SMO Trainee Study Book

Sewing Machine Operator Trainee Study Book Education > Employment > Earnings

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CONTENTMODULE.............. TITLE01............................... QUALIFICATIONS OF A TRAINEE02............................... INTRODUCTION TO THE GARMENT INDUSTRY03............................... INDUSTRIAL SEWING MACHINE04............................... OPERATING A SNLS MACHINE05............................... TYPES OF NEEDLES06............................... TYPES OF FABRICS07............................... TYPES OF STITCHES & SEAMS08............................... TYPES OF GARMENTS09............................... PARTS OF A GARMENT10............................... PRODUCTION FLOW IN A GARMENT UNIT11............................... PRODUCTIVITY12............................... QUALITY13............................... SEWING MACHINE WORK SHEETS14............................... GARMENT CONSTRUCTION15............................... DIFFERENT SEWING MACHINES & THEIR FUNCTIONS16............................... SEWING MACHINE MAINTENANCE17............................... INDUSTRIAL REMUNERATION18............................... HEALTH, HYGIENE & SAFETYIN GARMENT INDUSTRY19............................... WORKING IN A PRODUCTION LINE : TEAM WORK20............................... WORKING WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR

MODULE 1QUALIFICATIONS OF A TRAINEE Learning Objectives At the end of the lesson you will have learned about qualifications required for an o­ perator in the garment industry 1. The basic skills required for a garment operator 2. How the skills are observed 3. The need for speed Key Points 1. The need to have required skills 2. Procedure to test the skills 3. Performance and evaluation in the testsMain ContentA person wanting to join as a trainee needs to have a mini-mum literacy level. The least required is to identify alpha-bets and numbers. It is necessary to know these becauseyou must be able to identify bundles in the garment indus-try. They are marked by alphabets and numbers. The mostcommon alphabets used are English. Sometimes garmentparts are marked with alphabets and numbers. In the pro-duction line, as an operator you have to fill daily produc-tion charts by writing or marking hourly production. A sewing machine operator must be literate and he or shemust have good eyesight. The person must be able to recog-nise colours. He or she must be able to coordinate eyes andhands. To test all these you must appear for some simpletests at the training centre.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

1. Procedure to select trainees Fill out the application form with the candidate personal details: name, address, parents’ or husband’s name, proof of identity, and proof of age.2. Appear for some tests to find out of you are suitable to be an Industrial Sewing Machine Operator (ISMO). The tests conducted for selection are primarily to check the hand and eye coordination, finger dexterity, and colour blindness.a. Marble and funnel Test The test consists of a plastic or wooden funnel, funnel stand, 25 marbles, and a tray with hole for marbles to pass through. The funnel is placed on a stand. The narrowend of the funnel, which is slightly bent, is placedabove a collecting box. There is a hole in the tray.Procedure of TestIn this test, you will pick one marble at a timewith your left hand, transfer it in to your righthand, with which you will place the marble ina funnel on stand. The marble will have to fallthrough the hole in the tray into a box below it.All the marbles have to fall through the tray without missing. The total timeavailable to you is 25 seconds to pick, transfer, and drop 25 marbles. This test is to observe the manual co-ordination between eyes and hands andfinger dexterity or skill to hold small objects. You are evaluated based on thenumber of marbles that went through the hole and the time taken to completethe task.b. Peg BoardThe Peg Board Test is conducted to knowthe hand movement of the candidate be-ing enrolled for training. The test is willmeasure the movements of your hands,fingers, and arms, and to measure as-sembly or fingertip quick response ordexterity of the candidate. It consists of a rectangular boardwhich holds cylindrical pegs. Each peg isapproximately 2” in height, and one endof the peg is colored red and the otherblack.2 Qualifications of a Trainee © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Procedure of TestYou will transfer pegs on the board fromone hole in the tray to another. Each peghas to be picked with one hand and turnit upside down, transfer to the other handplace it in the hole on the opposite side. You are given 80 sec of time to completeit. The operator has to complete the exer-cise given in the given time span.c. Pin Board TestThis is a test to find your ability to do fine work your fingers with speed, accu-racy, and neatness, such as hand sewing and embroidery. The test requires a standard pin board. The test board has 100 holes and eachhole has a diameter of 3/16 inch. The holes are ½ inch distance from one another.There are 10 holes in a row and 10 rows. Other items required are 300 stainlesssteel pins and a stop watch.Procedure of TestIn this test you will take 3 pins with your fingers at a time and place them in thesmall holes in the pin board. You have 90 seconds to complete filling all the holes. The accuracy with which you place in each hole, the number of needles thatyou place, and time you take to complete the task are assessed in this test. Score will be given for task completion and the time taken to complete.d. Colour blindness The colour blindness test is used tocheck color vision deficiencies. The candidate will be shown 12 num-ber plates with each plate containing anumber.Procedure for TestYou are shown 12 colour dotted plates.Each plate has a number hidden in it. Youhave to recognise and say the number. You are given 5 seconds of time. At the end of the test, you will be assessed based on as many numbers as yourecognise.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. Qualifications of a Trainee 3

e. Threading TestIn this test, you are given 10 sewing nee-dles that you are to thread. The speed withwhich you thread them in a given time isassessed. Ten hand sewing needles of sizes of9-1and 18-14, a soft board, and one tube ofsewing thread.Procedure for Test You have to thread the 10 needles in 90seconds. You will be assessed for the number of needles you have threaded.Based on the size, you will be graded from 1-14 by scores 10 for size 9 and 1 forsize 14. The test is to grade you on the eyesight with which you can see the differentsizes of needle and thread them.4 Qualifications of a Trainee © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

The garment-making industry pro- Inside a Garment Factoryduces large volumes of garments. A Garment Store They are made by many people, espe- GAP, USA. A Big Customer (Buyer)cially women who sew them on highspeed industrial sewing machines. A garment company receives ordersfrom large retail stores or customers toproduce different types of garments, likeshirts, pants, skirts, dresses, frocks, etc. The customer is also called a “Buyer.”The buyer places the order for garmentsjust as you place the order for idli ordosa when you go to a hotel. As per the order, raw material isarranged. Fabrics like cotton, silk, wool,and polyester, as well as buttons, zipperslabels, embroidery, etc., are arranged bythe garment factory. Some of these fab-rics are thin and some are thick. When you place an order in a hotel,the waiter asks you what dosa you want– rava, masal, onion, or plain. After youtell him, he will inform the cook in thekitchen. Accordingly, the cook makesthe dosa using the raw materials. Youwill also tell the waiter that you want itfast. You will not wait if it is late. In the garment industry the customeror buyer tells the factory what colour,shape, and size of garments are required.The quantity required and the date onwhich the garments must be dispatchedare also told by the customer in the pur-chase order. Accordingly, garment shapes aredrawn on thick card or board called pat-tern paper. These are called patterns ortemplates. Each garment has many partsand each part has a pattern.6 Introduction to Garment Industry © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Based on the customer order, specificfabric is purchased in sufficient quanti-ties. This fabric is checked for quality.It is then spread on long cutting tableslayer by layer and all the pattern partsof the garment are placed on the topfabric layer. Large cutting machines areused to cut the fabric at one time, perthe pattern. Cut fabric parts are numbered andmade into bundles for the order. The numbered cut bundles are givento the sewing section. The supervisor in the section distributes the bundles perproduction plan for the garment. The parts are sewn. per the plan. by sewingmachine operators step- by-step. It is similar to making roti at home: first youtake start flour in a dish. Then you add enough water to it and knead it intodough. You make small balls with the dough. Then you place the ball on a roll-ing board and roll it into a roti with a rolling pin. You then place the roti on a“tava” on a stove and heat it to make a roti. Just as there are so many steps tomake a roti, there are as many steps to sew a garmentCutting in a Garment Factory Sewing SectionCutting with an Industrial Cutting Machine Cut Parts Numbering and Bundling© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. Introduction to Garment Industry 7

The machines in this section are arranged in columns and rows. There are dif-ferent types of machines to sew various parts of the garments. All sewn parts areassembled finally into a finished garment. The finished garments are checked for any defects before they are sent forpressing and ironing In the ironing section, checked garments are steam ironed and pressed. The pressed garments are folded per the instructions of buyer. After folding, each garment is tagged and packed in a separate polyester coverand sealed. These covered garments are then placed in cardboard cartons and sealed. The packed garments are checked for quality once again by the customer. The checked cartons are re-packed in cartons. The name and address of thecustomer and other details are written on each carton. Then the cartons are num-bered and marked per the instructions of the customer. The numbered cartonsare placed in large sea containers.Assembly line in a shirt factory Tagging and PackingFinished Garment Inspection Steam Ironing and Pressing Pants FoldingFinished Garment Inspection Packed cartons in container Pants Folding8 Introduction to Garment Industry © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

MODULE 3INDUSTRIAL SEWING MACHINE Learning Objectives At the end of the lesson you will have learned and will know about sewing machines. 1. Sewing machine and the parts seen from outside 2. Different types of industrial sewing machines 3. Difference between industrial and domestic sewing machine Key Points 1. To see and identify sewing machine parts 2. Types of industrial sewing machines and their useMain ContentSewing MachineThe basic sewing machine is the common domestic sewing machine. It is placedon a stand and is connected to a large wheel by a leather belt. The wheel is con-nected to a treadle, with which the machine is operated. Sewing machines havedifferent parts which movein different ways to formstitches. All these parts arecovered by a metal casingcalled the head. The headofthe machine is mounted orfixed on a bed. The bed isflat in a common lockstitchmachine. The other parts of the machine are all inside the head, as in picture.These cannot be seen. The sewing bed is fitted in two hinges fixed on the table.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Parts of a Sewing MachineThe essential parts of the machine that are seen from the outside –1. Spool pin: It is fitted on top of the head to hold thread reel. 2. Thread guide: It holds the thread in position from the spool to the needle. 3. Tension disc: The two concave discs put together with the convex sides facing each other. The thread passes between the two. The tension of the thread is adjusted by a spring and nut which increases or decreases pressure4. Take up lever: It is a lever fitted to the body of the arm. It’s up-and-down motion feeds the thread to the needle and tightens the loop formed by the shuttle. 5. Needle bar: This is a steel rod to hold the needle at one end with the help of a clamp. Its main function is to give motion to the needle. 6. Bobbin case: This moves into position to catch the top thread and form the stitch as the needle is lowered into the bobbin chamber. 7. Presser foot: It is fixed to the presser bar to hold the cloth firmly in position when lowered. 8. Presser foot lifter: A lever attached to the presser bar for raising and lowering the presser foot.11 Industrial Sewing Machine © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

9. Stitch regulator: This controls the length of the stitch. 10. Bobbin winder: A simple mechanism used for winding thread on the bobbin. 11. Fly Wheel: When this is made to revolve, it works the mechanism of the motion 12. Clutch or Thumb Screw: This is in the centre of the fly wheel and it engages and disengages the stitching mechanism13. Slide Plate: A rectangular plate, which facilitates the removal of the bobbin case without lifting the machine.14. Needle Plate or Throat Plate: A semi-circular disc with a hole to allow the needle to pass through it. 15. Feed dog: This consists of a set of teeth fitted below the needle plate. It helps to move the cloth forward while sewing. 16. Face plate: It covers the needle bar, presser bar, and take-up lever. The machine can be oiled through the holes in the face plate.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. Industrial Sewing Machine 12

Types of Industrial Sewing MachinesThere are different types of sewing machines used in the industry. Some of thecommon machines that you will use in the production lines are – The single needle lockstitch machine is commonly used for a variety of sewingoperations in the production line. Overlock machine is used to stitch one or two pieces of cloth at the edge, hem,or seam. The machine will cut the edge of the cloth as it stitches. It uses 3 to 6threads in stitching. Buttonhole machines are used on almost all garments that where buttons haveto be used to close the garments, like shirts, pants, dresses, etc. The buttonholescan be of different sizes and shapes. Button stitch is a very common machine found in the production line. It is usedfor stitching buttons of different shapes and size on all types of garments. Feed off Arm machine is used to join two sides of a garment, like shirt frontand back, or front and back of pants. It has a tubular bed, so that long garmentscan be stitched conveniently.13 Industrial Sewing Machine © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Difference between domestic and industrial sewing machinesDomestic machines operate at slow speed, whereas industrial machines work atvery high speeds like a bicycle and motorcycle. The domestic sewing machines are very inexpensive or less costly when com-pared to industrial sewing machines. You can stitch any garment on a domestic machine, but industrial machinescan do only specific functions, such machine for button stitching, for sewingsides, etc. Domestic machines can work without electricity, but industrial machines needelectric power to operate.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. Industrial Sewing Machine 14

MODULE 4OPERATING A SNLS MACHINE Learning Objectives At the end of the lesson you will have learned about sewing machines 1. Machine Control 2. Threading a sewing machine 3. Stitching with a sewing machine Key Points 1. Sewing Machine Control 2. Paper Exercises and speed 3. Threading 4. Fabric exercisesMain ContentSitting in front of sewing machineFirst you must sit on a stool of convenient heightin front of the sewing machine. Your back must bestraight. There two switches toward your right hand,underneath the machine table. Press the green colourswitch to start the machine motor and red colour tostop it. There is a knee pad touching you right knee. Ifyou press it with your knee, the machine stops and thepresser foot lifts. Keep both your feet on the pedal or treadle below.Your right foot must be placed on the top right cornerand the left foot at the left bottom corner of the treadle.When you press the right foot the machine will start© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

and when you press the left foot the machine will stop.Press the right foot gently and let the machine start. If youpress right foot hard, the machine works fast. The treadleis like the accelerator + brake pedals of a car. Practice con-trolling speed of the machine for some time without a nee-dle. When you are able to control the speed confidently,start paper exercises.Paper ExercisesNow press right knee against the knee lifter. This will liftthe presser foot. Place the Paper Exercise 1, as shown in thepicture below, under the presser foot. Make sure to placethe paper on the 1st straight line on the dot. Move yourright knee away from the knee lifter. The presser foot willnow return to press the paper on the throat or needle plate. Press your right foot gently on the pedal below. The needle starts moving andthe paper starts moving forward. Hold the left corner of the paper gently withyour left hand while the right hand’s fingers hold the right corner of the paper. Guide the paper to ensure that the needle holes are formed on the straight line.“STOP” at the end of line. Press on the pedal with your knee to lift the presserfoot. Manually operate the fly wheel to lift the needle from the paper. Move thepaper forward to the dot on the line. Move the knee from the pedal to drop thepresser foot on to paper. Rotate the fly wheel so that the needle comes down andenters the dot. Press the right foot gently on the treadle and sew forward. Repeatthe operation until you sew all the lines. This is an exercise to teach you howto control the machine for short operations, achieve speed slowly, and main-tain accuracy. In this exercise you are practicing without thread in the needle.Continue with the exercise until you reach a speed of completing it in about180 seconds. You have gained control of the machine at the end of the exercise.Now you will learn how to thread the machine before you proceed with otherexercises.Threading a Sewing MachineAfter the paper exercises, you now have a control of the machine and able tostitch well on paper. It is time you now to do the same exercises on fabric. Forthis you must learn to thread the machine because so far you have practicedwithout thread. Put a tube of thread on the metal stand you see on the head of the machine.Turn the machine’s hand wheel in the wrong direction, or counterclockwise, sothe needle is lifted to its highest point from the throat plate. Now lift the lift the presser foot with the lift bar, which is behind the machine.Once you the lift bar up, the presser will stay in that position. You can also liftby using the presser foot lifter pad near your right knee. When you move your16 Operating a SNLS Machine © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

knee from the pad, the presser foot will goback down. Put the thread through the two smalldisks of the thread guide on the top of themachine (1 & 2). Take the thread to theleft of the machine, where there’s a smallmetal piece with three holes. Thread fromthe left, to the right and back to the left (3). Pull the thread down to the tension disc.Put the thread through the two tensiondisks (4), around the thin wire on the leftside of the disk, and up through the metalloop above the tension disks (5). Put thethread through the take-up arm, which isthe metal piece with a small hole on the leftof the machine (6). The take-up arm movesup and down to pull the thread throughthe tension disks. Take the thread through the metal loop on the far left of the machine (7) anddown to the needle area (8). Push the thread around the square metal piece (9)above the needle, and follow steps (10, 11 & 12), then through the needle itself.Insert the thread in the eye of the needle from left and pull it on the right side andfrom front to back, and leave a tail of at least six inches of thread behind the needle. Practice threading until you are able to thread within 90 seconds.Bobbin in the HookPut a wound bobbin in the bobbin case. Hold the bobbin casein your left hand and place the bobbin inside the case. Pullsome thread from the bobbin pull it through the hole in thebobbin case as shown in the picture. Now hold the bobbin case, with bobbin in it, with your lefthand. Tilt the machine away from you in the opposite direc-tion. Hold the case flat side, facing the hook in the machine,and lift the metal arm on the bobbin case. This will lock thebobbin the case. Now insert the bobbin case withbobbin into the hook until it enters the shaft in thehook and the bobbin is locked. Bring down themachine to its normal position. Now turn the hand wheel toward you. The nee-dle will go between the feed dogs and brings upthe bobbin thread. Use a pair of scissors to sweepboth threads to the left and out of the way of thefeed dogs.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. Operating a SNLS Machine 17

Having practised threading, you will now continue withthe other exercises where you will stitch with thread. Exercise 2 is stitching straight lines with thread, as in thepicture on paper. You will start the machine as in the previ-ous exercise after threading the machine and checking thethread tension. You must also adjust the number of stitchesper inch (SPI) to 9 or 10. Start with a few stitches and checkthe quality of stitch. It must be uniform and even. Adjustthe tension of the thread by turning the tension knob abovethe needle bar. Repeat the exercise until the last line. Con-tinue the exercise for practice until the straight and reversestitches are accurate and neat. Now repeat the Exercise 2 on fabric. Stitch with twoswatches of fabrics. Repeat this exercise with 2 plies of fab-ric, placing two fabric pieces one over another. Exercise 3, is a repeat of the same exercise 1, this time withthread. Follow the instructions as for Exercise 1. Repeat thisexercise with 2 plies of fabric, placing two fabric pieces oneover another. For Exercise 4, as in the picture, start on the dot on line 1stitch up to the slash mark shown, stop and do 4 to 5 reversestitches manually. Stitch forward to the slash and continue tostitch up to the next slash. Repeat the reverse stitches fromthe slash and go forward. Complete the paper exercise on alllines. Take care that the stitch is on the straight line. At the endof the exercise on the page, count the number of lines youstitched straight. Repeat the exercise until you getto stitch all lines straight. Repeat this exercise with2 plies of fabric, placing two fabric pieces one overanother. Exercise 5 is given to help you practice angularcorners, straight stitch, and reverse stitch. Follow thearrows as shown in the picture and stitch. To stitchat the angle, let the needle be inside the paper, lift thepresser foot, and turn the paper straight and downthe presser foot and stitch. At every corner, repeatthis procedure. At every horizontal line, do thereverse stitches and proceed with forward stitch tothe corner. Practice it on paper first. Get confidence.Then move to practicing on fabrics. Repeat until yourdeviations are few. Repeat this exercise with 2 pliesof fabric, placing two fabric pieces one over another.18 Operating a SNLS Machine © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Exercise 6 is a practice in stitching right angled corners and straight lines withstop and turn of the paper. You will continue the sewing at the corners followingthe instruction as in the previous exercise. In this exercise, you will practice longstraight stitches with sharp corners. First practice on paper and then continue theexercise on fabric. Note the deviations from the straight line. Practice until thedeviations are zero or few. Repeat this exercise with 2 plies of fabric, placing twofabric pieces one over another. Exercise 7 will give you the practice to stitch curves, both right and left, as youstart at the mark. There are two lines to follow. Complete one line and then startthe second line. Practice on paper first and after your deviations are few, usefabric and stitch with SPI of 9 or 10. Repeat this exercise with 2 plies of fabric,placing two fabric pieces one over another.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. Operating a SNLS Machine 19

MODULE 5TYPES OF NEEDLES Learning Objectives At the end of the lesson you will have learned about sewing machine needles, 1. Parts of a needle 2. Types of needles Key Points 1. Needle and its parts 2. Different types of needles, their use, and classificationMain ContentSewing Machine NeedleThe industrial sewing machine needle is sharp and strong. Itmay be made of many metals and can sew on any type of mate-rial, like cloth, jeans, and leather.Parts of a NeedleThere are six parts in a needle.ShankIt is the upper end of the needle that is held by the needle baror set screw. It can be round or flat on one side.ShoulderThe shoulder is below the shank and is round in shape© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

BladeIt is the part that extends from the shoulder to the point of theneedle.ScarfIf you touch and feel the needle just above the needle hole, youwill feel an indent or groove. This allows the hook of the bobbincase to get close to the needle hole and catch the thread to formthe stitch.EyeYou will see the hole in the needle at its tip. This needle hole is called“Eye” of the needle. Thread is inserted through the eye, which formsthe stitch together with the thread from the bobbin.PointThe end of the needle that goes down and enters the cloth is called thePoint. The point is not very sharp and when it enters the fabric it doesnot break the fabric yarns but only moves them. Thus, it will not dam-age the fabric.Different Types of Needles, Their Use andClassificationNeedles have different points. Depending on the fabric,garment, and machine on which they are used in the in-dustry. The size of the needle and the number of the nee-dle is written on its shank.Universal Point NeedleIt is the common needle used to sew all types of garmentson different types of fabrics. The point is slightly rounded, and sharp enough togo through even tightly woven fabrics such as pant cloth.Sharp/Microtex NeedleThis needle has a sharp point that can stitch woven fabrics, including silk andthe micro fibre fabrics. It is used to give neat finish to top stitching and edges­titching.21 Types of Needles © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Ball Point NeedleIn this needle, the point is slightly rounded.It is used for stitching knit garments suchas t-shirts.Overlock NeedleIn the overlock machine, both sharp and ballpoint needles are used for woven garments likepants, shirts, etc. Ball point needle is used if the fabric being stitched is knitted,such as t-shirts.Jeans/Denim NeedleThe point of the needle is very sharp and its shank is stiff. This needle is used institching jeans, canvas, and other such fabrics. It is also used in sewing on manylayers of fabric. There are also needles that are used for special purpose or function, such asfor topstitching, hemstitching, embroidery, and quilting, and for stitching onleather.Needle ClassificationNeedles are classified depending on their use, material to be stitched, and themachine to be used. They are classified by the thickness, length, blade shape,point shape, eye size, etc.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. Types of Needles 22

MODULE 6TYPES OF FABRICS Learning Objectives At the end of the lesson you will have learned about different fabrics and their use in garments 1. Fabrics – how they are made 2. Fabrics – of what they are made 3. Types of fabrics and their use Key Points 1. Of what are fabrics made 2. How are fabrics made 3. Different types of common fabrics used in the garment industryMain ContentFabricsThe garment that you and I are wearing is made of fabric. We commonly call it“Cloth.” When you have large quantity of cloth in rolls, we call it “Fabric.” Wewear different garments, like salwar kameez, jeans, sari, gaghra and choli, shirtsand pants, t-shirts, etc. They are all made of different fabrics.Making of fabricThe dress you are wearing is different from the t-shirt that your brother wears.The fabric used in your dress is called “woven” fabric. The t-shirt fabric is knownas “knitted” fabric.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Handloom Powerloom High speed looms Cotton fabrics are produced on weaving equipment called “Looms.” Theselooms are operated by hand (handloom) or machines that are powered byelectricity. The handlooms are famous for the handloom saris that many of you wear. Bed-sheets, dress, and shirting materials are made on powerlooms and high-speedlooms.Different Types of fabrics used in the garment industryIn the garment industry many types of fabrics are used. You also see fabrics inmany colours. Some fabrics are in a single colour. There are checks and stripeson some fabrics. Some fabrics of have prints.White Cotton Fabric Solid Dyed Fabric Printed Fabric Yarn Dyed Checks Fabric Some times the yarns are coloured or dyed. When such coloured yarns arewoven together, that fabric is called yarn-dyed fabric. White fabrics are printedwith many designs and colours. These are called printed fabrics. Cotton fabrics are used for many typesof garments, like shirts, pants, dresses,sarees, sports banyans, t-shirts, under-wear, etc. It is a common fabric used formaking bed sheets, pillow covers, cur-tains, and many other items. We use cot-ton fabrics especially in summer. Fabrics are also made from other mate-rial, like polyester, silk, wool, nylon, andmany other materials. Cotton Kurta Cotton Handloom Sari© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. Types of Fabrics 25

Polyester fabrics are cheaper than cotton and usually Silk Polyester Sarithey are used to make sarees and other dress materials. DressThey are also used to make shirts, pants, jackets, jog-ging suits, and many other garments. Silk fabrics are costly. They are used to make famoussarees like Kanjeevaram and Benares. This fabric is alsoused to make wedding dresses, shirts, dresses, andcoats. Woollen garments are used in cold climate becausewoollen fabrics keep you warm. Many garments, likepants, coats, and dresses, are made of woollen fabrics. Kanjeevaram Silk Sari Woollen Kurta26 Types of Fabrics © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

MODULE 7TYPES OF STITCHES & SEAMS Learning Objectives At the end of the lesson you will have learned about different stitches and seams used in garments. 1. Stitches – what is stitch and where is it used 2. Seams – how are seams formed 3. Types of stitches and seams and their use in garments Key Points 1. Stitch and types of stitches 2. Seams and their formation 3. Various types of common stitches and seams used in the garment industryMain ContentStitchesTake a needle with thread and pass it through a cloth. Takethe needle out at a distance from the point of entry. Repeatthe action until a few loops are formed as in the picture. Thisis a common stitch that you all make at home with a needleand thread. This is a straight stitch, also called a run stitch. You can also pass the needle with thread through a clothand bring it out. Take the needle forward and pass it againinto the fabric. The needle is at the back of the cloth. Nowtake the needle through the loop formed earlier and pull itforward and bring the needle out of the fabric once again.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Repeat this to form a chain of stitches. Each time the needle passes through thethread a loop is formed. There are different types of stitches, as many as 70 types. Each type of stitchhas name. Different types of sewing machines give different types of stitches. The most common of the stitches is thechain stitch. It is formed by a needle withthread passing through a cloth and forminga loop with itself on the back side of the cloth. This is a stitch we use to stitch the hem ofa petticoat or a kurta or a pant or a skirt. This is alsocalled blind stitch. You can see the thin stitches onthe front side as in the picture. The chain stitch is also used to stitchthe edge of a cloth. This type of stitch iscalled edge stitch. These are all stitches made with ahand needle. In all these stitches youuse only one thread. It takes a lot oftime for you stitch the hem of a skirt orthe edge of a handkerchief by hand. You can make these stitches on a sewingmachine. When you make the stitches using sewing machine, it takes less time tostitch them. So you can do more garments in a day. One of the important stitches that a sewing machinecan stitch is called “lockstitch.” It is formed by thelockstitch machine. In this stitch there are two threads.There is a needle thread and there is a bobbin thread. When you press the pedal on the sewing machinewith your foot, the needle starts going down into thefabric(s) below it. As it goes down, the needle of thescarf catches the bobbin thread and pulls it as it comes up. The needle threadforms a loop and the bobbin thread passes through the loop and comes out withthe needle. Thus a lock is formed below the cloth and the needle pulls up theneedle thread as the fabric moves forward to form another stitch. The lockstitchlooks alike on both sides of the cloth.28 Types of Stitches & Seams © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

The overlock machine forms the edgestitch. The overlock stitch is also a chainstitch. The feed-off-arm machine forms achain stitch and it is used to stitch the sidesof a shirt, jeans, and other such garments. Using these stitches, seams are formed.A seam is a stitch that joins or attaches twoor more fabrics. There are different typesof seams that are used to attach differentparts of a garment. The sleeves of a shirtare attached to the body of the shirt by using a seam. The collar is attached to theshirt body by using a seam.Some of the common seams you use in sewing.1. You keep two pieces of cloth, one above the other, and stitch on lockstitch machine. This is called a “superimposed” seam. This is a very common seam. It is used to sew all parts and attach one another in garments. After sewing, when you open the two pieces of cloth it looks as this picture shows.2. Lap seam You place two pieces of cloth, as shown in the picture, facing each other with two edges of cloth over each other, as shown in the picture. Now place the pieces of cloth under the presser foot of the lockstitch machine. Stitch along the middle of the place where the two cloth pieces are overlapping. In the next step, fold the left cloth piece under the right piece, slightly away from the stitch. Fold the right cloth piece and fold it over to the left. After the fold, the cloth appears as in the picture.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. Types of Stitches & Seams 29

Now press the fold and flatten it. Then stitch at the edge of the fold as in the picture. Turn the cloth left to right so that the needle is opposite the stitch. Now stitch along the fold parallel to the stitch at the fold. Finally the finished lap stitch looks as in the picture. The lap seam is used to stitch the sides of a shirt or dress or jeans. It is has strength and durability. Lap seam is also formed by a feed-off-arm machine, with a folder.3. Lap felled seam is another common seam used for sewing shirts and jeans. It is stitched with a folder. The stitch is formed at the edge, as seen in the picture. Afterward, turn the garment and stitch the opposite side. The final finished stitch looks as in the ­picture.4. Bound seams are used for sewing the edge of a fabric wrapped with another fabric so that the raw edge is not seen. It is used to finish the edge of a zipper fly or a dress pant pocket bag or the lining of a pant waist band.5. Edge stitch with overlock machine is a common to close raw edges of all garments.30 Types of Stitches & Seams © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

There are stores that offer exclusively men’s garments like shirts, pants, suits,coats, t-shirts, jeans, and other items. Many of us go to a tailor in our area to get our garments stitched. When youlast went to buy a kurta for yourself, you found that it was tight. You tried manyof them, but you found that they are eithertight or loose or short or long. Your brotherwanted to buy a pair of pants. But he did notget a correct size that fits him comfortable. So,finally, you decided to go to your tailor andasked him to stitch you the kurta you wantedin the design and style. Thus, we go to tailors, who stitch us made-to-measure garments. They take our mea-surements and cut the cloth that we give inthe style we want and stitch per our design. You either give them one of your best fittedgarments or let the tailor take your measure-ments for correct fitting. In some of the tailoring shops, you canselect the cloth you want or designs you wantfor your garments from the books and pho-tographs that they offer you to view. Tailorssew the garments on a single needle lock-stitch machine. These garments have no label orbrand. Sometimes the quality of their sewing maynot be of a standard. Zippers, buttons, and otheraccessories used may not last long. In the readymade garments that we see in thestore, there are many varieties. They can be classi-fied as men’s wear, women’s wear, and children’swear. In each of these categories, there are manyvarieties. The different garments in the men’s wear areshirts, pants trousers, suits, blazers or coats, vestsor banyans, ties, and socks.32 Types of Garments © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

MODULE 9PARTS OF A GARMENT Learning Objectives At the end of the lesson you will have learned about the various parts of a garment in the garment industry. 1. Know the parts of a garment 2. Different garments and their parts Key Points 1. Identify the various parts of different garments 2. Know the parts in detailsMain ContentA traditional tailor in a locality takes his or her customer’s measurements, drawsthe pattern on the fabric, cuts the parts, and sews and assembles the parts intothe desired garment. One person does all the work. But, in the garment industry, readymade garments are made on long assemblylines with many sewing machine operators sewing different parts. Every garment has many parts; some have more and others less. Consider thefollowing common examples:© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Men’s ShirtThis is a common garment that we allsee every day. In the picture, you can see that thefront of the shirt with two “Sleeves,” a“Collar,” and a “Pocket.” The Collar has two parts, a Col-lar and a Collar Band. The collaris attached to the collar band. Theheight of the collar is dependent onthe height of the collar band. The place where the sleeve or handis attached to the shirt body is called“Armhole.” End of the sleeve has a “Cuff.” Theend of shirt sleeve, which meets thecuff, has a slit and a button. This is called the “Sleeve Placket.” It has a button-hole placket that covers the buttons. The sleeve placket buttons are smaller thanthe front placket buttons Front of a shirt has two parts. As we all know, these parts are closed with but-tons. These buttons are fixed or stitched on one half of the shirt and the other halfof the shirt has buttonholes. Therefore, every shirt has a buttonhole placket and a button placket.35 Parts of a Garment © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Now, the back of the shirthas some different parts As in the picture, at the topof the shirt “Yoke” or shoul-der is attached to the “Back.”The front parts are attachedto the Yoke on the front side. Both the fronts are sewn orattached to the back on each“Side,” as seen in the picture. The “Bottom” of the shirtis folded and stitched. It iscalled the “Hem.”Men’s Pants or TrousersThe men’s pants are a long garment that coversthe body waist down. It has two separate legsjoined at the waist. The “Waistband” holds the pant to thewaist. The waist band has the same fabric asthe remainder of the pants, but inside it has alining. The pant, also called trousers, has two pock-ets on either side of the leg. There are pocket bags made of the same lining as inthe waist and sewn inside the pockets. There are one or two back pockets The front and back legs are sewn together on theinside and outside. There is a fly in the front, with zipper or buttonsto close. Some pants have pleats on the front, which aresewn into the waistband. The waistband has belt loops for wearing a waist© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. Parts of a Garment 36

belt. The “Bottom” of the trousers is either flat or folded. If it isfolded, it is called “cuff.” The other garments, like ladies top and skirt, are similar tothe shirt and pants.Ladies TopJust as a shirt, ladiesblouse or top has sleeves,two fronts, a back, and acollar. The two fronts may behalf open or fully covered. Sometimes there are twoseparate fronts, closed bybuttons, as in the case of amen’s shirt The buttonhole placket in a ladies blouse is to the wearer’s left and the buttonplacket is to the wearer’s right.SkirtThe skirt is a common garment that we see every day. All school girls wear skirtsas a part of their uniform. Skirt has two parts – a front and a back. Both the parts are joined at the waist band with a waist band. The waist band has elastic or draw cord or belt loops to hold the skirt. But mostof the skirts have belt loops with a belt. Some skirt designs have buttons or zipper There are usually one or two pockets on the side.37 Parts of a Garment © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

MODULE 10PRODUCTION FLOW INA GARMENT UNIT Learning Objectives At the end of the lesson you will have learned the flow of garment production in a gar- ment factory. 1. There are many stages and people involved in garment production 2. The production flow begins with procurement of fabric and trims and ends with ­delivery of a consignment of packed garments 3. Understand the key processes in the production flow Key Points 1. Different stages of garment production 2. Production flow in a garment factory 3. Important production processesMain ContentIn the garment industry there are three main processes: Pre-production, Produc-tion, and Post-production. These activities are similar to cultivation of paddy crop or making tea. For mak-ing tea, you bring together all the materials required, such as tea powder, milk,water, sugar, strainer, vessels, and cups. All these activities are pre-productionactivities. Making tea by boiling water, adding tea powder, milk, and strainingit into cups is the production process. Finally, adding sugar per individual tasteand serving is the post-production process. In garment production, also, similarsteps are followed.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Pre-production ProcessThe buyer places the order with the company and gives a sample to follow. Thecompany contacts fabric mills and sources fabrics. It then gets buttons, labels,and thread from respective manufacturers. These items are called “Trims.” A sample is made by the sample section and given to the buyer to check if itmeets the requirements. Then the production process starts.Production ProcessOrdered fabric comes from the supplier. It is tested for quality in the laboratoryand defects are checked in the fabric store. It is then spread on long and wide cutting tables andmarked for cutting, per the pat-tern. Fabric is cut, per the patternmarkings, on the lay. Cut partsare numbered and bundled.If there is embroidery and printing to be done on the garment, those cut parts aresent. Only after the embroidered or printed parts are receivedand checked are the cut bundles issued to the sewingsection. These bundles are now issued to the sewing section. Inthe sewing section, cut part bundles are given to produc-tion line, per the production plan. For a shirt, productionstarts with making parts like collar, sleeves, cuff, front, andback.39 Production Flow in a Garment Unit © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

The production flow in the sewing section follows asequence of operations in a serial order. The flow chartof sewing operations of a shirt is shown in the picturehere. The sewing operations start with making the variousparts – collar, cuffs, pocket, front, back, and sleeves. Each of the parts is then attached to the front, as yousee in the picture. At different stages of production, different parts ofthe shirt are attached. To the front of the shirt, first the pocket is attached.Then the back is attached. Then the two sleeves areattached. After that, the collar is attached. Then the cuffs aresewn to the sleeves. The shirt bottom is then hemmed.If the customer wants, all garments are washed beforethey are ironed and pressed. It is important to know that the production process is a methodical step–by-step production of garments. It runs like traffic on the road. There are traffic signals where it has to stop. Inthe production flow, also, at every junction, such as where the pocket is attachedto the front or where back is sewn to the front, the flow stops. Here a qualityinspector checks the sewn pieces. At the end of the flow, after the cuff is attachedto the sleeve, a final quality check is made before the garment goes out of theproduction line. Next, the button holes are stitched. Then, the buttons are stitched. They are then checked once again, and all the loose threads are removed. Thisis called trimming.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. Production Flow in a Garment Unit 40

Clean and neat garments are then ironed and pressed. Finished garments are now packed in polybags and placed in cartons. Cartonsare marked and sealed for delivery to the customer.41 Production Flow in a Garment Unit © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

MODULE 11PRODUCTIVITY Learning Objectives At the end of the lesson you will have learned about productivity and its use in the g­ arment industry. 1. P roductivity is about producing maximum quantity of anything using very little ­resources 2. Understand methods of increasing production Key Points 1. What is productivity 2. How to improve daily productionMain ContentWe all want to spend less but get more. Let us take some examples of your dailylife.1. Every day you cook rice. The common practice to cook rice: you measure the rice. Place it in a vessel. Wash it. Add required water and then place the vessel on a stove. It will take nearly 30 minutes for the rice to cook. That means you have spent about Rs.0.50 of kerosene. If you have soaked the rice for 30 minutes before cooking, the rice will cook in 15 minutes. That means you have saved 1/4th litre of kerosene and Rs.0.25. If you cook rice 2 times a day you save ½ litre of kerosene.2. Every day you sweep your house with a broomstick. When it is a new broom you bend less and if it is old you have to bend more – you see in the picture. As you used the broom, it became shorter and shorter.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Therefore by using the old broom and bending to sweep daily you will get backache and get tired easily. As a result you do not do other important household chores.3. You go to the market to buy sugar. One kg of sugar costs Rs. 40. The shop is offering a special price of Rs. 55 for 1 ½ kg of sugar. By paying Rs.15 more, you will get ½ kg. Otherwise you have to spend Rs.20. So you save Rs.5 You spend less money and get more sugar.4. You want to boil water. Take two containers. One is wide and shallow. The other is narrow and deep. Pour equal amount of water in both the vessels. Put them on the stove. Adjust the flame of both the burners. The water in the wide and shallow vessel boils first. The narrow vessel takes more time. The wide and shallow container as in the picture covers the entire burner and the flame, therefore more surface area of the vessel is over the flame. A narrow vessel covers less surface area and therefore does not get heated evenly.5. Now let us make some tea. To prepare tea, let us list the materials required and the procedure to follow. We need tea powder, milk, water, sugar, strainer, containers and cups. Making procedure - There are two methods of making tea. Method 1 -1 Pick empty container from shelf 10 seconds2 Pour water in a container 10 seconds3 Light stove 10 seconds4 Place container on stove 10 seconds5 Wait for water to boil 300 seconds6 Pick up tea bottle from shelf 10 seconds7 Pick up a tea spoon 10 seconds8 Open the lid 15 seconds9 Pour 2 teaspoons of tea powder in boiling water 20 seconds10 Stir the water with spoon 10 seconds11 Pick up milk container from the shelf 10 seconds43 Productivity © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

12 Pour milk into the boiling tea water 30 seconds13 Take a strainer from the shelf 10 seconds14 Switch off the stove 10 seconds15 Lift the hot tea container from the stove 30 seconds16 Place the strainer on cup 10 seconds17 Pour the tea into the cup through the strainer 30 seconds18 Lift the strainer from the cup 10 seconds19 Place the tea container beside the stove 15 seconds20 Take sugar bottle from the shelf 10 seconds21 Open the lid 15 seconds22 Pick a dry teaspoon 10 seconds23 Add sugar to the tea in the cup 20 seconds24 Stir the sugar to the tea in the cup 10 seconds Total Time taken 625 seconds This method has 24 steps and it has taken 625 seconds or 11 minutes to make cup of tea. Method 21 Pick tea powder and sugar bottles from the shelf 10 secondsand place them beside the stove2 Pick up milk and water containers 10 seconds3 Pour water in a container 10 seconds4 Place container on stove & light stove 10 seconds5 Wait for water to boil 300 seconds6 While waiting for the water to boil Pick up a tea 10 secondsspoon, open tea bottle lid, take 2 tea spoons of teaand pour in the heated water7 Open the lid 15 seconds8 Pour 2 teaspoons of tea powder in boiling water 20 seconds9 Stir the water with spoon 10 seconds10 Pour milk into the boiling tea water 30 seconds11 Take a strainer from the shelf 10 seconds12 Switch off the stove 10 seconds13 Lift the hot tea container from the stove 30 seconds14 Place the strainer on cup 10 seconds15 Pour the tea into the cup through the strainer 30 seconds© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. Productivity 44

16 Lift the strainer from the cup 10 seconds17 Place the tea container beside the stove 15 seconds18 Open the sugar bottle lid 15 seconds19 Pick a dry teaspoon 10 seconds20 Take sugar from the bottle with teaspoon and add 20 seconds to the tea in the cup21 Stir the sugar to the tea in the cup 10 secondsTotal Time taken 595 seconds The 2nd method, by performing the listed steps, takes 21 steps and 595 seconds. or 10 minutes to make tea. In the 2nd method, you have performed the steps 7, 8, 9, 11. and 14 while waiting for the water to boil and saved 65 seconds. The time is further reduced from 595 to 530 seconds or 9 minutes. The work of picking up the tea and water containers into a single work because they are picked up at the same time using both hands. In this method you combined some work. You also performed some work in the idle time and reduced it. Thus, between the two methods the number of steps reduced by 2 and the time by 30 seconds. The number of steps and time can be further reduced if the tea powder is added to water and boiled. This will reduce 2 more steps and 20 seconds of time.6. We will now consider one last example. Take potatoes. Place one potato in water and place it on stove to boil. Take another potato and peel the skin. Now take the boiled potato out of water and peel the skin. You will find it easier and faster to peel the skin of boiled potato. The peeled but not boiled has to be now boiled. So you spent more time to peel and boil potato than boil and peel.In all these examples we have noticed: a. How to save kerosene by modifying the method of cooking b. To reduce backache, we replaced the old broomstick with a new one that it is taller c. By paying a little more, you got additional quantity of sugar and saved money also d. By using a wide and shallow container, you saved on fuel and time e. By using a different method of tea making, you have saved 30 seconds of time f. By boiling a potato and peeling, you achieved two tasks at the same time45 Productivity © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

All these examples have given you various methods of saving time, money, andfuel. These are the different resources that you can save in your everyday life.Fuel, money, time, and methods are the resources you have saved. In any work that you do, if you save some time, you can do more work. Forexample, in the above tea making, using little more water, milk, tea powder,and sugar you can make 2 cups of tea instead of 1. The time spent in making2 cups of tea will be slightly more than 1. It may increase by another 30 secondsin the 2nd method. That means it will take 650 seconds to make 2 cups or 325seconds per cup which is almost half of the time required for 1 cup. Thus, whenyou increased the quantity, you have not only saved time by half but also thecost. One cup costs Rs. 3.50, while 2 cups will only cost Rs.5.50. Therefore, eachcup will now cost Rs. 2.75. Thus the cost has reduced by Rs.0.75 as the quantityincreased. Thus, when we use resources, like using time and equipment, properly, theextra cost of other raw material will be marginal. Hence, the cost of the final teaor any product will be reduced. In the garment industry, if one sewing operator makes 10 garments in a day,in a production line of 40 operators and their machines they can make 400 gar-ments in a day. But, if one operator is given a single task to do throughout the day, because ofthe repeated activity, she can make more of the parts. If 40 operators in the lineeach make different parts and assemble them, then the total number of garmentsthey make together will be 600. Time remained the same but the quantity hasincreased by 50%. Any activity done repeatedly takes less time than doing it once.Thus, by making parts and assembling them into complete garments, you canreduce the making time. You have also used the machines fully without keep-ing them idle. You have also increased the quantity produced. That means youincreased the quantity produced with the same number of machines and in thesame time. This s called “Productivity.” Thus, you have to save time and make more parts or garments in the saved time.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. Productivity 46

MODULE 12QUALITY Learning Objectives At the end of the lesson you will have learned about quality and its value in the garment industry. 1. Quality is a feature of a product that will increase its life or utility 2. The taste or colour or performance of a product is appreciated or recognised Key Points 1. Quality is durability 2. Quality is performanceMain ContentWe all know what quality is. Even young children know what they want. Ayoung boy knows which chocolate he wants. If you give him a toffee and tellhim it is chocolate, he will not agree. Similarly, give him a Nestle chocolate, hewill not like it. He wants Cadbury milk chocolate only. He knows the taste andthe brand. You take your sister or young daughter to the shop because she wants a tricy-cle. You show her different tricycles. But she does not like any of them. You go tothe next shop and the shop after that. Finally she finds the tricycle she wants – ithas three strong wheels, a good soft seat, a nice bell that gives a musical sound,and above all it is made of plastic with no sharp edges and in an attractive redcolour. When she was looking for a tricycle she was looking for all these featuresin it. That is the quality she wants. We all like mangoes. When you go to buy mangoes, how do you buy them?Will you just ask the fruit vendor to give you some mangoes? Or, will you selectthem yourself? You will take a mango in your hand see its colour and smell it.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

These days mangoes look ripe from outside but they are yet to ripe inside. Thatis why you smell them. A ripe mangoes gives beautiful “mango smell.” If youget the smell that means the mango is ripe. You have selected good mangoes. You wanted to buy a blouse piece for your sari. You will take along to the storethe sari for which you wanted the blouse. You will ask the salesman to show youone of the colours closest to the sari colour. You will place blouse fabric on topof the sari and see. If it is not what you wanted, you will try some more coloursand finally select one of them and ask the salesman to give you 1 meter or less,which you think is sufficient. In this case, you have selection of quality is basedon colour. When you accompany your father or elder brother to a garment or clothingstore, observe how they buy a pair of pants. First they select the colour. Thenthey look for the material whether it is cotton, polyester, or wool. Then they gointo the trail room and wear it. If it fits, then they will decide to buy it. So theyselected the pants for its colour, fabric, and fit. All these features that you saw in the examples are the various features ofquality. There is no one feature for quality. These are some of the features as a customer sees them. Similarly, when you make something to eat at home, you look for some fea-tures in what you make. If you are making gulabjamuns, you try to make all the jamuns of same size.Then you make sure that the sugar syrup has the right consistency, sweetness,and flavour of cardamom. When you are frying so many gulabjamuns at a time,you make sure all of them are fried to the same colour. Similarly, in the garment industry, many quality requirements are there. The garment sample is made to check the fit, quality of sewing, and finishing. The quality in the industry is followed as a continuous process so that everytime any product comes out it will have the same quality. The industry tries tohave the same consistency in quality to all its products.1. Getting the sample approved for fit, shape, and sewing2. Selecting the right fabric. It must be the same as what the customer wants because fabric is made to order. It must not shrink. Its colour must be uniform throughout the fabric. The colour must not fade when the fabric is washed or when it is kept in sunlight for a long time.3. The patterns must be of correct size as per the measurement charts. Sewing margin or allowance must be marked correctly in the patterns.4. Fabric must be spread properly and cut, per the pattern. Care must be taken to place all the parts in the correct direction and place the parts of the garment together to avoid differences in shade.48 Quality © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

5. Number and mark the parts correctly. Do not miss numbering some parts. Bundle all the parts correctly.6. Follow the production plan and issue the parts bundles to the assigned operators in the sewing line.7. Check each machine needle, thread, and the stitch quality before starting the machine. If wrong size of needle is used, you will have big needle holes in the fabric and if the needle is too fine for a thick fabric it will break often. Similarly, thread quality must be correct, for industrial sewing machines you have to use 3 ply polyester thread, which is strong and will not break easily. To get the correct length of stitch and number of stitches per inch, adjust the stitch dial near the fly wheel and the thread tension disc to your right. Stitch on waste fabric and adjust.8. Maintain quality consistently throughout the production of the order.9. Check the quality of parts sewn for broken stitches, jump stitches, and incorrect seams. If there is a defect, repair it before continuing with assembly.10. Check quality when assembling the parts to the garment. If there is any defect, return it to the operator who made the defect.11. Check the final quality of the sewn garment12. Trim any hanging threads accurately and completely. Remove all the loose threads.13. Washed garments must match the wash standard approved by the customer.14. Stitch buttonholes and button to the garments and secure buttons with a knot. Otherwise they will come off. If the garment has a wash, stitch the buttonholes before wash so that the buttonhole stitches also appear washed.15. Check the garments once again and iron and press them.16. Tag and pack the garments as instructed by the customer.17. Finally place the garments in the correct size cartons and mark them as required. All these activities are standard quality procedures followed in the industry,similar to what you do at home or in shop. Just as you want to buy a quality garment in a store, the store manager alsowants to keep quality garments in his store so that you would like to go to thatstore regularly for all your purchases. The customer (just like the store manager)wants quality garments from the factory in which you are working. Therefore, itis important that you pay attention to quality when you are making garments orgarment parts in the production line.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. Quality 49

MODULE 13SEWING MACHINE WORKSHEETS Learning Objectives At the end of the lesson you will have learned about sewing machine … 1. Machine Control 2. Stitching with a sewing machine Key Points 1. Sewing Machine with paper exercises 2. Paper Exercises and speed 3. Fabric exercisesMain ContentSewing Machine ControlFirst you must sit on a stool of convenient height in frontof the sewing machine with both feet on the pedal andthe right knee against the knee lift. On the right side be-low the table of the machine, you will find two switches.When you press the green coloured switch, the motor be-low the table starts.Paper ExercisesNow press right knee against the kneelifter. This will lift the presser foot. PlacePaper Exercise 1, as shown in the pic-ture, below the presser foot. Make sureto place the paper on straight line 1 onthe dot and start. Move your right kneeaway from the knee lifter. The presserfoot will now press the paper on thethroat or needle plate.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Hold the top right corner of paper with your left hand; press your right footgently on the pedal below. The needle starts moving and the paper starts movingforward. Hold the paper gently and ensure that the needle holes are formed onthe straight line. Stop on the dot at the end of the line. Lift the presser foot, movethe paper and press down the presser foot and start sewing on the line till thedot. Repeat the exercise until you stitch on all the lines. This exercise will help you get good control of the machine at slow speed, andaccuracy in sewing. The exercise will train you to stop at each dot or fixed posi-tion and re-start at the next dot. Repeat this exercise with 2 plies of fabric, placingtwo fabric pieces one over another. Exercise 2 is stitching straight lineswith thread, as in the picture. You willstart the machine as in the previousexercise, after threading the machineand checking the thread tension. Youmust also adjust the number of stitchesper inch (SPI) to 9 or 10. Start with a fewstitches and check the stitch quality.They must be uniform and even. Adjustthe tension of the thread by turning thetension knob above the needle bar. Repeat the exercise until the last line. Con-tinue the exercise for practice until the stitch is accurate and neat. Now repeat the exercise on fabric. Stitch with swatch, with two swatches offabrics. Repeat this exercise with 2 plies of fabric placing two fabric pieces oneover another. In Exercise 3, you will repeat the sameas Exercise 1, this time with thread. Fol-low the instructions as for Exercise 1. Repeat this exercise with 2 plies offabric, placing two fabric pieces oneover another. For Exercise 4, as in the picture, starton the dot on line 1 stitch up to the slashmark shown, stop and do 4 to 5 reversestitches manually. Stitch forward to theslash and continue to stitch up to thenext slash. Repeat the reverse stitchesfrom the slash and go forward. Com-plete the exercise on all lines. Take care that the stitch is on thestraight line. At the end of the exerciseon the page, count the number of lines51 Sewing Machine Work Sheets © ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.

you stitched straight. Repeat the exercise untilyou stitch all lines straight. Repeat this exer-cise with 2 plies of fabric placing two fabricpieces one over another. Exercise 5 is given to help you practice cor-ners, straight stitch, and reverse stitch. Fol-low the arrows as shown in the picture andstitch. To stitch at the curve, let the needle beinside the paper, lift the presser foot and turnthe paper straight and down the presser footand stitch. At every corner, repeat this proce-dure. At every horizontal line do the reversestitches and proceed with forward stitch tothe corner. Practice it on paper first. Get con-fidence. Then move to practicing on fabrics.Repeat until your deviations are few. Repeatthis exercise with 2 plies of fabric placing twofabric pieces one over another. Exercise 6 is a practice in stitching cornersand straight lines with stop and turn of the paper. You will continue the sewingat the corners, following the instruction in the previous exercise. In this exercise,you will practice long straight stitches with sharp corners and only sharp corners.First practice on paper and then continue the exercise on fabric. Note the devia-tions from the straight line. Practice until the deviations are zero or few. Repeatthis exercise with 2 plies of fabric placing two fabric pieces one over another.© ISHA Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. Sewing Machine Work Sheets 52