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Sewing Threads

Selection of sewing threads depends upon the following factors:

1. Performance properties during sewing
2. Performance in the completed garment under conditions of wear and cleaning

Appearance and perfomance of the threads depends upon:

1. Fiber Type
2. Construction
3. Finish

1. Fiber Type

a. Linen- Useful in making strong, rather stiff threads for heavy sweing and also for button sewing.

b. Slk - Advantage- Good appearance and performance, Disadvantage- High Cost

c. Cotton - Good Sewing Performance, Disadvantages- Strength and abrasion resistance are inferior to synthetic threads of equal thickness.
It is more stable at higher, dry temperature than synthetics- less affected by hot needles during sewing.

d. Viscose- 1. Do not have the strength or durability of synthetic fibres. 2. Low tenacity and low strength when wet. 3. High lustre- can be used for embroidery.

Nylon/ Polyester Threads
1. Not affected by rot, mildew or bectaria
2. High Tenacity
3. High resistance to abrasion
4. Good resistance to Chemicals

2. Construction

When the fibres occur in short lengths, they must be twisted together, initially into a single yarn, and then that twist must be balanced by applying a reverse twist, as two or three such yarns are combined to form the thread construction.

- Twist in singles yarn consolidates the strenth and flexibility provided by the fibres themselves.

- Without the reverse twist, known as finishing twist, a conventional thread cannot be controlled during sewing. The individual plies would separate during their repeated passages through the needles and over the sewing machine control surface.

- Remember that the frictional forces acting on a thread during its passage through a sewing machine also tend to insert some twist, predominantly in one direction.

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Needle Point

These are divided into two parts- Cutting points and cloth points.

Cutting Points: These are needed for fabrics like leather where there are no gaps in the structure.

Cloth Points: These are needed for those fabrics where there are gaps in the structure.

Cutting point Neeedles

a. Wedge Point: It produces most durable seam on leather. It resists great stress, the incision lie at right angle to the seam direction and high stitch density can be achieved.

b. Cross Point: Here strength is considerably weakened. The material is likely to tear if stress is at the right angle. The incisions lie parallel to the direction of the seam.

c. Twist Point: The strength is intermediate and the incisions like 45 deg. to the direction of the seam.


Cloth Point Needles

These are used for sewing textile materials rather than the sheet material already described. The points have a round cross section.

The needles are different for the various woven and knitted fabrics.

Knitted fabrics consist of yarns with spaces between them and if a yarn in a knitted fabric is broken the knitted structure may begin to unravel. The requirement in sewing knitted fabrics is :

a. A needle which will slightly deflate the yarns and enter the spaces.

b. A needle of as small a size as possible consistent with needle strength and sewing thread size.

c. A fabric which is sufficiently lubricated that it has flexibility in relation to the movement of the needle.

The shape of the tip of the neele point which best achieves this deflation is a ball shape and the needle is referred to as a ball point needle.

Woven fabric consist of yarns which can have greater or lesser amounts of twist, interlaced with each other at various degrees of density.

For that a needle is needed that goes between the fibres and does not strike and break them.

The shape of the tip of the needle point which best achieves this penetration between the fibres has the appearance of being slighly cone shaped. It is usually referred to as a set point needle.

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Size of Needle

Choice of size is determined by the fabric and the thread combination which is to be sewn.

If needle is too small for the thread, the thread will neither pass freely through the eye nor fit properly into the long groove. As a result it will suffer from excessive abrasion. It may result in

Costly thread breakage in production because the machinist must stop to rethread the needle and possibly also to unpick some of the stitching so that a joint does not show in an important part of the garment.

When sewing heavy plies of material, a fine needle tend to get deflated. It can affect the stitch loop pick up and cause slip stitches, or it can even lead to needle breakage

A break in the situation of multi-needle sewing with fabric running through the folders would be impossible to repair.

If the needle is too large, there will be poor control of the loop formation which may cause slipped stitches.

There will also be holes in the fabric which are too big for the stitches and give an unattractive seam appearance.

In closely woven fabric, there will be a pucker along the seam line due to fabric distortion.

Nomenclature for Needle Size

Metric

d x 100 = Metric Number, where d is in millimeter,

eg. For d = 0.65 mm, number of needle is 0.65x100 =65




Selection of needle and thread size for a particular seaming situation is a question of achieving a balance between the minimum damage due to pucker which is a matter of small needle size and seam strength which requires a substantial needle and thread.

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Sewing Machine Needle

The way in which the fabric is penetrated by the needle during sewing has a direct effect on seam strength and on garment appearance and wearable life.

The functions of the sewing machine needle in general are:

a. To produce a hold in the material for the thread to pass through and to do so without causing any damage to the material
b. To carry the needle thread through the material and there form a loop which can be picked up by the hook on the bobbin case

Anatomy of a Sewing Machine Needle



Butt: It is shaped end of the needle which facilitates insertion into the needle bar or clamp.

Shank:
It is the upper part of the needle which is located within needle bar. It is the support of the needle as a whole and is usually larger in diameter than the rest of the needle for reasons of strength.

Shoulder: It is the section intermediate between the shank and the blade.

Blade: The blade is the longest part of the needle down to the eye. The blade is subjected to the greatest amount of material through which the machine passes.

Long Groove: The long groove in the blade provides a protective channel in which the thread is drawn through the material during stitch formation. Sewing thread can suffer considerably from abrasion during sewing as a result of friction against the fabric. A correctly shaped long groove, of a depth matched to the thread diameter, offers considerable protection to the thread.

Short Groove: The short groove is on the side of the needle which extends a little above and below the eye. It assists in the formation of the loop in the needle thread.

Eye of the Needle: The eye of the needle is the hole extending through the blade from the long groove on one side to the short groove on the other.

Scarf or Clearance Cut: It is a recess across the whole face of the needle just above the eye. This ensures that the loop of the needle thread will be more readily entered by the point of the hook.

The Point of the needle is shaped to provide the best penetration of each type of material.

The Tip is the extreme end of the point which combines with the point in defining the penetration performance.