Making creases
Pressing and Related Garment Finishing Techniques
a result of operator handling; this is particularly bad when garments are handled between operations in bundles, whether tied up tightly or piled on trolleys or in boxes. However, the increasing use of materials with a high standard of crease recovery, along with the reduction in work in progress that results from the installation of hanging transport systems or the working of team systems, has reduced the problem for many types of garment. Final pressing also refreshes the fabric appearance after manufacture. Especially during underpressing, the surface of the fabric may be altered. A common symptom is gloss or glazing, induced by extreme pressure of press or iron in order to achieve a firm edge or seam. A related but lesser symptom is a generalised flattening of the nap of the fabric, which no longer shows the richness intended by its designer. With the long-fibred naps, as in corduroy or velvet, this becomes much more important.
Creases are obvious design features in trousers, skirts (where a series of creases is often referred to as pleating), and some collar styles. Creases are less obvious but still require pressing when they are hems and cuff edges, front edges, top edges of waistbands, pocket flaps and patch pocket edges as well as pressed open seams, which from a pressing point of view are two creases sewn together.
Moulding the garment to the contour of the body This does not refer to the specialised technique of garment moulding described in Chapter 6, but to the enhancement of shape already largely determined by seams and darts. It is mainly effected in wool or wool-rich fabrics in tailored garments. This sort of moulding involves two kinds of deformation (together or separate): shrinking and stretching. After moulding it is not possible to unpick the seams and return garment parts to their former flat state. The chief areas where this moulding takes place are around the ends of darts, collars, shoulders, armholes and sleeveheads, and sometimes trouser legs. Thus the chest and waist of a tailored jacket created by the pattern’s seams and darts can be accentuated by pressing on shaped presses. Generally, where the body has a prominence, extra length is created, and where the body has a hollow the fabric is shrunk.
Preparing garments for further sewing The term ‘underpressing’ is reserved for pressing operations on partly constructed garments, while top-, off- or final pressing is used for 255