Maximization of Sewing Strength and Minimization of Seam Pucker for Denim Fabrics Using Taguchi Method

Abstract

Seams provide the shape of the garments and support the fabric pieces together. The seam quality is important for the serviceability of any garment. In general, the seam quality depends on various factors such as fabric weight, sewing thread type, and stitches per unit area. In this research, three different levels of fabric types with the same construction and different weights, which are mostly used in the production of denim products, were examined. For this purpose, each fabric was sewn in the warp direction with three different levels of sewing threads and three different levels of stitch densities. Then, the values of seam strength, and the seam pucker values were obtained with three replications for each combination of levels. In this study, it is aimed to obtain the optimum levels of fabric weight, sewing thread type, and stitch density of denim fabrics by using the Taguchi method. Custom Taguchi Design is employed to observe the efficiency of factor levels on seam strength and seam pucker, and existence of interactions among fabric weight, sewing thread type, and stitch density.