ABSTRACT SEWELL, JACQUELINE EVA. Addressing the Feasibility Of
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ABSTRACT SEWELL, JACQUELINE EVA. Addressing the Feasibility of Moving an Existing Cut and Sew Combat Shirt to Seamless Knitting. (Under the Direction of Dr. Karen K Leonas and Dr. Andre West). This body of research addressed a limited cost and time feasibility of moving an existing cut and sew combat shirt to seamless knitting. Seamless knitting, a method of knit production that does not require any garment construction post manufacturing, has a host of benefits, including: reduce floor space and production sequence by eliminating the need for cut and sew, reduce waste, reduce labor, produce higher quality products, and reduce cost. While this garment manufacturing method has a number of potential benefits, there is no existing research addressing the feasibility and benefits of moving an existing cut and sew garment to this method of production. The object of this research was to create a seamless prototype based off an existing combat shirt, create process map to analyze, identify, and address common challenges in seamless knitting, and address a limited time analysis of cut and sew garment production versus seamless knitting garment production. In this study an existing combat shirt, currently sold in the U.S. market, was chosen as a model, XGO’s DBL Combat Shirt Size L. An existing XGO shirt was analyzed. The knitting time, pattern cut time, fabric waste, sewing time, and thread use were calculated for the existing cut and sew combat shit. Based off of the silhouette and size of XGO’s shirt, a seamless prototype was created. Through prototyping trial and failures, a seamless knit trouble-shooting guide was created. This prototype phase also provided the time to knit a seamless shirt base. Results from this research show that to produce a seamless knit combat base shirt from start to finish, the equivalent a size L, it would take an estimated 51 to 52 minutes. To produce the base of XGO’s DBL Combat Shirt, through means of cut and sew production, it would take an estimated 35 minutes to completion, not taking into consideration the transportation time between knitting and the cut and sew phase for cut and sew garment manufacturing. This research also estimated that during the cut and sew garment manufacturing of the shirt, a total of 593 square inches of fabric is wasted during the cutting phase and 8,671 inches of thread are used during the sewing phase. This body of work showed that is it feasible to transition a combat shirt from cut and sews to seamless knitting. There are resource reduction and reduced labor benefits to transitioning to seamless knit garment manufacturing. Once the initial programming of the seamless knit garment is completed, there is little to no labor needed from an operator. This give the potential for one operator to knit numerous garment simultaneously. Though there may be an increase in production time, as shown through this research, there will be no associated labor costs, transportation time or costs, no fabric waste, and no thread use. © Copyright 2019 by Jacqueline Sewell All Rights Reserved Addressing the Feasibility of Moving an Existing Cut and Sew Combat Shirt to Seamless Knitting by Jacqueline Sewell A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science Textiles Raleigh, North Carolina 2019 APPROVED BY: _______________________________ _______________________________ Dr. Karen Leonas Dr. Andre West Committee Co- Chair Committee Co- Chair _______________________________ Dr. Cynthia Istook ii DEDICATION This body of work is dedicated to my family, thank you for supporting me, believing in me, and encouraging me. None of this would have been possible without you. iii BIOGRAPHY Jacqueline Sewell is a Masters Candidate in the Wilson College of Textiles at NC State University. She was born in Sarasota, Florida, on February 27th, 1996. She moved to North Carolina for school and earned a Bachelors of Science in Textile Design in 2018 at NC State University. Following her undergraduate degree, Jacqueline decided to stay at the Wilson College of Textiles and pursue a master’s degree. While enrolled in the masters program, Jacqueline worked in the Wilson College of Textile’s Weaving Lab, under the direction of Mr. William Barefoot. Coming from a family with a long military history, spanning from family serving in WWII to the Global War on Terror, Jacqueline is very passionate about the military. She hopes to use her knowledge gained from her education to create personal protective equipment and purpose built gear for soldiers. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My most sincere thanks goes to Dr. Karen Leonas, who understood my passion for military gear and thoroughly supported my endeavors through this research. Dr. Leonas has provided me with support and opportunities to grow and has helped me gain a base knowledge that I can apply toward my career. I am very grateful for the academic knowledge she has instilled in me. I would also like to extend thanks to Dr. Andre West and Mr. Brian Davis, who’s knitting expertise and ideas were essential in this research. Additional gratitude goes toward Beth Kirkwood, who helped me figure out how to get my prototypes knit. A thank you goes to Dr. Cythia Istook for serving on my committee and bringing additional expertise and encouragement through the process. A thank you to my boss, Mr. William Barefoot, who has taught me more about weaving in the past few years than I ever could have imagined. Mr. Barefoot, you have truly given me a wonderful knowledge base that will be useful for the rest of my career. I also thank you for your patience and encouragement those days I was buried in research and writing. Finally, and most importantly, I owe thanks to my family and friends: my mom, who has always supported me, believed in me, and consistently cheered me on through my entire life, she has done more for me than I could ever imagine; my dad, for pushing me to strive for higher education and supporting me through it; Matt, who not only encouraged and inspired me, but also taught me so much about the military and gear; all of my barn family for their support and understanding; and finally Alex and Finnegan for always putting a smile on my face. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................... 3 Background and Need ......................................................................................................... 4 Research Question .............................................................................................................. 5 Limitations .......................................................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................... 7 Introduction to the Textile and Apparel Supply Chain ....................................................... 7 Textile Production: Fabrics used in Apparel OR Fabric Formation ................................... 7 Knit Fabric Market Share .................................................................................................. 10 New Age Technology/Technical Innovation Influx ......................................................... 11 Knit Fabrics and Machines ............................................................................................... 13 Qualities and characteristics of a knit fabric ......................................................... 13 Fiber ...................................................................................................................... 13 Yarn....................................................................................................................... 14 Fabric .................................................................................................................... 14 Knit machines ....................................................................................................... 15 Knitting Machine Technology .......................................................................................... 21 Knit fabrics: History and development, types of knits, and production methods. 22 Traditional Garment Construction Methods ..................................................................... 24 Cut and sew ........................................................................................................... 24 Fully-fashioned garment production ..................................................................... 25 Integral garment production .................................................................................. 26 Whole garment/ seamless/ 3D garment production .............................................. 26 Advantages of whole garment knitting ................................................................. 27 Challenges and barriers to seamless knitting