Effect of seam angle on seam puckering in lightweight woven fabrics

Displacement puckering is the major cause of seam puckering, while sewing lightweight woven fabrics. In this paper, effect of seam angle (0°–90° to the weft) on the seam puckering has been studied for cotton and polyester fabrics at different stitch lengths. Puckering is estimated by measuring a difference between the thickness of seamed and unseamed fabrics. It is observed that seam puckering decreases and then increases as the seam angle to the weft increases. Seam puckering is the lowest at seam angle of 30° for cotton fabrics and 69?g/m² polyester fabric; at 45° for 88?g/m² polyester fabrics, depending upon the warp and weft yarns covered in the seam and yarn linear densities, which can be represented as effective relative cover. Seam puckering is the lowest at a seam angle, when the effective relative cover is highest.