from nylon or polyester and are
used where there is a requirement of higher strength. It
comprises two or more continuous filaments twisted together
to give more strength. It is mostly used in leather garments,
shoes, and industrial products. These are again can be classified
in lubricated, bonded, and braided threads.

Textured thread: 

Textures are given to continuous filament yarn to provide

softness and bulk. These are then slightly twisted and heat set
to make it permanent. These threads give high seam coverage,
high extensibility but they are subjected to snagging. The types
of textured sewing threads are (i) false twist textured filament
threads, (ii) air textured filament threads, and (iii) air-jet
intermingled filament threads. These are mostly used in seams
that are in contact with the body like that in underwear,
swimwear, etc.
 

Embroidery threads: 

These are mainly required for decorative purposes and thus

color and luster are the two main requirements for embroidery
thread. These are mostly made from mercerized cotton, silk,
viscose rayon, and polyester fiber. Threads for machine
embroidery are usually of polyester or rayon less often cotton
or silk.

Technical threads: 
 These are specially developed for technical/industrial uses to be
used in adverse climatic, industrial conditions, and also for
heavy-duty applications. These are generally made from
aramids, glass, ceramics etc.

Classification base on the finishes

The classification is done based on the type of finish applied
over the thread. These are being done for mainly two purposes:

 To enhance the sewability of the thread – Certain finishes

improve the thread strength, lubrication property, and abrasion
resistance.
 To accomplish a specific functional requirement – these
are special finishes such as fire retardant, water repellent, anti-
fungal, anti-static, etc which are coated over the sewing thread.
Thus, sewing thread is one of the most important accessories in
a garment, and to make it properly a total compatibility check
should be performed. Even a small thread failure can fail the
garment in a quality check thus making a total loss in
investment for making the garment.

Difference between Tex and Tkt. in Thread Numbering

Sewing thread is a basic component of sewn products such as
apparels. The thickness of sewing threads is defined by Tex. or
Tkt. (Ticket). And these two thread numbering  terms are widely
used as because mostly polyester threads are used for garment
sewing. A same thickness of thread will have two different
figure in these two systems. To reduce the confusion between
Tex and Tkt. size, thread manufacturers marked both
numbering system on yarn spool.

Definition and how to convert thread number/size from Tex to

Tkt are explained below.

Tex Numbering 
Tex is a metric system of textile yarn and thread numbering. Tex
is defined as weight of 1000 meters thread in grams.
For example, Tex 40 – a length of 1000 meters of thread will
gives 40 grams of weight.

Ticket (Tkt.) Numbering

Ticket numbering is a commercial numbering system. Ticket
numbers are merely the manufacturer’s reference numbers for
the size of a given thread. The Metric Count and Cotton Count
systems use ticket numbering system to give an easy
approximation of the specific size of the finished thread.

In Metric Ticket system, the figure quoted for thread size is the
length that would weigh 3 grams. The thread could be made
from a single yarn or multiple yarns.

For example, a thread of Tex 40 is Tkt. 75 and Nm 80/2 is Tkt.

120

How to convert Tex to Tkt.?

Formula used to convert Tex into Tkt

Tkt. = (1000/Tex No.) X 3 or
Tkt. = Nm X 3

Cotton Tkt. 
For cotton sewing thread Cotton Tkt. number is used and in
Cotton Tkt system it is the number of 840 yard hanks that
weigh 3 lbs.

A ticket number in one type of thread will not be the same as in

another. For example, Ticket 40 Cotton is not the same as Ticket
40 Core spun thread.

Note: Ticket numbers resemble the fixed weight system. They

can simply denote: Higher the ticket number, finer the thread.
Lower the ticket number, thicker the thread. A thread of Tkt. 60
is twice as coarse as Tkt. 120.

Different Types of Packages Used in Sewing Thread

Manufacturing
 Sewing threads are the integrals of forming seams that can be
used to attach the fabric, finish edges of the fabric, or do
decorative motives such as for embroidery. You can check the
different properties and characteristics of the sewing thread
here. This article will be on types of packages that the sewing
threads are available in the market both for domestic and
industrial applications.

There are various forms of sewing thread packages available in

the market. This is mainly because of the specific package
requirement for different types of machines and thread
materials. Even though the work of a sewing machine is to sew
but it is most often that the machines used in export houses are
different from that which is used at home.

The packaging requirement can be found in the sewing

machine manual that comes in the box. For identification, there
are often color indications on the packages according to size or
type to assist with the selection of the package and thread for
the end-users. Also, sewing thread is sold by the actual length
of the thread in the package rather than the weight. 

The various types of sewing thread packages are:

1. Spools
2. Cops
3. Cones
4. Vicones
5. Containers
6. Cocoons
7. Pre-wound bobbins
8. Large packages

1. Spools: 
These have a relatively short length of thread and are wounded parallelly. It has flanges (flat disk-
shaped stopper) on both ends that restrict the thread from unwinding. These are most often used in
home sewing machines as the requirement of the thread is fairly low from that of in industries. The
common length of the thread ranges from 22m, 100m, 125m, 500m, 1000m. These are also used for
embroidery threads and are 1000m in length. Other applications of this can be found in threads used
for shoe, leather, etc.

Fig-1: Embroidery thread 0.1mm (1000m)

2. Cop: 
These are the vastly adapted of all the types because of its use
in the lockstitch machine. the tread is cross-wound on the cop
package to increase in off-winding and the center tube is made
of plastic or paper. These are available in the market with a
thread length of 150m, 300m, 900m. these are more suitable for
cotton, spun polyester, spun nylon, or core-spun thread and
not for fine filament threads as they can slip at the top and
bottom due to the absence of flanges.
 Fig-2: Spun polyester thread (180m)

3. Cones: 
These are tapered shape spool made of paper or plastic
material. They mainly contain the longer length of sewing
thread from 450m-25000m with length of the cones varying
from 10-15cm. It provides for good unwinding performance
due to its shape and thus used in high-speed sewing machines
like cover-stitch and over edge machines. Due to its sheer
quantity, it is considered the most economical form of thread
package especially where the consumption is high.
 Fig-3: Cotton thread (900m)

4. Vicones: 
These are the combination of spool and cops with parallel
tubes with a flange at the bottom. These are designed to
contain sewing thread ranging from 1000-5000m in length with
its length ranging from 6.5-9cm. These are mostly used for
packaging smooth filament thread like that of embroidery
thread.
 Fig-4: Embroidery thread 0.11mm &
0.16mm(20000m)

5. Container: 
These are designed to handle smooth thread mostly for
monofilament sewing thread that is complicated to control with
traditional thread packages.
6. Cocoons:

Unlike the others, these have a hollow structure with the absence of the
center tube. These are used in the shuttle of multi-needle quilting
machines and some kind of embroidery machines.

7. Pre-wound bobbins: 

These are precision-wound packages intended for replacing traditional

bobbins in lockstitch machines. The thread package is more consistent
with availability for some common machine models. It eliminates the
need to wind the bobbin thread thus increasing productivity. It comes in
various styles with changing height and diameter according to the
material of the yarn and shape of the bobbin. It has to be noted that,
with the increase in thread’s tensile strength, the number of yards thread
on the bobbin decreases.

8. Large package: 
These are used in overedge and cover stitch machines and can
hold threads of length 20,000m or above. The threads are
wound on large cones or tubes.

It is most often that the thread packages are specific to a

certain type of threads like fine filament yarns are wound in
spool, embroidery threads are packed in v-cones (the shape
supports it in upright positions), etc.

Apart from this, choosing of proper thread package is very

important as higher production demands for minimum thread
handling time. This is only possible when the thread package
used for sewing is in proportion to the quantity of product to
be sewn. An example of this can be when the order is huge a
thread package of 900m will be more efficient than that of
lower length package as it would mean a lesser change of
thread during sewing.

A proper calculation of thread consumption is the key to the

selection of the right thread package. In a production house
where a lot of machines are involved in manufacturing different
styles, it should be taken care, that there are enough threads
available for all the machines without an excess of stock.
Normally sewing thread comes in a box of 10 threads and
purchasing can be made accordingly. Also, there is an added
option of thread winding machine which enables larger cones
to be re-winded into smaller comes which can be distributed
and used by several machines. 

Functions of Cutting Department in Garment Industry

The cutting department is responsible for cutting fabrics and
feeding the sewing department with cuttings. The cutting
department’s capacity is planned based on the daily feeding
requirement of the sewing lines. The cutting department is set
up with a cutting department head, cutters, spreaders, quality
checkers and helpers for sorting, ply numbering and bundling.
The activities of the cutting department are explained in this
post.

1. Take fabric from the fabric store:

The cutting department gets a cut order from the production manager.
According to the cutting plan, the cutting in-charge generates a fabric
requirement sheet or requisition slip to the fabric store to issue fabrics.
 Cutting department

2. Relaxation of fabrics:

Knitted fabrics require relaxation before cutting. After receiving the fabric
from the fabric store, the cutting department opens the fabric from the
fabric roll and lays it on the table for relaxation for some hours before
cutting. Factories also relax fabric in the fabric store overnight after
opening the fabric rolls.

3. Cut order planning:

The cutting master plans the number of markers they need to prepare,
the size combination to be set for each marker and the number of plies
to be laid in each marker.

4. Fabric Spreading/ layering:

In mass production, multiple layers of fabric are cut at the same time. So
spreaders lay the fabric on a cutting table as per total marker length. The
layer height is kept up to a certain inch.
5. Planning markers:

The cutting master plans marker ways, marker lengths and the numbers
of plies to be laid in each lay.

6. Making markers:

This is a process of making an outline of garment patterns on the lay for

cutting garment components. After layering, the marker paper is laid on
the top of the layer. Those factories that don’t have CAD markers make
markers manually using paper patterns.

7. Cutting fabrics:

After making the marker, garment patterns are cut and taken out from
the layer. Various technologies are used for cutting fabric layers, such as
straight knife cutting, band knife machine cutting and a computer-
controlled automatic cutting machine.

8. Sorting, bundling and numbering of garment plies (parts):

After cutting the fabric, layers are sorted size-wise and colour-wise. Each
ply is numbered using stickers. Bundles are kept on inventory tables,
before these are sent to undergo the next process.

9. Inspecting cut components:

To maintain the cutting quality, standard cutting components are

checked randomly by quality checkers. If defective components are
found, they replace those defective parts.
10. Sorting printed and embroidery panels:

As per order requirements, printing and embroidery is done on cut

panels. Size-wise sorting is done after receiving printed and embroidered
panels. The checking of printed and embroidered panels is also done by
the cutting department

11. Re-cutting panels:

Re-cutting is done for garment components that require to be replaced

in bundles. Re-cutting requests are received from the sewing department
for defective garment parts. Re-cutting is also done for block panels cut
for the printing and embroidery processes. After receiving garment
panels from the printer or embroiderer, these panels are reshaped.

13. Fusing garment components:

Fusing in garment components is done to stiffen parts of a garment. If

needed, fusing is done at the cutting section (e.g. fusing of the collar and
cuff components of formal shirts).

Cutting Section in Apparel Industry

To cut out pattern pieces of garment component as per exact
dimension of the pattern from a fabric lay is called fabric cutting. It is
totally different from general cutting in which exact dimension is not
taken into account. 

Apparel production starts with the cutting process. In this process,

fabric is being cut into components (shapes or patterns of different
garment parts, i.e. front, back, sleeve, collar shapes etc.). In mass
production multiple layers of fabrics are laid on a table and large
number of apparels is being cut at a time. The laid fabric stack is
called as lay.
The cutting process includes number of sub-processes and flow of the
processes is as following  : 
1. Pattern / Marker Making

2. Cut Ratio Receiving

3. Fabric Receiving 

4. Fabric Relaxation

5. Spreading ( Fabric Layering )

6. Marker Making

7. Cutting

8. Numbering

9. Sorting 

10. Bundling

List of Machines Used in Cutting Room in Apparel

Industry : 
1. Automatic spreading machine
 2. Automatic cutting machine

3. Manual cutting with straight knife

4. Round knife cutting machine

5. Band knife cutting machine

6. Die Cutting machine

7. Computerized automatic cutting machine

The term fabric cutting is only applicable for garments

manufacturing technology.
Factors affecting the cutting processes : 
1. Nature of fabric ( grain line shade, twill etc.)

2. Thickness of fabric.

3. Design characteristics of finished garment.

4. Machines and tables used.

Cutting Room Terminology

1. Band knife: An endless blade vertical knife, around

which work piece is moved over the large cutting table.

2. Bias: ‘Cut on the Bias’ – cut at an angle to both the

warp and the weft of the cloth, at 45 degree.

3. Baker’s trolley: A wheeled rack used to transport

sections of the lay from the cutting table to the band

knife and from the band

knife to the sorting operations.

4. Block cutting or blocking out: Cutting roughly around

a part which is subsequently cut very precisely, by

various means. Also for splitting the lay, to assist

handling to the band knife.

5. Bowing: A fault in woven cloth in which the weft is not

straight across the piece but has curve.

6. Clicker press: Used for parts of intricate nature and

repetitive, also for parts requiring a high degree of

accuracy.
7. Cross: ‘Cut on the cross’ – Cut at right angles to the

grain of the cloth (On bias).

8. Damage: A fabric fault. It may be generated during

handling fabric inside factory or faulty fabric sent the

fabric supplier.

9. Die cutting: Used where accuracy is important and

there is enough repetition.

10. End loss: The cloth at the end of the lay that is not

covered by the marker.

11. Face one way spreading: The face side of each

ply faces the same way (up or down)

12. Face to face spreading: Method of spreading in

which the cloth is alternately facing up or down, as a

result of continuous to and

fro movement of the roll over the lay.

13. Face to face one way spreading: Used for

directional fabric where the pile (direction) is required

to lie in the same direction to the plies.

14. Layout (pattern layout): The geometrical layout

of the pattern pieces in a garment, which is cut around

to produce the parts of the garment.

15. Marker: A man who prepares the pattern layout

and/or who marks the layout onto the lay or onto a

paper or a cloth.  A piece of paper, cloth etc.

representing the layout.

16. Notch: A small cut into the part, which aids the

location during assembly by indicating to the operator

some requirement for matching with other notches or

positions in the garment.

 17. On the fold: Method of finishing the cloth so that

it is folded to half of its width.

18. Shading: Means color in cloth. It is commonly

used to imply that a particular bit/roll of cloth is

different in shade from

another bit.

19. Shade Numbering : Process of numbering parts

to ensure they are of same shade.

20. Slub: A local thick place in the yarn in a cloth

usually caused by error but in some cloths it is

introduced purposely

Cutting processes

Cutting involves three basic operations: making the marker, spreading

the fabric, and chopping the spread fabric into the marked sections. The
marker, or cutting lay, is the arrangement of patterns on the spread
fabrics. When hides are cut, the lay length is the hide size; many hides
are cut in single plies. Short lengths are spread by hand, but large lays,
made from large bolts of material, range in length to over 100 feet (30
metres) and heights containing hundreds of plies and must be spread
with traveling spreading machines. Stationary spreaders are used for
small sample lots. Manual and semiautomatic spreading machines are
propelled manually over the lay length as the machine feeds the fabric
ply onto the cutting table. Some machines book-fold the successive plies
as the fabric is spread; others have turntable devices permitting one-way
spreads. Lays may be spread either with all plies of fabric facing one
way or with successive plies facing each other in face-to-face spreads.
Turntable spreaders were introduced in 1920, face-to-face spreaders in
1938, and electric-powered spreading machines that spread a full bolt
automatically without manual attention in 1946. In 1950, cutting blades
were invented to cut the ply at each end of the lay as it is spread. These
cut-off spreaders are automatic. Electric-eye edge controls for precise
superposing of plies became available on automatic machines in 1962.
In 1969 piggyback automatic spreaders were introduced, which carry a
second bolt that is spread as soon as the first bolt is on the lay.

The marker is superposed on the completed lay. Markers are made of

one of three materials: the fabric being cut, an inexpensive felt of muslin-
type cloth, or one of a variety of papers. When paper with a
low coefficient of friction is used, the marker is fastened to the lay by
stapling or two-sided adhesive stripping. Papers with an adhesive on
one side can be heat-sealed to a fabric and are commonly used with
woollens or soft fabrics. Photomarking machines are used for duplicating
often-used paper markers. Many markers are first made in miniature,
with precise scaled-down patterns to determine the optimum layout for
minimal yardage; the optimal miniature marker is then used as the guide
for making the full-scale cutting marker. Some automated equipment is
capable of both making the graded pattern and laying it out on the fabric
to minimize waste. A sprayer machine, which sprays the entire length of
the lay around the pattern, eliminates the need for manual marking-in.

Six types of machines are available to chop or cut a lay into the
component parts of the marker: rotary blade machines; vertical
reciprocal-blade machines; band knives, similar to band saws; die
clickers, or beam presses; automatic computerized cutting systems with
straight blades; and automated computerized laser-beam cutting
machines.

Round-knife machines rotate a circular blade down into the lay, whereas
straight-knife machines oscillate a straight blade in and out of the lay in
jigsaw fashion. Both machines are portable manual-paced machines;
that is, the machine is pushed through the lay as the blade cuts. Some
models have dual speed controls and automatic blade sharpeners. In
band-knife cutting, blocks cut from the lay with round or straight-knife
machines are trimmed precisely to pattern specifications as the blocks
are manipulated against the band-knife rotating in a fixed orbit. Though
most band-knife machines are stationary, some are mounted on
traveling platforms that carry machine and operator along the entire
length of the cutting table, permitting band-knife cutting at any point of
the lay.

Round-knife machines vary in diameter and rotary speed of the blade.

Vertical and band blades come in circular, waved, or sawtooth
perimeters. Vertical blade edges may be straight, waved, notched,
serrated, or striated; band blades may be straight, waved, or saw-
toothed. Straight-edge blades including the circular perimeter of rotary
blades are used generally; the others are special-purpose blades.

Die clickers cut by pressing dies, superposed on the lay, through the
depth of the lay. The cutting dies outline the patterns to be cut. Die
presses are stationary or traveling; traveling die presses cover the entire
width of the lay and move throughout the lay length and press dies into
the fabric with intermittent strokes across the lay width until the entire lay
is cut. In stationary clickers, the lay or section of the lay is pulled under
the pressure beam for each die cutting stroke. Machine cutting of
footwear, bags, pocketbooks, and similar items is done with die presses.

Fabric Cutting:
Cutting department plays very important role in any apparel
industry. To make a complete garment, cutting is necessary.
Without cutting process to make a cloth is out of dream.
Cutting is the process which cut out the pattern pieces from
specified fabric for making apparel with the help of marker.
Normally the marker is applied (drawn, traced, sprayed,
clipped, pinned) on to the top ply of a lay. Consistent fabric
cutting is responsible for perfect garments making.

Different Types of Fabric Cutting Machine:

Various types of cutting machine are used in apparel
production. From many years hand operated scissor is used
 for cutting fabric. But after industrialization hand scissors are
not appropriate for bulk layer cutting. Then started semi
automatic fabric cutting machine. For increasing productivity in
cutting room computerized fully automatic cutting machine
have to use.
According to the working process, the cutting machine may be
classified in three categories. Such as-
1. Manual cutting machine
2. Semi- Automatic cutting machine
3. Fully Automatic / Computerized cutting machine
1) Manual Cutting Machine:
 Hand Operated Scissor
2) Semi-Automatic Cutting Machine:
 Straight knife of Cutting Machine.
 Round Knife Cutting Machine.
 Band Knife Cutting Machine.
 Die Cutting Machine.
 Notcher Machine.
 Drill Machine.
3) Fully Automatic / Computerized Cutting Machine:
 Computer Controlled Knife Cutting Machine.
 Laser Cutting Machine.
 Water Jet Cutting Machine.
 Rib Cutting Machine
 Air jet Cutting Machine.
 Ultrasonic Cutting Machine.
 Plasma Torch Cutting Machine
Manual Cutting Machine:
We can understand scissor as a manual cutting machine.
Scissor only used when cutting only single or double plies.
Almost every type of cloth is cut by scissor. But it takes
huge time for fabric cutting. So it is not used in bulk
production.
2) Semi-Automatic Cutting Machine:
Straight Knife of Cutting Machine: 
Straight knife cutting machine is the most popular and versatile
cutting machine. It is widely used in clothing industry. Because
it’s production speed is very high. Higher lay of height can be
cut very easily. Besides, knife is comparatively cheap and can
be transferred from one place to another easily.

Round Knife Cutting Machine:

Round knife cutting machine is called because it’s cutter is round in shape. It is also popular cutting
machine. This machine is small in size, flexible & used for small production. Round knife is widely
used for cutting the big parts of the garments pattern.
 Fig: Round knife cutting machine
Band Knife Cutting Machine:
Band knife cutting machine is look like a wood cutter machine. This cutting machine works
automatically according to the height of the relevant material. Band knife cutting machines have
been recognized around the world for many years for its high quality cutting.

Fig: Band knife cutting machine

Die Cutting Machine:
Die cutting machine involves pressing a rigid blade through the lay of fabric. It is useful where small
motifs with particular shape and pattern are needed for cutting. Die cutting is most useful to cut
sharp and small parts. Mainly two types of die cuttings are available in market namely, Clickers and
Presses.
 Fig: Die cutting machine
Notcher Cutting Machine:
It is a special type of cutting machine & use in special case. Useful to cut small notch to the fabric. It
is most useful to make consistency in notching. This cannot be used in thermoplastic fibers or certain
unlined garments.

Fig: Notcher Cutting Machine

Drill Cutting Machine:
Sometimes it is needed to mark on the end of components of dresses especially for the position of
pockets, darts and similar features, a hole is often drill through all the plies of fabric in the lay. This
machine is also used for marking on the middle of the components of dresses. It can make the hole
permanently for a long.
 Fig: Drill Cutting Machine
3) Fully Automatic / Computerized Cutting Machine:
Computer Controlled Knife Cutting Machine:
This cutting machine provides the most accurate possible cutting at high speed. It is suitable for large
scale production. Marker is not necessary to put over the fabric lays during cutting. This technology
has the advantage of being highly accurate and fast, but does cost considerably more than other
cutting techniques.

Fig: Computer Controlled Knife Cutting Machine

Laser Cutting Machine:
In laser cutting machine, the fabric is cut by a ray of light in a very fine spot by using a laser. Laser
cutting processing depends on its precise processing, faster, simple operation, high degree of
automation has been widely used in the leather and apparel industry. The cutting head is controlled
by a computer.

Fig: Laser cutting machine

Water Jet Cutting Machine:
Water jet cutting machine is an industrial tool capable of cutting fabric lay by
using a very high-pressure jet of water. A very fine water-jet is passed through a nozzle at a very high
speed to cut the fabric lay. The pressure of water is 60,000 pounds per square inch. The high
pressure jet acts as a solid tool when it encounters the material to be cut, tearing the fibers on
impact.

Fig: Water jet cutting machine

Rib Cutting Machine:

These are specialized machines used to cut rib or rolls of strips from knitted tubular fabrics. Knit
garment industry uses this machine widely.

Fig: Rib Cutting Machine

Plasma Torch Cutting Machine:

Plasma cutting was originally developed to satisfy our demand for high quality cutting. It is used for
cutting stainless steel and aluminum. But it can also be used to cut textile material. In this system,
fabrics are cut by a thin through the nozzle which is made by Argon gas.

Fig: Plasma Torch Cutting Machine

Fabric spreading:

Fabric spreading means the smooth laying out of the fabric in

superimposed layers (plies) of specified length. Knitted or
woven fabrics are laid in one ply (single ply) or in several plies
(multi lays) for simultaneous cutting in one operation. Fabrics
are usually laid up manually.

The manual spreading process is suitable for small-scale

production. Manual spreading may be used for all kind of
fabrics, including those with complex structures and intricate
patterns. In large-scale production, manual cutting is often
used for working with intricately patterned and high-cut pile
fabrics. When compared to automated spreading, the cost of
technical equipment in manual spreading is low, but the
productivity is poor. The fabric spreading process is carried out
by one/two workers at each side of the spreading table who
move the fabric ply to the beginning of a spread. The spreading
process is repeated until the desired number of fabric plies are
laid down.

Fig: Automated method of fabric spreading

Automated methods of fabric spreading have significantly

increased the productivity of the spreading process, but have
not altered its main work principles. Similar operations are
performed in both the manual and the automated spreading
processes.

Methods of Fabric Spreading:

Four methods of fabric spreading are available in garment

industry:

1. Completely manual laying-up;

2. Electrically driven laying-up by spreading machines
(Semi-automatic or fully automatic)
3. Manual laying-up aided by spreading and cutting off
devices;
4. Manually driven, mechanized laying-up using carriages;

The piece goods are provided in rolled or lapped form and are
spread open or folded. On the fold, markers are used for
doubled lays while full markers serve for open lays. Piece good
lays are either single lays (consisting of one fabric ply) or multi
lays (formed by several plies).

1. Completely manual laying-up:

This is the most extensively used method in our country
because of cheap labor cost, availability of workers and
comparatively less time consumed. In this method, a roll of
fabric is taken and its one end is fixed at one side of the table
and spreading continued without using any mechanical
assistance. A large number of workers is required to carry out
this process to fulfill the requirements of fabric spreading.

2. Electrically driven laying-up by spreading machines:

An electrically driven and controlled cloth spreading machine
including means for reversing the travel of the machine, means
for controlling the high and low speeds of the machine, means
for causing the machine to fail safe at low speed upon power
failure and open circuit conditions caused by different changes
in function of the machine.
3. Manual laying-up aided by spreading and cutting off
devices:
The fabric in roll form may be supported to a frame and carried
along the table where the end is secured by weight or by a
clamp. The operators work back from the end aligning the
edges and ensuring that there are no wrinkles or any extra
tension. The ply is normally cut with hand shears or with a
powered circular knife mounted on the frame. This system of
spreading is suitable for checks or striped or other regular
repeating patterns.

4. Manually driven, mechanized laying-up using

carriages:
Spreading machine carries the piece of fabric from end to end
of the spread dispensing one ply at a time onto the spread.
Their is a frame or carrier wheels traveling on guide rails at the
edges of the table, a fabric support and guide collars to aid the
correct unrolling of the fabric. In the sampler versions, the
operators clamp the free end of the fabric in line with the end of
the spread, push the spreader to the other end, cut off the ply in
line with that end, clamp the beginning of the next ply, push the
spreader to the other end and so on.

Process Flow Chart of Garments Cutting Section

What is Cutting in Garments?
Cutting is one of the major processes in garments manufacturing. Here garments parts are cutting according to the pattern. In
the garments cutting department, a process flow chart has to be maintained to send the right measurement parts in the next
process for making quality garments. As its importance in garments manufacturing, a process flow chart for the garments
cutting department is presented in this article.
Process Flow Chart of Fabric Cutting Department:
Pattern received from pattern department

↓
Cutting ratio received from the merchandiser

↓
Marker making

↓
Fabric received from the store

↓
Fabric Checking

↓
Fabric Spreading

↓
Marker placing on to the lay

↓
Cutting the fabric

↓
Numbering

↓
Checking

↓
Sorting and Bundling
 ↓
Send to the sewing department
Each process of garments cutting flow chart is discussed shortly in the below table:
S/L
Process Job

At first, you have to receive different sizes of

Pattern received from patterns for each style of garments from the
01 pattern department pattern department.

Garments cutting ratio

received from the The cutting ratio for each style garment should be
02 merchandiser received from the merchandiser

To complete the cutting process easier, you have

03 Marker making to make a marker for each style of garment.

Fabric received from the In the mean time, you have to receive fabrics from
04 store the store for each style of garments.

Here, fabrics have to be checked and confirm the

05 Fabric Checking shade variation of free fabrics in the cutting table.

When the above process is completed, then you

have to spread the fabric with the correct lay
06 Fabric Spreading height and ply tension.

Marker placing on to the After that, the marker has to be placed on the top
07 lay layer of the lay.

08 Cutting the fabric Here, fabrics have to cut by maintaining a marker.

After cutting the fabrics, each part of different

style fabrics should be numbered to avoid mixing
09 Numbering with the other style fabric parts.

Checking the cutting fabrics accurately by

10 Checking comparing with its marker.

Cutting parts should be sorting and bundling here

11 Sorting and Bundling to send easily into the next process.

Cutting fabric parts have to be sent into the next

process (where required) like printing,
12 Send to the next process. Embroidery, sewing, etc.
Flow Chart of Garments Manufacturing Process
Garments Manufacturing:
A complete garment has to face several processes from its
order receiving to shipment. During garments manufacturing, a
process flow chart must be needed to complete an order easily.
Also, a process flow chart helps to understand a garment
manufacturing method that how the raw materials are
converted into wearable garments.

Garments Manufacturing Process

Flow Chart of Garments Manufacturing Process / Technology:

A basic garment manufacturing flow chart is presented below:

Design

↓
Pattern Making
 ↓
Fit Sample Making

↓
Production Pattern Making

↓
Grading

↓
Marker Making

↓
Fabric Spreading

↓
Fabric Cutting

↓
Cutting Parts Sorting or Bundling

↓
Sewing

↓
Garments Inspection

↓
Garments Ironing and Finishing

↓
Final Inspection

↓
Garments Packing

↓
Cartooning

↓
Shipment

Each process of garments manufacturing flow chart is discussed in

the below with the details:
1. Design:
Design is provided by the buyer. After placing an order buyer
send the technical sheet and art-work of an order to the
merchandiser. This process is done both manually or by using
the computer.
2. Pattern Making:
By following the technical sheet and art-work, the pattern of
each garment style should be made. It’s done both manually
and by using a computerized method.
3. Fit Sample Making:
The main target of making a fit sample is to follow the detailed
instruction about the style of that garment. After making it’s sent
to the buyer to rectify. It’s done manually.
4. Production Pattern Making:
For bulk production, allowance is added here with net
dimension. Production Pattern Making is done both manually
and by using the computer.

5. Grading:
During an order confirmation, the buyer suggests the size ratio
of that order. So that order should be graded according to the
buyer’s instruction. Grading is done manually or by using the
computer.
6. Marker Making:
Marker is a very thin paper that contains all the parts of a
particular garment. To make the cutting process easy, it’s must
be needed. Marker making process can be done both manually
and by using the computer.
7. Fabric Spreading:
To cut the fabric properly fabric is spread inlay form. Fabric
Spreading is done manually or by using a computerized
method.
8. Fabric Cutting:
Fabrics have to cut here according to the marker of garments.
The fabric Cutting process is done by using a manual method
or computerized method.
9. Cutting Parts Sorting or Bundling:
Here, cutting parts have to sort out or make bundling to send
these easily into the next process. This process is done
manually.
10. Sewing:
All the parts of a garment are joined here to make a complete
garment. The sewing process is done manually.
 11. Garments Inspection:
After completing sewing, inspection should be done here to
make fault free garments. Garments Inspection is done by
using the manual method.
12. Garments Ironing and Finishing:
Here garments are treated by steam; also required finishing
should be completed here. This process is done by using the
manual method.
13. Final Inspection:
Finally, the complete garments are inspected here according to
the buyer’s specification. Final Inspection is done by manual
method.
14. Garments Packing:
Complete garments are packed here by using the buyer’s
instructed poly bag. Garments packing are done by using the
manual method.
15. Cartooning:
To minimize the damages of garments, all the garments have
to cartooned by maintaining buyers’ instruction. This process is
done manually.
16. Shipment:
After completing all the required processes it’s finally sent to
the buyer.

Process Flow Chart of Garments Sample Making:

Garments samples play an important role in receiving

a garments export order. The sample section of the garments
manufacturing factory has done this job. As a result, among all
the other sections like cutting, sewing, finishing,
etc. sample section gets the maximum priority in demands.
A garment merchandiser should have an excellent idea about
the process flow chart of sample making which will help him to
facilitate the other duties of a garments export order.
 Garments sample making

Process Sequence of Garments Sample Making:

Received tech pack from the buyer

↓
Pattern making

↓
Fabric cutting

↓
Print or embroidery (if required)

↓
Sewing

↓
Finishing

↓
QC check

↓
Send to the buyer for approval

All the above processes of garments sample making have

discussed in the below table:
SL No. Process Procedure
 It is the first step of a garment export order. Here
garments merchandiser receives all the tech pack from
the buyer, where tech
pack contains all the required information about the
Received tech garments order such as reference sample, measurement
pack from the chart, print instruction, embroidery instruction, wash
01 buyer instruction, etc.

Here sample pattern has to develop according to the

02 Pattern making tech pack (measurement chart) provided by the buyer.

After developing a sample garments pattern, the fabric

has to cut here by following the pattern. It’s a very
important section to approve the sample in the very first
03 Fabric cutting shot.

Print or If the tech pack contains print or embroidery instructions

embroidery (if then those should be completed in the cutting fabrics
04 required) according to the tech pack.

Sewing is another important section to approve the

sample by the buyer in the very shot. Here, garments are
sewn according to
the measurement chart. It should be noted that during
sewing extra care should be taken to make fault free
05 Sewing sample garment.

Ironing or pressing has done in the garments here

06 Finishing according to the measurement chart.

After completing all the above processes, a quality

controller inspects the sample garment here by following
the tech pack which is provided by the buyer. if arise any
problem here then the sample garment is sent to the
07 QC check required section for making fault-free clothing.

After checking the sample garment by the quality

controller (QC), the garment was sent to the buyer for
approval. If it’s approved by the buyer then the garments
Send to the buyer merchandiser can start the next processes for
08 for approval the garments production.
Process Flow Chart for Garments Sewing Department
What is Sewing in Garment?
Sewing is an important department in the garments
manufacturing industry. All the parts of a garment are joined
here by making stitches with the help of a needle and thread.
Where the sewing process flow chart helps to make a complete
garment easily. By maintaining the sewing process flow chart,
an order can be completed in a timely.

Garments Sewing Department

Process Flow Chart for Garments Sewing Department:

Product analysis

↓
Set up a target for production

↓
Set up machine layout based on target

↓
Set up operator layout based on target

↓
QC check of the product

↓
 Line balancing

↓
Line setup

↓
Distribution of all the processes

↓
Cutting parts received section

↓
Cutting parts distribution to the operator and helper

↓
Complete parts making individually

↓
Online QC check

↓
Online quality audit

↓
Counting output and checking with the target

↓
Final quality check (for each Garment)

All the process sequence of the garments sewing

department are discussed below:
S/L
Process Job

In which way, a product has to sew, it’s decided

01 Product analysis here.

Set up a target for Have to set a target for production based on the
02 production shipping schedule.

Set up machine layout Have to prepare a machine setup layout based on

03 based on target daily target quantity.

Set up operator layout Prepare operator layout set up based on machine

04 based on target quantity.

Each garment must have to fulfill its right quality.

05 QC check of the product So, product checking must be needed by QC.

Line balancing is a tool used for production line

06 Line balancing to capacitate the flow line of production.

07 Line setup Line setup must be needed to achieve healthy

 production.

Distribution of all the All the processes of sewing must be distributed to

08 processes the right person to avoid the damage of garments.

Cutting parts received A section, which received the cutting parts from
09 section the cutting department.

All the cutting parts should be distributed to the

Cutting parts distribution to operator and helper after receiving those from the
10 the operator and helper cutting department.

Complete parts making By joining all the parts, a complete garment has
11 individually to make here individually.

During the running of garments sewing, an online

QC check must be needed to make fault free
12 Online QC check garments.

An online quality audit must be needed here to

show the buyer actual fault free product making
13 Online quality audit process.

Comparing with the target quantity, all the output

Counting output and garments should be counted here to make sure
14 checking with the target achieving the target quantity.

In this section, all the output garments are

checked finally by maintaining one by one
Final quality check method to provide fault free clothing into the
15 (for each Garment) finishing department.