Abstract
The effects of mechanical properties of sewing thread and stitch length on seam stiffness and softness were investigated. Bleached sheetings were chosen as a sample assuming the seam sewing of Japanese national costume (Kimono). Mechanical and surface characteristics were obtained by KES system, using seamed samples prepared by various sewing methods, such as hand sewing, machine sewing and bonding with a adhesive tape. The seam stiffness was evaluated using the data obtained by mechanical and surface properties using the data obtained by mechanical and surface properties. Using these mechanical values, rigidity, softness, stiffness and drape coefficient of these seamed samples were quantitatively calculated. The machine sewed seams showed high stiffness in tensile, bending and shearing mode and lacked smoothness on the surface. Samples bonded by adhesive tape showed rigidity higher than that of machine seamed samples. The bending and shearing rigidity decreased with decreasing stitch length and diameter of threads. Softness of bonded samples showed the lowest softness and machine sewed samples the highest softness. Machine sewed seams have higher value of rigidity and, flatness and drape coefficient compared with those of hand sewed seams.
