UNIT – V

Seam Strength

Joint between the two parts of a garment.

For perfect fitting and look of the garment seam appearance and its strength has
to be proper.

Many factors like appropriate sewing, needle size and its type, fabrics used and
its weight, stitches done on the garment, seam construction and tension level of
thread influences the strength of seam.

Seam strength testing is basically an examination of the amount of pressure
required to tear or break the seam of the garment.

Measurement of seam strength is a part of quality control procedure which is
essential for garments.

There are many problems associated with the seam strength if there is any fault
during making of seam, for instance- the seam and fabric splits at same point of
time and sometimes the seam is safe but the fabric tears off

Best available option of stitch to ensure strong seams is Locked stitch as in this
stitch there is interlocking of the threads which increases the seam strength.
Factors Affecting Seam Strength
 Stitch and seam construction
 Sewing needle (dia, shape, tip and eye size)
 Fabric type and weight (material of the fabric, type of fabric weave, thread
count, the pattern positioning, type of yarn and seam direction).
 Thread type, construction, size and finish (types of threads like cotton thread,
polyester thread, silk threads, etc)
 Thread tension or Stitch balance
Seam Strength & Seam Slippage
• Seam slippage is to test whether the yarn across the woven fabric does not come
out from the seam of a garment when a force is applied on them
• Seam slippage occurs when the density of the fabrics or the construction is low,
less warp and weft per inch.
• Sometimes seam slippage occurs when the finished chemical, like resin or silicon
is added on the surface of the fabric.
 • This makes the fabric yarns to be more slippery and also reduces the tensile
strength of the fabric.
• Both parameters measure the performance of seam.
• Seam strength refers to the strength when seam finally ruptures or when the
fabric breaks.
• However before rupturing there is an unacceptable opening in the seam which
makes the seam 'failed' commercially even when there is no visible rupture. Seam
slippage measures that.
• Seam strength depends upon stitch type, thread strength, stitches per inch, thread
tension, seam type and seam efficiency of the material.
• Seam slippage depends upon the stitch rate, the weave structure of the fabric and
the width of the seam allowance.

Labin: Seam Slippage Tester determining Seam Slippage Test, Tensile Strength and
Elongation of Fabric, Rubber, Metal Strip, Plywood, Wires, Paper etc. as per I. S. 3400.
Capacity: 0 to 250 Kgf.
Gripping Device: To test Fabric, Rubber, Wire, Rod, Strips and any other Specimen of
various materials can be tested by interchangeable Gripping Jaws, which can be easily
installed in the main gripping housing.
Drive and Traverse Speed: The Drive of the Strength is affected by Three Phase Motor
operating on 440 V.A.C. supply. The Machine is provided with Stepped (One Pulley)
which can give various Speed Ranges.
Checking and Calibration: The Calibration of the Machine is checked up with the
Force Measuring Units which was tested and certified by National Physical Laboratory
(NPL). The Machine is calibrated in Kgf.
Accuracy and Loading Ranges: It is certified that the measuring error on any
measuring ranges of this machine shall not be more than ±1% of the indicated load
above the 1/5th of the scale value.
Seam Slippage Tester
• Seam slippage tester can be used to test for the likelihood of slippage in the
stitched seam of a woven fabric.
• Thus testing the fabric structure, the type of seam and the conditions of stitching.
 • The distance between the jaws on this seam slippage tester are fully adjustable for
any distance between 0 - 75mm apart. Markings on the machine 25, 50 and of
course 75mm.
• The scale reads 0 -25 kilos in 100gm divisions. Therefore, making it suitable for
8kg, 12kg. and 18kg loads. Thus making the instrument suitable for dress ware
through to upholstery fabrics.

PEEL BOND STRENGTH OF FUSIBLEINTERLININGS

Introduction:
The force required to separate the surface layer from a substrate. Peel adhesion is the
usual measure of the strength of the bond between fiber reinforcements and rubber in
tires and other mechanical rubber goods.
Procedure:
1. Samples of size 150mm length and 75mm width are prepared.
2. Manually separate the layers of the fabric up to 50mm from the edge of longer
dimension.
3. Secure the separated face fabric of a specimen in upper clamp and the separated
backing fabric in bottom clamp of the Uni-Stretch.
4. The longitudinal axis of the specimen forms right angles with the closed jaws of
lower clamps.
5. Set the test speed 306mm/min computer software or control unit by entering into the
parameter. Now press the test key on uni-stretch or computer software or control unit to
conduct test.
6. After completing the test, the test result will show on control unit. The estimated
bond strength are converted from peak loads of resistance per inch of width (value is an
average of five highest and lowest peaks).
7. The test procedure is repeated for remaining samples. After completing the test on
selected samples, the average of highest and lowest peaks of each sample will be
calculated.
Testing of Zippers
They provide two edges which will mesh together and resist pulling apart when stressed,
on a tape support which can be sewn into the garment.
• Durability of finish of zippers to laundering
• Colour fastness to dry cleaning
• Colour fastness to light
• Colour fastness to crocking
• Colour fastness to laundering
• Resistance to salt spray (fog)
• Measuring zipper dimension
• Strength test of zippers
1. Durability of finish of zippers to laundering is evaluated by laundering the test
specimen in Laundrometer.
2. The effect of the test on the zipper coating is evaluated by noting the loss of
coating on the zipper chain or components or both.
3. The colour fastness of a zipper to dry cleaning is tested by subjecting the zipper
to commercial dry cleaning with a multi-fibre fabric.
4. The dry cleaned specimen is compared with the original specimen and any
change in the colour of specimen or staining of the multi-fibre fabric is then
assessed using the gray scale for colour change.
5. Colour fastness of zippers to light and crocking is tested the same way as in
fabric.
6. Colour fastness of zippers to laundering is same as like dry cleaning except the
solution used.
Resistance to salt spray
• Treating zipper in 5% salt solution at 33o to 36oC for 24 hrs continuously.
• The exposed specimens are visually evaluated for any sign of corrosion and
tested for ease of operation.
Cross wise strength
• The ability of a zipper chain to withstand lateral stress is measured by loading to
destruction a 2.5 cm section of specimen in a tensile testing machine.
Top Stop Holding Strength

The lower part of an interlocked Zipper is clamped and the Slider is pulled right
up to the top stop.

Holding strength is measured by pulling the Slider against the Top Stop in the
Tensile Testing
Bottom Stop Holding Strength
• A slider is pulled down till the end so that it touches the bottom stop and then the
top single chains are opened to the right and left sides and are clamped in the
Tensile tester.
• Bottom stop holding strength and resistance of the Zipper teeth inside the Slider
are measured.
Box Holding Strength
• The open part is fixed to the tensile tester clamps.
• The clamps cover only on the area where the reinforcement tape exists as shown
in the figure and the tensile strength is measured till failure.
Quality of Zippers
Zippers should be checked for the following:
• Dimensions – length and width
• Top and bottom stops should be fastened securely.
• Zipper tape should be uniform in colour.
• Zipper should not cause wrinkling or puckering.
• Slider should ride freely.

Button Pull Strength

Digital Button Pull Strength and Neck Stretch Tester (Snap Tester) (0.00 to 40.00 kg).
To determine the Button Pull snap strength, neck stretch grip and even any of force or
pull gauge testing. Motorized equipment is easy to operate and Digital unit will save
maximum force.

Specifications of Digital Button Pull Strength and Neck Stretch Tester:

Force Rating 0.00 to 40.00 kg
Force Resolution 0.01 Kg
Force measurement accuracy ±0.5% of FSD
Minimum Crosshead stroke 500 approx
Crosshead displacement
Measurement Resolution 2mm
Grips 2 Size Button Pull Strength, Neck Stretch
Crosshead speeds 100 mm per minute
Power Supply 230 V AC, 50Hz, Single Phase
Size & Weight 12" x 12" x 30", 30 Kg

Features:
• Quick-release connector.
• Can be equipped with diverse grips.
• Equipped with over current, over voltage, over burden (load), etc.
• All buttons are needed to use string of links stitch tightening in the fabric.
• Benchmark heaviness is furthermore offered so that it can be frequently checked
if it meets the security obligations.
• It is a easy but effective design mainly comprising of a high precision measure, a
sturdy required by measures & regulations is be fixed level.
Specification Button Snap Pull Tester
• Measuring Gauge: Digital Pull type
• Measuring Capacity: 50 Kg.
• Sensitivity: 100 Gms.
• Maximum Grip Separation: 210 mm
• Net Weight of Machine: 30 Kg.
• Dimensions of Equipment: L 210 mm, W 230 mm, H 700mm
• 3 Nos. of Grips supplied for all types of button/snaps.
• The results come directly on the Dial Gauge in Kg.
• All grips are made of Stainless Steel.
• GRIP-1: Three Pronged Grip for checking four-hole buttons and casual trousers
buttons.
• GRIP-2: Upper Universal grab for testing female part of snap & male part of
Stud.
• GRIP-3: Top Stud grab for testing male part of baby breaks.
• Smaller Grab Button Accessories Kit.
• Calibration Weight of 5Kg, User Manual
• Specially designed gear to work out the drag power of any kind of button &
break utilised in garments.
• Capacity 30 kg with least count of 250gms.
Colour Fastness

Colour fastness of textile materials (dyed or printed) is of considerable importance to the

consumer. The fastness depends on various parameters such as nature and depth of
shade of the dyestuff used, the nature of the fibre, the method of dyeing or printing
employed and the conditions prevailing during the process. The same colouring matter
when used in dyeing or printing different fibres or when applied by different methods
upon the same fibre may give vastly different results of fastness. Another important
aspect is the agency to which the particular material is exposed. Washing, rubbing, light,
perspiration, chlorine etc. are various agencies for which fastness has to be measured
depending on the end use. One particular dyeing may require good fastness properties to
two or three of the above agencies. For example an innerwear dress material requires
both wash and rubbing fastness. It need not have light fastness. But of course,
perspiration fastness is very much required. For an outerwear wash, rubbing and to some
extent light fastness properties are required. Now a days for child wear even fastness to
saliva is required in expert market.

Grey Scale

Grey Scale is a tool use to appraise the colour fastness of dyed and printed material to
different agencies. Grey scale is a small rectangular plate like tool with standard fading
patterns of different degrees of fading. There are two separate grey scales one for
measuring change in colour of the coloured material and other one for measuring degree
of staining on adjacent white fabrics stitched to the dyed fabric during fastness testing.
For both criteria, the ratings will range from 1 to 5 with an increment of 0.5. for light
fastness the above grey scales are not used for final rating.

Colour fastness to washing

To determine the colour fastness of textile material of any composition to the action of
soap solution or soap and soda ash combination.

Principle

A specimen of textile in contact with pieces of specified adjacent fabrics is mechanically

agitated in soap solution or soap & soda ash solution, rinsed and dried. The change in
colour of the specimen and the staining of the adjacent fabrics are assed with the help of
standard grey scale. Indian Standards Institution (ISI) and ISO have prescribed five
different test methods to test the wash fastness. Each one differs from other in terms of
increasing severity of treatment.

Apparatus required
 1. Launder ‘O’ meter
2. Grey Scale
Two adjacent fabrics

Each measuring 10 X 4 cm one piece made of the same kind of fibre as that of the
textile to be tested the second made of the fibre as indicated below.

First Piece Second Piece

Cotton Wool
Wool Cotton
Silk Cotton
Linen Cotton or Viscose
Viscose Wool
Acetate Viscose
Polyamide Wool or viscose
Polyester Wool or cotton
Acrylic Wool or cotton
Reagents required

i) Soap solution – 5 gpl

ii) Soap and soda ash solution containing 5 gpl soap and 2 gpl soda ash
Preparation of test sample

Place a specimen of 10 cm X 4 cm between two adjacent fabrics as prescribed above

and sew along all 4 sides to form a composite specimen. Prepare at least 3 such
specimens.

Procedure

Place the composite specimen in one of the containers of Launder-o-meter and add the
soap or soap and soda, solution as per the test number chosen. Conditions of treatment
for all 5 test methods have been tabulated.

Table 3.1 Conditions for ISO wash fastness test methods

In all the methods material: liquor = 1: 50

S. Wash fastness Chemicals to be Stainless steel balls Temp Time

No test method added to be added
1 ISO Test 1 Soap – 5 gpl Nil 40 ± 20 C 30 min
IS: 687 – 1979
2 ISO Test 2 Soap – 5 gpl Nil 50 ± 20 C 45 min
IS: 3361 – 1979
3 ISO Test 3 Soap – 5 gpl Nil 60 ± 20 C 30 min
IS: 764 – 1979 Soda ash – 2 gpl
4 ISO Test 4 Soap – 5 gpl 10 95 ± 20 C 30 min
IS: 765 – 1979 Soda ash – 2 gpl
5 ISO Test 5 Soap – 5 gpl 10 95 ± 20 C 4 hours
IS: 3417 - 1979 Soda ash – 2 gpl

After treating the test specimen under any one of the above test methods for the
prescribed time, rinse the specimen twice in cold water and then in cold running water
for 10 minutes. Remove the stitching and dry at a temperature of 600 C.Evaluate the
change of colour of the treated test specimen and degree of staining of the two adjacent
fabrics with the help of grey scales. Repeat the test with remaining specimens.

Report

The report shall include

a) type of the material

b) The numerical rating for change in colour of the test piece ranges from 1 to 5. 1
indicating very poor fastness and 5 indicating excellent fastness properties.
c) The numerical rating for staining of the two adjacent fabrics ranges from 1 to 5. 5
indicating no staining of adjacent fabric and 1 indicating complete staining of
adjacent fabric.

Colour Fastness of Textile to Rubbing

(IS : 766 – 1956)

To determine the colour fastness of textile materials to rubbing off and staining other
materials in both dry and wet conditions.

Sample
Two pieces each of 14x5 cm one in warp direction and other in weft direction are
selected and kept for dry rubbing.Similarly, another set of two specimens are selected
for wet rubbing.

Apparatus

a) Crock meter
b) Grey scale
c) Undyed cloth pieces each 5X5 cm size bleached cotton fabric.

Procedure
i) Dry Rubbing
Take a test specimen and fix it to the rubbing device. Fix a piece of the dry undyed
fabric over the end of the finger of the rubbing device and rub it to and fro in a straight
line along a track 10 cm long on the test piece 10 times in 10 seconds with a downward
force of 900 g on the finger. Repeat the above test for the other specimens.Evaluate the
degree of staining of the undyed fabric with the help of grey scales and assign rating.

ii) Wet Rubbing

Take a test specimen and fix it to the rubbing device. Soak a piece of undyed fabric in
distilled water and squeeze it by passing through two rubber rolls so that it contains its
own weight of water. Fix the wet undyed fabric on the finger of the rubbing device and
rub it in a straight line along a track of 10 cm long on the dry test specimen 10 times in
10 seconds with a force of 900g on the finger. Then dry the undyed fabric at room
temperature. Repeat the test for the other specimen also.Evaluate the degree of staining
on undyed fabric using grey scale and assign ratings.

Report

The report shall include.

a) The numerical rating for staining of the undyed fabric used in dry rubbing.
b) The numerical rating for staining of the undyed fabric used in wet rubbing.
The above rating ranges from 1 to 5. 1 represents very poor rubbing fastness
leading to maximum staining and 5 represents excellent rubbing fastness with no
staining reported. In general, the wet rubbing fastness is reported to be poor for any
dyeing compared to dry rubbing.
 Dimensional Stability of Fabrics

• Dimensional stability of a fabric is a measure of the extent to which it keeps its

original dimensions subsequent to its manufacture.
• Shrinkage is a problem that gives rise to a large number of customer complaints.
• Fabric shrinkage can cause problems in two main areas, either during garment
manufacture or during subsequent laundering by the customer.
Types of Dimensional changes
• Hygral Expansion
• Relaxation Shrinkage
• Swelling Shrinkage
• Felting Shrinkage
1.Hygral expansion
• It is a phenomenon that is peculiar to wool and some cellulosic fabrics, and is a
reversible change in dimensions that occurs as the moisture regain (content) of
the fabrics changes.
• In effect, wool fabrics effectively expand as themoisture regain increases and
contract as it is reduced, and these changes are inherently associated with the
prevailing relative humidity.
• Excessive levels of Hygral expansion can sometimes cause shape retention
problems troubles such asseam pucker or flagging of garment
Hygral expansion of wool
• Hygral expansion is believed to be caused by the straightening of crimped yarn as
it absorbs moisture.
• This is due to the fact that wool fibers swell to 16% in diameter and 1% in length
when wet.
2. Relaxation shrinkage
• Irreversible dimensional change accompanying the release of fiber strains
imparted during manufacturewhich have been set by the combined effects of
time, finishing treatments, and physical restraints within the structure.
• When yarns are woven into fabrics they are subjected to considerable tensions,
particularly in the warp direction.
• In subsequent finishing processes such as stentering or calendaring this stretch
may be increased and temporarily set in the fabric.
 • Subsequently when the fabric is thoroughly wetted it tends to revert to its more
stable dimensions which results in the contraction of the yarns.
• This effect is usually greater in warp direction than weft direction.
3.Swelling Shrinkage
• Swelling shrinkage results from the swelling and de-swelling of the constituent
fibres of a fabric due to the absorption and desorption of water.
• This type of shrinkage results from the width ways swelling and contraction of
the individual fibers which accompanies their uptake and loss of water.
• For instance viscose fibers increase in length by about 5% and in diameter by 30-
40% when wet.

4.Felting Shrinkage
• Felting shrinkage results primarily from the frictional properties of the
component fibers which cause them to migrate within the structure.
• Example: wool.
• Felting is related to the Directional Frictional Effect (DFE) which is found in
wool fibers.
• Shrinkage is caused by the combined effects of DFE and fiber movement
promoted by the elasticity of wool.
• It has been found difficult experimentally to determine when a fabric has reached
a totally relaxed state in which it is in a stable state with the minimum energy.
• Because of this difficulty a number of relaxed states have been suggested:
1. Dry relaxed state. This is the condition the fabric reaches after
sufficient period of time subsequent to being removed from the
knitting machine.
2. Wet relaxed state. This is achieved by a static soak in water and flat
drying.
 3. Finished relaxed state, also known as the consolidated state. This is
achieved by soaking in water with agitation, agitation in steam or a
static soak at higher temperatures (>90°C) and drying flat.
4. Fully relaxed state. This is achieved by a water soak at 40° C for 24h
followed by hydro-extraction and tumble drying for 1 h at 70°C.
Measurement of Dimensional Stability
• Samples are preconditioned at a temperature not greater than 50oC with a relative
humidity of between 10% and 25%.
• All samples are then conditioned in the standard atmosphere. After measurement
the samples are subjected to the required treatment and the procedure for
conditioning and measuring repeated to obtain the final dimensions.
Measurement of Relaxation Shrinkage
• Relaxation shrinkage is the determination of dimensional changes of fabric
induced by cold water immersion.
• In the test the strains in the fabric are released by soaking the fabric in a shallow
dish for 2h in water at 15-20oC containing 0.5 g/1 of an efficient wetting agent. It
is removed and blotted dry with paper towels without unnecessary handling and
allowed to dry flat at 200C on a smooth flat surface.
• The specimen is conditioned, measured, soaked in water, dried, reconditioned
and measured again.
 TESTING OF SEWABILITY
“Ability and ease with which fabric components can be qualitatively and quantitatively
seamed together, to convert a two dimensional fabric into three dimensional
garment.”Quality and serviceability of a garment depends not only quality of fabric but
also quality of stitching.
The following reasons are the defects caused during sewing:
1. Needle damage
2. Feed damage
3. Skipped stitches
4. Thread breaks
5. Broken stitches
6. Seam grin – too loose a tension or too loose a stitch
7. Seam pucker – misaligned notches, improper fabric feeding, tight thread
tension
8. Pleated seams – extreme form of pucker.
9. Wrong stitch density
10. Uneven stitch density
11. Staggered stitches
12. Improperly formed stitches
Quality parameters for assessing sewability
Quality of seam depends upon its strength, elasticity, durability, stability and
appearance.These characteristics measured by seam parameters
1. Seam strength
2. Seam slippage
3. Seam pucker
4. Seam appearance and
5. Seam damage
Seam strength
Strength of seam or stitch equal to join the material in balanced construction.Elements
affecting the seam strength:
1. Stitch type
2. Stitch density
3. Thread strength
4. Thread tension
Seam failure in a garment occur because of
• Failure of the sewing thread, leaving the fabric intact,
• Fabric rupture leaving seam intact,
• Both fabric and seam breaking at the same time.
Durability of seam depends on its strength and elasticity of material & its expressed as
Seam efficiency (%) = Seam tensile strength x100
Fabric tensile strength
Seam pucker

• Puckering is a disruption in the original surface area of sewn fabric.

• Gives a swelling and wrinkled effect.
Main causes of seam pucker:
• Inherent characteristics of fabric
• Stitch type and seam construction
• Choice of components
• Improper movement of fabric
• Thread tension
• Shrinkage
Seam puckering depends on:
1. Sewing thread properties
2. Stitch length type
3. Thread tension
4. Sewing speed
5. Presser foot pressure
6. Needle size and
7. Frictional properties of fabric
Seam pucker calculation:
Seam pucker can be calculated by finding thickness strain.
Thickness strain (%) = ts-2t x 100
2t
ts – Seam thickness, t – fabric thickness
Seam slippage
• Seams are subjected to increasing transverse stress, when thread of the fabric lie
parallel to the seam in the ‘seam allowance’ are displaced bodily,
• Seam opens slightly and presents an unacceptable appearance.
 • Seam has failed even though no rupture has occurred.
• Seam slippage is caused by yarns in the fabric pulling out from the seam under
strain.
• Seam slippage is most common in Plain weave.
• Seam slippage at the stitching line may be caused by separation of the fabric
components of the seams due to:

seam grin,

extensible stitch structure or gaping due to yarn slippage.
• Every yarn in the fabric is held into the seam by a stitch, there would be no seam
slippage.
• To reduce seam slippage, tension setting on the machine should be kept as high
as possible w/o causing pucker or excessive thread breakdown.
• In a given fabric, seam slippage will be higher in plain seam, then lapped and
bound seam.
• Susceptible to slippage, any displacement of the weave will aggravate the
problem.
• So it is important to use as small needle as possible consistent with the thread
size and sewing operation.
• Another slippage aspect related to sewing thread and fabric is that of seam
locking.
• Seam locking is the ability of the thread to stay put in the fabric over it has been
sewn (varies b/w thread types).
Needle cutting
• Needle cutting or yarn severance in the fabric is objectionable
• B’coz it may result in reduced seam strength or poor appearance or both due to
frayed yarns.
• To find the needle cutting index, sewing threads are removed from specimens.
• Count of no. of fabric yarns and the count of the no. of severed and fused fabric
yarns in the direction nearly perpendicular to the direction of sewing are used.

• Needle cutting index (%) = No. of yarns cut/ unit length x 100
No. of yarns in fabric/ unit length

• Occurs due to stiffness of the yarns in fabric and lack of their mobility.
 • Instead of moving or deforming when the needle penetrates the fabric structure,
yarns remain taut and are ruptured and burned.
• Some damage may occur due to excessive heat generated due to friction of the
sewing needle and the fabric.
Seam appearance
• Overall seam performance could be best judged by examining surface look of the
seam line.
• Examine under microscope to identify various aspects of seam appearance.
• And also examine surface damage.

Seam Puckering
Seam pucker is wrinkled appearance along the seam, which influences the
a p p e a r a n c e t o a considerable degree. The various causes of seam pucker are
discussed here. This critical review article basically presents the various methods of
evaluation of seam pucker. There are several methods emerged with time to
evaluate t h e seam pucker, however the research is still continuing to find our more
accurate and easy methods. The initial methods of seam pucker evaluation was
based on subjective assessment, but it suffered from the limitations of higher
evaluation time, inconsistency among judges and need for training and the results
are not reliable. The objective assessment of seam pucker is carried out by the
various methods; photometric instruments, cognitive theory, parallel light,
fractal dimension, artificial neural network, neuro-fuzzylogic, sensory
measurement and structured light projection. The advantages and
disadvantages of various methods of objective assessment are brought out.
C a u s e s o f S e a m Puckering
1. Structural jamming
2. Differential feed
3. Sewing thread tension
4. Sewing thread shrinkage
5. Fabric shrinkage
6. Mismatched patterns
EVALUATION OF SEAM PUCKER
1. Subjective evaluation:
In subjective evaluation method, experts or experienced judges grade
the fabric seam appearance according to certain standards. Variety of
standards h a s been proposed and AATCC standard 88B is the most
commonly practiced today. According to AATCC method, seam
appearance is classified into five grades: grade l refers to worst fabric which
is heavily puckered and grade 5 refers to smooth fabric with little pucker or
no pucker at all. Figure 1 illustrates the photographs of reference seam
specimens from AATCC. The sample fabrics are sewn as per standard
procedures and the appearance of seam is compared with standard
reference specimens. The grade of fabric is the grade of the reference
specimen which matches most nearly to sample fabric specimen. The
subjective evaluation method outlined above though simple and easy to
perform, has short coming such as subjectivity, human bias towards a
particular colour or pattern, higher evaluation time, inconsistency
among judges and need for training. Thus evaluation based on subjective
technique is not reliable.

Method based on thickness and length measurement:

There are two other methods, which are practiced for seam pucker evaluation.
First method is based on measurement of fabric thickness. The fabric thickness
increases due to distortion of fabric layers from fabric plane. The thickness of
unpuckered fabric seam equals the addition of thicknesses of individual fabric
plies. The increase in thickness can be used as an indicator of the extent of
puckering:

Where,
SP - Seam pucker%,
T2 - thickness of puckered seam,
T1 - thickness of fabric seam (thickness of individual fabric plies added
together).
This method though considered better than subjective evaluation, but
suffers from the limitation like more time consumption and inconsistency. Second
method employs the difference in length of fabric due to pucker as an indicator.
The sewing thread is unravelled from sewn fabric and length of fabric is measured
after the fabric is pressed. The difference between original length and
puckered length gives an indicator of pucker:

Where,
SP% - Seam pucker percentage,
11 - Length of sewn fabric,
12 - Length of unravelled fabric.
This method also suffers from limitations such as inconsistency and more time
consumption. This calls for alternative evaluation techniques based on
objective measurement, which can eliminate these shortcomings.