NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY

FMPMM Assignment 1

REVERSE PRODUCTION - SWEATSHIRT

Submitted to:​ Ms.V. Priyadarshini

Submitted by:​ Neetu Patel, Payal Dalal, Rashi Gupta & Sapna Maheshwari
(MFM SEMESTER 2 )
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sno. Title Page no.

1 Introduction 3

2 Knitting techniques 3

3 Raw materials 4

4 Product descriptions 5

5 Seams & Stitch types 6

6 Introduction to the production process 6

7 Reverse production 8

8 Explanation of all the stages 8 - 22

9 Conclusion 22

10 Bibliography 23

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Assignment Brief
Choose a garment and identify activities involved by working on its reverse production.

Garment Selected:​ Sweatshirt (Knitted product)

The sweatshirt is a knitted garment worn for a cold environment. It is usually made of different
types of yarns, both manmade and synthetic. The Auto-knitting process is used for the chosen
sweatshirt. The principal feature of garments made from knitted fabric is that the nature of the
final garment and the processing it goes through are affected in a major way by the primary
knitting process. It is possible to have four knitted garments which look superficially similar but
have been produced by four different processes. All knitted garments can be classified into four
categories according to the general production methods: cut & sew or fully cut, panel knitting,
fully fashioning & knit to wear or integrally knitted.

Cut and sew is the most common method for manufacturing sweaters. It is preferred because it
allows a high production rate and reduces waste by making it possible to work around fabric
defects. By the cut-and-sew method, sweater fabrics can be produced that use the full width of
the needle bed of a flat-bed machine or the full diameter of a circular machine. Normally,
several linear yards of fabric will be produced as one piece, from which the various panels of the
sweater are cut.

Panel knitting is another commonly used sweater manufacturing method. This method involves
knitting specific sections of the garment pattern, called panels. The panels are defined by the
exact number of courses and wales needed for each size of the garment. During the knitting
process, a separation thread is inserted between the panels, to allow them to be divided without
cutting. Once the panels have been knitted, the separation thread is removed, and the panels
are marked according to the garment pattern.

Full fashioning and shaping during manufacturing eliminate the need for cut and sew. To
shape the sweater on the knitting machine, the number of needles used during the knitting
process is increased or decreased, to change the width of the fabric. Although full fashioning
and shaping use the same manufacturing technique to create panels, the appearance of the
resulting fabric differs. In full fashioning, transferring specific loops to adjacent needles to widen
or narrow the fabric results in the formation of “fashion marks.” If fashion marks are not formed,
the resulting sweater is called a “shaped” garment. Full fashioning provides a better fit and a
smoother seam.

Knit to wear garment - In whole-garment knitting (also known as “knit to wear”), entire sweaters
are knit without any cut and sew or linking, resulting in a ready-to-wear garment. The individual
body and sleeve parts are knit in tabular form to the proper shape and then knitted together and
connected on the machine, using widening, narrowing, and binding-off techniques, to produce a
finished garment.

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Raw materials: Yarns used in sweatshirt production are Man-Made(cotton, wool etc),
Synthetic(acrylic) & Blends(acrylic melange, blended acrylic mixed with wool, cotton, chenille,
popcorn, angora, cashmere, tape yarn etc)

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Product name​: ONLY BLACK XOXO PRINT CROPPED SWEATSHIRT

Size Guidelines

Product Description

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Stitch & Seam types

Sides & Cuffs: 4-thread overlock stitch. Edge seam: Twin needle hem for knits.

Neck(back): Bound seam C101 (Piping) Neck(front): Lap felled seam

Introduction to the production process

This sweatshirt has gone through various stages of process and inspection in order to reach the
end customer. In a brief, at the ​initial stage, it needs to develop lab dip as per buyer’s
requirement. Buyer may provide a swatch of Pantone numbers. After these different types of
yarn have been brought from local and international yarn manufacturers, and the accessories
are collected from backyard-linkage industries of local and foreign origin according to the
buyer’s requirement.

At the next stage, raw packages of yarn are rolled up for giving those suitable revolving shapes
and sent to the Yarn Distribution (YD) section, where every spin of yarn is properly weighted,

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and specific amounts of spindled yarn are allocated to the Knitting section. Every part of the
sweatshirt is knitted in the knitting section and passed them for the ​First Inspection to get them
checked whether each part is properly knitted or not, and to get information if any yarn is
wasted.

After the First Inspection, each part of the sweaters is linked up in the linking section and
thoroughly checked in the Second Inspection​. In this stage, light checking is done with a view
to ensuring if any whole is present in the garment.

Accurate measurements are tested in the ​Third Inspection​; if it is up to the standard, these
sweatshirts are passed through the labelling section, where neck, care and size labels are
attached. Steam ironing is performed after labelling and sent to the quality control section,
where each part of the garment is checked carefully. In case, the sweaters are found not up to
the standard, they are sent back to the Third Inspection section for mending the loopholes. The
whole process of knitting is being examined at the final inspection section and passed to them
for packing or folding. After packaging, the lots are transferred into the warehouse and kept
them standby for shipment.

Reverse Production of a​ Sweatshirt

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Reverse Production Stages

STORES

After the shipment of merchandise, it is made accessible to the specific stores and markets for
the selling purpose where the customers can see and buy the sweatshirts. While arranging the
stock in the stores, retailers keep in mind the customer’s point of view. It becomes apparent that
the merchandise should be classified on the basis of the major features of interest to customers.
The sweatshirt is arranged firstly according to the size rather than the price, permitting the
customer to see in one section all of the sweatshirts in which he or she would be interested.

CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION

Transport and distribution in the right place at the right time, with the least possible cost, is the
aspiration of every manufacturer.

The usage of distribution channels allows clothing manufacturers to increase the efficiency of
placing their fashion products on the market through intermediaries of fashion marketing their
products to market, their contacts, experience and specialization​.

● Producer-consumer distribution channel ​(direct channel) is considered to be the

simplest channel but not the most efficient one. Sales of clothing can be done without an
intermediary and the manufacturer can control all phases of sales operations.
● Producer-retailer-consumer distribution channel ​(short channel) is typical for the
garment industry where many producers sell directly to retail chains that have their own
stores.

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 ● Producer-wholesale-retail-consumer distribution channel is the most commonly used
distribution channel. The practical value of this channel gets smaller since garment
producers more often sell their goods directly to consumers.
● Producer-agents-wholesale-retail-consumer distribution channel ​(long channel) ​goes
through three intermediaries. It is suitable for products with mass distribution.

The choice of distribution channels depends on the product, or collection of products.

After the manufacturing process of sweatshirts, the ​second channel of​ ​distribution​ is used.
For example ,cotton is purchased from the cotton farmers, it is then shipped off to the factories
where weavers and designers will create the fabrics, the fabric factories will then sell to
manufacturing companies who will create something the retailers can sell on to make a profit
from the whole process. When they have been created they will choose either to sell them onto
a wholesaler or to sell it in their particular stores.International brands extend their distribution
channels as they have to distribute their goods further around the globe.

SHIPMENT

After pre-shipment inspection by the buyer representative, sweaters inspection is passed and
are ready for shipping.

SHIPPING OUT

Pre-shipment inspection is the last activity which is performed before shipment. After
completing the pre-final or lot pass inspection, this kind of inspection process commonly
coordinated by the final inspector or by Pre-shipment inspection agencies before the shipment,
it’s called pre-shipment inspection. It is also known as the final inspection. After packing and
cartooning is over, all the items comprising a consignment ready for shipment is also called a lot
of population on which statistical method can be successfully used. Any sample randomly taken
from such a lot can represent the whole lot. This inspection process mainly held on the apparel
factory. If the rejection rate is higher than a pre-set value the whole lot is rejected or returned for
a recheck.

Buyers are very quality conscious and expect the products to meet their prescribed standards
and quality. Once the final garment is ready for shipment, ​the inspection agency’s personnel
visit the seller’s location and perform a quality check of the final garment. If the inspection is a
pass, ​they issue a certificate of inspection for the product is eligible for shipment. The
certificate of inspection should be enclosed with other shipping documents sent to the buyer.
Buyer also uses these agencies for compliance audits at times. Pre-shipment inspection is very

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advantageous to the buyer as it ensures the quality of the product, saves time in waiting for
low-quality goods if any, reliability of the parties involved increases and risk in quality is taken
care​ of.

CARTONING

After packaging of sweatshirts, the process of cartoning is carried out on the basis of its size
and colour. The aim of Cartoning is ​to identify packaging and labelling standards for carton box
marking and carton box content of products manufactured by Carton Machine. The inspectors
review the packaging list to ensure it includes overall carton count and carton numbers, carton
dimension and weight, shipping label, style or shade identification and corresponding counts in
the carton and packing slip.​ Cartoning machines can be divided into two types:-

Horizontal cartoning machines -​ On horizontal cartoning machines, the product is inserted

from the side of the carton. These cartons can operate in continuous or intermittent mode, with
the option of automatic lateral loading of the product into the carton, and closure of the ends by
hot-melt application or flap insertion

Vertical cartoning machines -​ On vertical cartoning machines, the carton is fed through the
machine in a vertical position and the product is inserted manually or automatically, most often
from the top of the machine.

Information provided in carton boxes is :

● Carton box number

● Order number
● Style, colour
● Number of pieces in each colour and style
● Total number of pieces
● From address and To address
● Contact number
● Net weight of the carton box
● The dimension of the carton box

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CARTON BOX CONTENT STANDARDS

1. Products in one lot should be layered tidily on top of each other and should not be placed
side-by-side in one lot.

2. A Lot Label should be attached to each lot package in a box and it should not be a thermal
label.4.5 cm wide transparent tape should be used for lot packages.

3. All products in a box should have price hang tags. Price hangtag details should be visible;
Barcode IDs on price hangtags should definitely be ​visible​. ​Product price hangtag, product
inner barcode label, lot label and carton box marking barcode label should all have matching
information. ​Barcode coding systems should be good. It is forbidden to use any other barcode
coding system for labelling.

4. The assortment distribution and the packaging should be made according to the assortment
agreed for the order. Products which are not included in assortments should be boxed as solid
colour-solid size.

5. Different sizes or styles, which do not match with the information on the lot label or box label,
should ​NEVER​ be added to the package simply to complete missing sizes or colours.

6. ​Carton Separators should be put at the bottom and top side of inner carton boxes, to avoid
the possible damages to the garments when opening the boxes by knife, scissors etc.

POLY PACK

In this stage, garments are being poly to protect the garments from dust as well as to ensure the
garments are safe in the cartoon. Folded garments are packed into poly bags. ​It is the process
of wrapping, compressing, filling or creating goods for the purpose of protection and their
appropriate handling. It is an important part of the ​sweatshirt manufacturing process​. The
sweatshirt can be packed individually or as a multiple into one polybag. Barcode stickers are
attached to the price tags. After this sweatshirt is packed into a bigger packet known as Carton.
After being poly the garments, garments are being carton packed for shipment.

FOLDING

After completing pressing, the garments are folded with a predetermined area. Sweatshirts are
folded according to the buyer’s direction, requirements in a standard area. Pressed sweatshirts
are folded in a specified dimension. All the sweater garments are folded and packed and made
ready for shipment. The ​automatic folding machine folds clothes quickly, silently and with
precision. It functions independently and requires one operator. It is designed to fold t-shirts,

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sweatshirts​, ​sweaters, undershirts, trousers, pants, etc. It can be very easily adjusted for the
various sizes and types of clothes so that the best-desired folding is achieved.

The programs of the automatic folding machine are:

1.Folding of a garment in half

2. folding with a set length of the end folding

3.Double folding with a set length of the end folding

4.Double folding with a set length of the end folding (for very large garments).

THERMOSOL STP-950​ machine is used in the folding of ​sweatshirts

METAL PASS

Metal Pass is an essential part of the ​production process. Nowadays in the sweatshirt
production process metal detector is a very important consideration for manufacturers. A metal
detector may help during the production stage, therefore all products are harmless and free
from metal contaminants.

GET UP CHECK

After the hangtag, the get-up check is done in the sweatshirt manufacturing process which is
done to ensure if there are any defects remaining in the sweatshirt or not. There is not any
specific machine for getup check. It is mainly done by labour itself.

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HANG TAGS

Hang Tags are attached to the sweatshirt after this stage and they are what a customer will look
for first when considering buying your product, as this is where most of the important information
will be easily visible.

Hang tags are not attached directly to the product or garment, they hang from a string and
provide information such as price, care instructions, manufacturer, or material. Hang tags are
usually larger than labels, therefore they contain more detailed information. Hangtags and price
tags are attached to the garment by means of a Kimble gun.

1. More detail can be written: ​The best thing about hang tags is that they are often much
larger than other labels, which means they can contain much more information.

2. Adding extra information: ​If you are struggling to fit everything you need to write on another
kind of label, a good idea is adding a hang tag to your product to make sure your customer gets
all the information they need.

3. Not directly attached to the product: therefore often get discarded almost immediately after
purchase.

4. Cannot be used long-term: ​If you are wanting to create a label with important long-term
information, you will need to also use another kind of label that is attached directly to your
product.

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LIGHT CHECK

Once again the final light check is carried out to check for any defects present in the garment, in
this case, the sweatshirt. If there are any defects which can be repaired then the sweatshirt
goes back to the mending process.

PRE QUALITY CHECK

A pre quality check is carried out to measure the softness or stiffness, the elasticity, the loop
density, fabric appearance, dimensional stability, weight of the fabric etc.

BUTTON ATTACHING / BUTTON HOLING

Sweatshirts are available in the front opening as well. So button attaching and buttonholing is
done in the finishing stage. A sweatshirt design might have a zipper for the front opening.
Zippers are attached. Wash care label and brand label are attached using a single needle Lock
stitch machine.

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SEWING AND LABELING

Labels are attached in the sweatshirt by a sewing machine. The sweatshirt has the following
labels attached.

MACHINE EMBROIDERY

In this process according to the design of the sweatshirt embroidery work is done. But since this
sweatshirt’s design is different no embroidery was required in this.

PRESSING AND IRONING SECTION

The Sweatshirt in the process ironed to give it a permanent shape and to improve its aesthetic
value. Heavy stress is required for pressing.

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WASHING AND DRYING

The working procedure of this section is to wash the sweatshirts & remove water by
hydro-extracting. Sweatshirts are washable garments. Wet finishing is preferred. Detergent,
oxalic acid and some chemicals are used to wash the garments & sometimes softener is used
to increase the hand feeling of the garments. Duration of washing time depends on the material,
quality and thickness of the garment. After washing, washed garments are kept into the
hydro-extractor to remove water. After removing the water the garments are transferred to the
dryer for drying. Drying time depends on material quality. To dry acrylic type garments, it takes
20-25 minutes & for this sweatshirt which is of
cotton type, it takes 55-60 minutes for drying.

LIGHT CHECK

In this section, the sweatshirt went through a light checking ​process thoroughly and carefully to
examine any defects present. Sweatshirts are checked by using cylindrical shaped inspection
kits & there is a filter light inside the cylinder. There are two types of light stands for inspection.
One is used to inspect the sleeve panel & another one is used to inspect the body panel. If an
inspector finds any defect such as hole or laddering in the panel, he/she marks this by using
different colour thread and then transfers it to the mending section for mending or repairing if
there is a scope to repair the sweatshirt.

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SWEATSHIRT WASHING

Washing is the mandatory process for cotton and the acrylic-based sweatshirts. This is also an
important process for setting sweatshirt shrinkage. Washing is not recommended for sweatshirts
made of fancier yarns.

DYEING

The garment dyeing is a process by which we can apply colour on the garment/apparel.
Coloured garments are not used for garment dyeing. Dyeing is the aqueous application of dyes
on the textile substrate and can be absorbed or adhered to the substrate in solution form
through covalent bonds or complexes with salts or metals by chemical retention or physical
adsorption. Shade matching is the main task of the dyeing section. The shade is the depth of
colour percentage. The shade is expressed in percentage of dye amount in a unit weight of the
fabric. Shade matching depends on accuracy of man’s eye.

MENDING

In this process, there are different operators for mending or repairing the defective sweatshirt.
This is a manual process which is done by using needles and yarns.

TRIMMING

At this stage, extra threads are removed or inserted into the body panel. Then the garments are
sent to the light check inspection section for proper checking.

SEAM CHECKING

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The seam is one of the important parameters and considered as basic requirements in the
construction of apparel. Seam quality has great significance in the production of finished apparel
products. There are many factors which affect the seam strength. Seam appearance and
performance depends on the type of fabrics, threads, stitch type, type of seam and sewing
conditions, which include the needle size, stitch density, the appropriate operation and
maintenance of the sewing machines. For some functional garments such as sportswear, the
requirement of seam strength may be higher than the need for seam appearance, while for
some apparel products such as sweatshirts, the appearance of the seam is of higher
importance.

LINKING of different panels

Knitted sweatshirt panels are then sent to the linking section. Different components of a
sweatshirt are joined together by means of a linking machine. ​Linking is a method of
seaming/attaching pieces of a garment together after the pieces have been knitted on a flat-bed
knitting machine. The linking process requires a skilled operator and is used mainly for high-end
knitted apparel. In the linking process, a slacker course of loops of yarn is created on the linking
machine, which connects two pieces of fabric together.

The working procedure of this section is to link the different panels to produce a complete
sweatshirt. In this section, the linking operator links the different panels by using a linking
machine which is popularly known as a dial linking machine. The Dial linking machine can be of
different gauges such as 5G, 6G, 8G, 14G and 16G etc.

KNITTED PANEL CHECK

Quality checker checks 100% panels on a flat table (or under the light table). Measurement
checking of panels is done randomly. This is the process to check the different knitted panels.
After knitting the different pieces of sweatshirt, the knitting inspectors check the quality of knitted
fabric on the basis of some criteria.These are- checking panel measurement, test the knitting

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tension, identification of knitting mistake, style check, design check, spot check, foreign yarn
mistake check etc. After passing this inspection section, the knitted panels are sent to the
linking section.

MACHINE PROGRAMMING & KNITTING

Sweatshirts are being manufactured by using the flat knitting machine. It has a linear needle
bed that makes it possible to produce flat knitted rectangular panels for products like
sweatshirts, cardigans, skirts, scarves and other outer garment products. This machine type
traditionally produces coarse structure knit panels, with a fixed edge and a welt at the bottom of
the panel and then structures or patterns as jacquard, stripes or cables across the panel. Thus
the production of a product from yarn to garment with flat knitting technology could be done in
several ways, depending on the machinery available and the production methods that a
company has adopted.

Knitting----- finishing----- cutting sewing---- finishing = Readymade garments

Production from yarn to readymade garment consists of several processes. It starts with the
knitting process, where yarn on yarn-cones is knitted to panels in the flat knitting machine. The
panels are steamed in the finishing process after knitting. In the cutting process the panels are
cut to the right shape and size according to design quality requirements. The panels are joined
together to a garment in the sewing process. To accomplish the right quality, the garment is
often passed through a finishing process such as washing or steaming.

Function of flat knitting machine:

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The most important mechanical features of a flat knitting machine are:

The supporting frame. The yarn feeding system. Two needle-beds made up of flat grooved
plates. A carriage provided with cam-locks for needle control. A transmission system. A fabric
take-down motion. A central programming unit. A needle-bed racking system.

Properties:

The typical flat bar or flat knitting m/c has two stationary beds on which latch needles and other
elements slide during knitting action.

The needles are controlled by angular cams. The carriage with its selected yarn carrier’s
traverse in reciprocating manners across the machine width.

The machine may be hand controlled or may be fully automated electronically controlled and
power driven.

Parts of machine:

An automatic flat knitting machine

incorporates the following systems :

S: base A: fabric take-down motion B - E:

reading system (to read programs from
cards or other punched carriers)
H:needle-beds F - I: thread guide and
color-change system L - M: carriage and
cam-lock holder O - P: drive and
transmission system R:electric fittings and
safety devices Q: tensionless G: lateral
control system

Knitting program for auto jacquard

Knitting timing 50 M but with 15% extra 57.5 M or 60 M

Per day working hours-10hr

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Per day production per m/c -10pc

Running m/c 400

Per day production 4000pc

Yarns required:

Yarn
Required for per dozen sweatshirt 6.75 lbs. That means with 10% extra 7.43 lbs.
(100% Acrylic)

Yarn Required for per dozen sweatshirt 8.46 lbs. That means 10% extra 9.31 lbs.
(100% Cotton)

WINDING

Winding is the process of transferring yarn or thread from one type of package to another. The
re-handling of yarn is an integral part of the fiber and textile industries. Not only must the
package and yarn itself be suitable for processing on the next machine in the production
process but also other factors such as packing etc.

Cone winding is a process used to remove dirt, dust or fault in the yarn before the process of
knitting. It is very important that wax should be free of dust and rotated freely during the winding
process.

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YARN STORAGE

The first stage in the manufacture of the garments is the cutting of the fabrics into necessary
pattern shapes. Then the cut components are joined together by means of seams to create
three dimensional garments.

There are different ways to organize the production of garments, according to the type, the
quantity and the diversity of products to be made. The number of items to be made and the rate
of delivery of these items distinguish individual production, batch production and mass
production.

Yarns are the primary raw material for sweatshirt knitting then yarn winding is being done for
further process. Winding process can be defined as the transfer of spinning yarn from one
package to another large package (cone, spool, pirn etc). A process of accumulating yarn on a
package to facilitate the next process is called winding. As this sweatshirt is made of cotton,
cotton yarns were used in the process.

CONCLUSION

The production of a garment from its raw material stage to the TWO DIMENSIONAL FABRIC,
and at the end the finished garment (clothing) as a three dimensional product which wraps
around our body giving proper fit and comfort ability is not a simple process. There goes a lot of
manpower and infrastructure in order to make that useful piece of clothing.

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 Bibliography

1. Flow chart of the sweater manufacturing process. Available at:

http://www.garmentsmerchandising.com/flow-chart-of-sweater-manufacturing-process/
(Accessed on 18/02/20)
2. Terry B. (2005) Knitted Clothing Technology. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford.
3. Sadhan C.R. (2012) Fundamentals & advances in knitting technology. Woodhead
Publishing Limited, Cambridge, UK.

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