Good fitting is achieved by doing the work with care, patience and practice.

A well-fitted garment feels comfortable, adjusts naturally to the activities of the wearer, is becoming in line and amount of ease and consistent with current fashions.

Good fit in relation to ease, line, grain, set and balance

Techniques of good dressmaking are essential to good fitting and good designing. Some of the skills are to be mastered are placing patterns,true with the grain, cutting accurately along lines, stitching and pressing darts, basting by hand and by machine accurately, stay-stitching with the grain, ease in fullness, shrinking out fullness, tailor pressing, machine stitching exactly on the proposed line and corner, invisible hemming, making, piped buttonholes and slide fastener plackets, applying facing and interfacing, and setting a sleeve smoothly in the armhole. These construction skills are certainly fundamental.

Five basic factors which determines a good garment fit

Five basic factors present in every fitting decides whether a garment fits well or not. There are ease, line, grain, set, and balance. These five factors are interrelated. The straight material should be folded into darts or cut into seams to allow enough ease over the curves. Wide darts are stitched to control the excess material to give good. A well-fitted garment is a source of satisfaction and looks nice. A well-fitted garment has optimum amount of ease and its seam lines follow the general silhouette of the body. Any fitted garment is judged by its appearance on the wearer and its success depends a great deal in its fitting. Fitted garments are comfortable and allow the wearer to perform normal activites. They also fit snugly on the body of the wearer. It drapes neatly and sets without any wrinkles with out sagging or projecting out and will also be well balanced. To get a good fitted garment the patterns which are selected should be checked properly and they should posses a good shape and proportion. While cutting the garments, it is necessary to follow certain accurates steps. Most of the human figures might not be perfect or porportionate and therefore alterations and corrections are to be made. It is essential that after drafting a particular garment it should be tried on a body so that the necessary alterations of the patterns are done. Apart from the major defects of the body there may also be certain

minor defects, which should be taken care of while drafting the garment. To get a good fit, the planning of patterns along the side of the grain, cutting accurately, stitching and pressing of darts and ease in fullness and machine stitching should be done exactly on the proposed line. The sleeves should be fixed smoothly and evenly in the armhole. The factors, which determine whether a garment has a good fit or not are ease, line, grain, set and balance. They are a referred to as the standards for a good fit and they are also interrelated to one another.

Ease
The garment, which seems to be right size is neither too loose not too tight. Ease is also the difference between the actual body measurements and the garment measurements. This amount varies with the fashion, type of garment and personal taste. A garment constructed with optimum ease would be the right size. Pulling and drawing across the bust, shoulders or hiplines show that the ease is insufficient. Excess ease causes folds across the loose areas giving a baggy appearance to the garment. Too much ease will be seen in too long shoulder seams, many folds across the neck and chest and waistline being too loose. If a garment is of a good fit then it should fit without any wrinkles or strain.
Back shoulder seam eased on to front about 1/2". Ease around bust line about 4". Ease across back 1/2 " to 3/4" Ease across chest 1/4" to - 3/8". Ease through hips, standing 11/2" Ease of skirt at waistline to fit on to belt 1" or 1/4" on each quarter. Ease at back of sleeve cap 2" to 3" (1" to 11/2 inch) Ease at elbow 1" (1/2" inch) to be able to bend elbow comfortably

Line
The basic silhouette shows the lines in a garment. The circumference lines include neckline, armhole, waistline and wrist line. Lines should be smooth without folds and neat. There should be smoothly graded curves in back and front. Armhole should be oval, but not pointed or round in shape. It follows natural creases made where the arm joins the body. The curve lines should not be too low which will hinder the movements of the hand.

In set in sleeves the side seam line should be straight from armhole to the hem or lengthwise line. Front darts should end at the top of the bust and darts at side to hands, bust should be in the line with top. Round waistline should be as far as possible parallel with the floor but sligthly lower at the back and slightly lower and round in the front to fit at front waistline. Waistlines and hemlines should be parallel to the floor. The lines obtained by darts, pleats and yokes are with in the garment and they should be graceful and smooth. Design lines with in the silhouette such as pleats, darts and seams should be graceful, direct and smooth. Lines to observe in fitting are the basic silhouette seams, the circumference seams, then style or design lines. The circumference lines include neckline, armholes, waistline, wristline and hem line. They should be smoothly graded curves following the natural body curves. Such design lines within the silhouette as pleats, darts, gores should appear to hang perpendicular to the floor generally at right angles to the circumstance lines they enter, or to radiate from the circumference they enter. Curved lines like yokes, should be direct, smooth, graceful and exactly alike in symmetrical effects.

Grain
The placement of warp and weft yarns form grain. It denotes the direction of the threads. Usually the length wise or warp threads are heavier than cross wise or filling threads. Heavier threads tend to drape well on the figure with graceful folds, when gathers, pleats and ruffles occur on the straight grain. Length wise grain should be perpendicular at the floor, at the centre front and centre back, unless, off grain seams are present. The crosswise yarns are parallel to the floor at centre front and centre back. On the bust and hiplines, the grain on the right half of the garment should match that on the left half except in the case of asymmetric draping. If the cross wise grain covers up or down where it should be parallel with the floor it is because of some bulge or hollow in the body directly above the curve. If the grain line is not corrected, wrinkles or sagging occur. Sometimes the grain line is off, when the material is not cut carefully. Threads or yarns, the units that make cloth, are called, "the grain". Be careful to say "crosswise grain" or "lengthwise grain" for clearness. Graceful folds in gathers, pleats, ruffles, and skirts occur if they follow the heavy threads. In the standard basic pattern at center front and back at both bust and hip, the lengthwise grain is perpendicular to the floor (unless bias seams are in the design) and the crosswise grain is horizontal or parallel with the floor from the grain on the right half of the garment should match that on the left half, except in asymmetrical designs as in a side draped skirt. In a plain sleeve, the lengthwise threads should lie vertically from top of shoulder to the elbow and crosswise threads in the upper sleeve should

be parallel with the floor. If the crosswise grain curves up or down where it should be parallel with the floor, it is because of some body bulge or hollow directly above the curve.

Set
A well-fitted garment has a smooth set without any wrinkles. The slanting wrinkles are caused by the garment being strained over some curves or bulges of the body. Slanting wrinkles in sleeves and near the shoulder are unbecoming and uncomfortable. Crosswise wrinkles occur, because the circumference below them is fitted too tight. The wrinkles point towards the shoulder blade is caused by protruding shoulders. To remove them, extra length and width should be provided for the garment. A smoothness of "set" or freedom from wrinkles is required for a good-looking fit. Graceful folds created by gathers or unpressed pleats or draped features are style lines not to be confused with wrinkles, those slanting triangles straining from some curve or bulge of the body.

Balance
The garment should look balanced from left to right and front to back. The skirt should hang so that it extends the same distance from the center to the right and left sides. The necklines should fit neck snugly at all points. If the shoulder seam stands away from shoulder at neck point and fits tightly at armhole point, the garment will look out of balance. The standard skirt should hang so that it extends the same distance from the legs from right to left and from front to back. The shoulder seam should rest evenly on the shoulder. Diagonal wrinkles point away from the bulge.

Reasons for poor fitting

When the garments are carelessly cut and if stitching is not done properly then the garment will have poor fitting. Badly fitted under garments such as knicker, saree petticoats and petticoats ofter give the impression of a poor fit. If the basic patterns are not of the right size or if they are not altered according to the body measurement then poor fitting occurs. Poor posture might be the reason for differences in the bodice blocks. Such a style of the garment is not suitable to the wearer. The human body has numerous

curves of which the basic ones are bust, end of shoulder, shoulder blade, elbow, abdomen, side and hip. The garment should be cut and stitched accurately to fit on the curves of the body. The straight material should be folded into darts are cut into seam to allow enough ease over the curves. Wide earts are stitch to control the excess material to give good fitting.

Solving fitting problems

Each garment should be checked for ease, comfort, line, grain, set and balance. If wrinkles or diagonal folds are observed then the stitching should be released at the bulge areas. It is easier to correct the neckline than to correct the sleeve and the armhole. The material from the seam allowances can be used to increase or decrease the fullness at the bust line. While cutting, the patterns should be placed parallel to the selvedge so that the length of the garment will be along the selvedge side. While stitching the armhole and neckline should be taken care of. To get a good fitting in the garment it is better to keep 2.5 cms to 2 cms extra material at the back, shoulder seam, under arm and side seam. While stitching the armhole & neck line should be taken care of while stitching for a good fit accurate pinning, marking, tacking and stitching should be done. The bust lines darts should not have pouches or creases at the end. Fullness should be evenly distributed with out irregular or puckering pleats Facings and hems should be finished smoothly. To neaten the seam edges ironing should be done after every shape. The garments should not be too tight as the figure defects will be more noticeable. To get good fitting in a garment accurate measurement should be taken and patterns are drafted on brown papers.

To see the fitting of a garment

The garment should be tacked without sleeves, collars or facings and tried on. The openings are pinned together accurately, properly and securely. The basting line that marks centre front, and back helps in giving a good fitting. The garment should be worn right side out to check the fitting on the body. The garment is thoroughly inspected and carefully analysed for fitting. It should be comfortable while walking or working. If any alterations or corrections are to be made on the garment then it is done either by cutting, tacking, pinning or marking on the garment.

Mark the correct line with tailors chalk and tack the corrected seam line or dart line from the inside of the garment. Fitting should take care of the major alterations in the bodice. The left and right side patterns should be the same. The paper patterns should also be altered on the basis of changes made in the garment. Until a satisfactory fitting is achieved, repinning and alterations for fitting is done. In the second round of checking the fitting, concentration must be on the sleeves and armscye. Necklines, waistlines should be curved to fit comfortably and naturally. The patterns which are altered for good fitting should be preserved. Constantly compare the drafted pattern with the body measurement for accurate fitting before cutting any garment, as there may be changes in the body measurement. A dress should look nice from the back as it is from the front. The back should be more carefully fitted since there is a strain. A dress with a back too wide, too narrow or too short can be uncomfortable and it is unbecoming.

Garment Engineering
Garment engineering is a questioning technique, it questions each process/operation of the total work content and by using innovative methods of construction and technology you can reduce the work content and increase profitability

Garment Engineering where should it begin?

It should start in the design cell, because if we do this at the production stage its too late, garment engineering directly affects the costing so it must be done at the development stage. Designers, whilst designing, must look into the manufacturing aspect of the garment, they must understand the skills and strengths of the company and design accordingly, this may be difficult because it can reduce their freedom, but creativity within constraints is even a bigger challenge for them.

Who should be involved?

Designers, Sample room manager, Industrial Engineering department and production management all of them should give their input from cutting to finishing. Be sure that one person per department is involved. But be careful Everyones responsibility is no ones responsibility.

Processes involved in Garment Engineering

Start by carefully writing down flow of the garment listing the entire work content from cutting to dispatch. Under each process describe how it is done, checking the way it is done, trying to find a better or simpler way. Process Flow- Is defining the sequence of the various stages through which the garment will pass. Whilst doing an engineering assignment one should define the processes first, it may be possible in to change the process sequence to simplify the Garment or to improve Fabric consumption. For example taking the above sequence if the Embroidery lead time is 5 days, then planning must take this into consideration these 5 days will be added to each of the functions that precede this activity. This delay would ask the Engineering department could the sequence of activities be altered to avoid this delay i.e. Can the embroidery be done after the garment has been sewn, if this is the case then blocking can be avoided and perhaps this would result in a saving of fabric and labour.

Steps for Garment Engineering we use the term CRAFT

CHOOSE the operation / process to be studied by making sure it is worthwhile spending time to improve it. RECORD-every detail about the job, even if it seems to have no effect on the method; sometimes the most
minor detail can make a huge difference in the Garment Engineering process.

ASSESS all the details by asking WHY? WHERE? WHAT? WHO? ALTERNATIVES Consider all the alternatives available for improvement and DEVELOP the most suitable. FIT best alternative and make sure it is understood by all concerned. TAKE CARE of the new technique once it is installed successfully by continually checking that it is still being
performed correctly.

Key areas for analysis

Seam types Various seam types should be analysed and considered to simplify/reduce the work Stitch types- Explore various options in terms of seam types what is possible just by changing the seam type
For example replace lock stitches by chain stitch in case of Multineedle seams

Machine types- Optimum use of technology to maximize , look in to machine type, bed shapes and
automation thats possible

Attachments Attachment can help immensely in simplifying and reducing the work content, sometime
operations can be combined using attachments to increase line balancing efficiency.

Special work aids- Special work aids can be designed to simplify/reduce the work content Fabric consumption- Fabric being 70% of the garment cost is vitally important to monitor and if the
engineering is done properly we can certainly expect to save fabric or reduce consumptions.

Cutting- how should it be done- we do not have Tailors now, we have operators instead and they should be
working with clippers in their hands

 Finishing- Finishing is an area which is generally overstaffed being the last link of the value chain all the
problems from the previous stages have to be sorted out here, Garment Engineering can reduce considerable manpower from this area.

Some Guidelines to follow

Double needle lockstitch machine instead of 2 rows of Single needle machine Safety stitch machine instead of SN +3Thread overlock Multi needle chain stitch instead of lock stitch. Fuse instead of inserting interlinings Use of Binder instead of attaching and finishing the binding in 2 steps. Avoid inner layers of fabric, if its not affecting the outside appearance. Use Top and bottom feed overlock to gather and attach simultaneously. Reduce seams by using a single piece of fabric. (Watch for consumption) Cut bindings long so that minimum joins are to be sewn. Eliminating marking operations. Use notches on to panels. Self folding of edges instead of facings Matching only where its necessary. Overlock instead of double folding. Continuous zippers instead of single piece Folded labels Preshrunk elastics Standardisation of collar, cuffs, epaulets Cut to size; dont cut one size that fits all. Eliminate back tacks where possible.

This can be a start for you, by understanding the principles described above and thinking about how the garment can be constructed, and how you can improve the operations can save your company lots of money, keeping you competitive and profitable! Let us get Scientific.

Costing of Shirts

In order to achieve perfect garment costing, one must know about all the activities including purchase of fabrics, sewing, packing, transport, overheads, etc and also about their costs, procedures, advantages and risk factor. There are two types of garments, namely woven and knitted garments. Shirt, trouser, sarees, bed spreads, blankets, towels and made ups are woven. T-shirts, sweaters, undergarments, pyjamas and socks are knits.Costing is the deciding factor for fixing of prices and the impor Previous Topic Sea and Air Freight Next Topic Dispatch

Basic Categories
Costing includes all the activities like purchase of fabrics and accessories, processing and finishing of fabrics, sewing and packing of garments, transport and conveyance, shipping, over heads, banking charges and commissions, etc.We must be aware that there are always fluctuations in the costs of raw materials and accessories,charges of knitting, processing, finishing, sewing and packing, charges of transport and conveyance.The method of making costing will vary from style to style. As there are many different styles in garments. Hence let us take men's basic T-shirt style as example which is in regular use.We have used Indian Rupees as the currency.To find out the costing of a garment, the following things should things be calcuated:
1. Fabric consumption. 2. Gross weight of other components of garment. 3. Fabric cost per kg. 4. Fabric cost per garment. 5. Other charges (print, embroidery, etc). 6. Cost of trims (labels, tags, badges, twill tapes, buttons, bows, etc). 7. CMT charges. 8. Cost of accessories (hangers, inner boards, polybags, cartons, etc). 9. Cost of a garment. 10. Price of a garment.

Consumption of Fabric
The garments manufactured in many sizes to fit for everybody. Generally they are in sizes Small (S),Medium (M), Large (L), Extra large (XL) and Double Extra Large (XXL). The quantity ratio or

assortment can be any one of the following approximate ratio. S: M: L: XL: XXL - 1:2:2:2:1 S: M: L: XL: XXL - 1:2:1:2:1 S: M: L: XL: XXL - 1:2:3:2:2 As the price is the same for all these sizes of garments, let's take the centre size large(L)for average calculation. Generally, the quantity of L size will be higher or equal to the quantity of each of other sizes. Men's Basic T-shirtDescription: Men's Basic T-shirt-short sleeves- 100% Cotton 140 GSM Single jersey - 1 x 1 ribs at neck - solid dyed - light, medium and dark colours in equal ratio.Sizes: S, M, L, XL, XXL Ratio: 1: 2: 2: 2: 1. Export carton: 7 ply -120 GSM virgin corrugated - sea worthy. Cartons are to be strapped with 2 nylon straps. Measurements in cm: (Finished garment) Size: L Chest - 60 cm Length - 78 cm Sleeve length - 24 cm Neck rib width - 3 cm Hem - 3 cm Patterns are generally made with the seam allowance and cutting allowance. Generally, 12 cm is added with the total of body length and sleeve length. That is,

Fabric consumption
(Body Length + Sleeve Length + Allowance) x (Chest + Allowance) x 2 x GSM
10000

(70 + 24 + 12) * (60 + 3) * 2 * 140 = 187 grams

10000

Body & Sleeves : 187 grams Neck rib : 10 grams (approximately) Gross weight : 197 grams Therefore, the fabric consumption per garment is 197 grams.Gross weight & net weight.The above weight is the gross weight of fabric. It means the weight of the fabric bits cut in tabular form without

taking shapes is called gross weight. This is the consumed fabric for the particular garment. Hence costing is to be made as per this gross weight. The weight of the cut pieces after taking the shape according to the pattern is called net weight of fabric.Fabric cost per kg (in Rs) (all charges approximately)
Cost of fabric per kg is calculated and given in Particulars Light colours Medium colours Dark colours

34's combed yarn Knitting charge Dyeing charge Compacting charge Fabric wastage @ 5% Fabric cost per kg Fabric consumption per garment Fabric cost per garment
Cost of trims

Rs.135.00 Rs.135.00 Rs.8.00 Rs.35.00 Rs.6.00 Rs.9.20 Rs.8.00 Rs.45.00 Rs.6.00 Rs.9.70

Rs.135.00 Rs.8.00 Rs.55.00 Rs.6.00 Rs.10.70 Rs.224.70 197 gms Rs.44.27

Rs.193.20 Rs.203.70 197 gms Rs.38.06 197 gms Rs.40.13

The accessories which are attached to the garments are called Trims. Let's take Men's Basic T-shirts, as example. Let us see what are the trims required for this style. Labels: Woven main label (2.5 cm width x 7 cm length): Rs 0.35. Polyester printed wash care label: Single colour print: Rs 0.10. Hang tag: Rs 0.40 So the total cost of trims is Rs 0.85 per garment. Cost of accessories:Polybags: Normal - Rs 0.30 per garment. Master Polybag: Rs 2 per master polybags to contain 8 garments - Rs 0.25 per garment. Export carton: Normal: Rs 40 per carton to contain 48 garments - Rs 0.80 per garment. So the total cost of accessories is Rs 1.35 per garment.Garment costing. Now we at last have to take the step to find out the freight charges for the Men's Basic T-shirt. Price of garment estimation is given in Table given below.

Particulars

Light colours

Medium colours

Dark colours

34's combed yarn Fabric cost per garment Cost of Trims CMT Charges Cost of accessories Rejection of garments(commonly 3%) Cost of Garment Local Transport Profit@15% appro. Commission/ pc Price of Garment
Shipping charges

Rs.135.00 Rs.135.00 Rs.38.06 Rs.0.85 Rs.11.00 Rs.1.35 Rs.1.50 Rs.52.76 Rs.1.00 Rs.7.90 Rs.2.00 Rs.63.66 Rs.40.13 Rs.0.85 Rs.11.00 Rs.1.35 Rs.1.50 Rs.54.83 Rs.1.00 Rs.8.20 Rs.2.00 Rs.66.03

Rs.135.00 Rs.44.27 Rs.0.85 Rs.11.00 Rs.1.35 Rs.1.50 Rs.58.97 Rs.1.00 Rs.8.90 Rs.2.00 Rs.70.87

For men's basic T-shirt, the delivery terms in the buyer enquiry as 'FOB'. So sea freight charges isnot added. But the local transport with the cost of garment has to be added. Finally, we have to convert the Indian rupee value to USD or Euro