Search

Prolonged sitting with awkward posture during sewing results in musculoskeletal disorders among sewing operators. This study aimed to identify the compatibility of the sewing furniture with operators’ anthropometry. Therefore, 13 anthropometric measurements of 368 sewing operators were collected and compared with sewing furniture dimensions. The results showed that all anthropometric measurements other than hip breadth were larger for male participants. In addition, statistical analysis performed on the collected data showed significant variation compared to the existing dimensions of sewing machines. Results also indicated a high mismatch for different dimensions of the sewing table and chair, such as seat height, seat width, seat depth, table depth, etc. For this reason, sewing operators often experience musculoskeletal disorders. Finally, this study recommends some guidelines for designing the sewing workstation, which might act as a basis for manufacturers or importers to set provisions for sewing machines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extant literature on innovation in family firms has generated mixed results regarding the preference of family firms for innovation. By integrating literature on family ownership and management, we propose an inverted U-shaped relationship between family firm ownership concentration and innovation. Our Poisson regression-based model on a sample of 532 family firms from India for ten years shows that family ownership concentration follows an inverted U-shaped relationship with innovation. Our findings further suggest that the family CEO moderates this inverted U-shaped relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published nearly thirty years ago, Fae Myenne Ng's debut novel, Bone, has become a canonical work of Asian American literature for its domestic portrayal of a multi-generational Chinese American family. This article demonstrates how fiction offers a means to theorize contemporary craft. As the daughter of a seamstress, Ng utilizes her own intimate knowledge of industrial and domestic sewing to develop the emotions and intergenerational memories of characters in the novel. In doing so, Bone locates crafting subjects, their work and the handmade objects themselves within a legacy of Chinese exclusion and the ongoing racialized and gendered labor exploitation of Chinese immigrants. In this context, the fictional narrative pushes craft theorists and practitioners alike to instigate essential questions about what registers as craft and the role of narrative in this process. In particular, I focus on a persistent binary of handmade and mass-produced that shapes many dominant narratives of craft. By attending to this binary, we may analyze how dominant narratives actively make use of and reconfigure social constructs like gender and race to elicit certain perceptions (wittingly or unwittingly) about craft, craftspeople, their labors, and the value placed upon them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to agency theory, impression management is lower in family-owned firms because of reduced agency I conflicts. However, when family owners are present, agency I conflicts are superseded by agency II conflicts between controlling and minority shareholders, leading to a positive association between impression management and family ownership. Moreover, family owners have distinct goals related to the preservation of socioemotional wealth (SEW) that may influence agency conflicts. We formalize these countervailing forces by developing an integrated theoretical framework that considers both agency I and agency II conflicts and how they interact with SEW-related motives. We hypothesize that the coexistence of agency I and agency II conflicts in family-owned firms leads to a U-shaped association between family ownership and impression management. We also expect that this U-shaped association is flatter when family influence on the board is stronger and SEW motives shape more corporate choices. We test our predictions by analyzing the letters to shareholders of 77 Italian-listed firms from 2008 to 2015. The results confirm our expectations and hold when we use instrumental variable estimation, alternative proxies to capture SEW motives, and impression management measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During World War II, clothing and textile shortages led to a culture of reusing and repairing items. The Board of Trade issued "Make Do and Mend" leaflets that provided guidance on how to remake and adapt clothing. Sewing skills were essential for maintaining a wardrobe, and women's magazines emphasized the importance of looking stylish and fashionable. Clothing rationing was introduced, and the Utility Clothing Scheme aimed to provide attractive garments within the restrictions of wartime. People used creative methods to obtain fabric, such as repurposing architectural drawings and utilizing unconventional materials like coffin lining and rabbit fur. The resourcefulness extended to household items as well, with knitted washing up cloths and improvised shoelaces for hair styling. The article discusses the practice of "make do and mend" during World War II, where people repurposed and repaired clothing due to shortages and rationing. Tips and tricks for altering clothes were featured in women's magazines, and individuals were encouraged to learn sewing and repair skills through evening classes and women's organizations. Parachute silk became a popular fabric for making underwear, slips, blouses, and wedding dresses. The practice of recycling and reusing clothing continued even after the war ended. The article emphasizes the importance of sustainability and recycling in the present day. [Extracted from the article]

This paper analyzes the Chinese folk children's and adult women's bellyband, in order to explore it's cultural connotation and artistic characteristics, and dig out useful elements for modern clothing design. This paper adopts the research methods of literature analysis, physical investigation, and modern works analysis. Through the analysis of the children's bellyband, mainly by its summarized origin and customs, we believe that the bellyband not only has practical function and rich artistic elements, but also is the carrier of thick family love and has reference value for modern children's clothing design. For the adult female bellyband, through the analysis of the traditional culture from the perspective of emotion, this paper believes that the shape of adult female bellyband is constrained by feudal etiquette, but its sewing process reflects women's wisdom. At the same time, the color matching and pattern composition of bellyband are the expression and catharsis of women's emotion. Based on this, this paper puts forward suggestions for modern clothing design, innovating the embroidery and patchwork process of bellyband, bionic modeling design. We believe that the embroidery technology, patchwork technology and pattern cultural connotation of bellyband can be combined with modern fashion design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographical scholarship on making has established the interrelations between makers, materials and space. With this paper I explore how this scholarship can be developed to incorporate time through paying close attention to the time of making. Drawing on Karen Barad's (2003) theorisation of multiple and entangled temporalities and materialities; the time of making is interpreted as a constituent of making rather than a homogenous vessel within which making occurs. Using an autoethnographic study of upcycling used domestic textiles into bags, I assemble the practices of making and distribute these into its constituent parts of heterogenous materials, tools and skills. The time of making is studied through autoethnographic reflections on the iterative interactivity between these constituent parts. My reflections on the time of making develop in two ways. First, I consider how the temporal heterogeneity of making segues the (de)stabilising skills of sewing with moments of hesitation, preparation, undoing, repetition and organisation. Second, I detail how the life histories of materials and makers are remade through making. In particular the case study of upcycling reveals how the potential of materials can be realised through re-orientating the skills and practices of makers towards (re)making the life history of materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The m-polar fuzzy set (mFs) algorithm is a novel approach to solving multi-polar uncertainty problems. Combining other multi-criteria decision-making techniques can improve this algorithm in efficient ways. This work examines the ELimination Et Choice Translating Reality-I (ELECTRE-I) approach. The input data given to any MCDM technique will change the rank of alternatives based on the method of normalization used and the weight calculation method utilized for the criteria weight calculation purpose. Various normalization approaches and criteria weight methods are required to transform real data into normalized data for MCDM method implementation. This study uses a framework to implement the mFs ELECTRE-I algorithm to investigate the effect of AHP weight and Shannon's entropy weight (SEW) calculation combined with normalization strategies. In this paper, selecting nontraditional machining (NTM) processes is evaluated to assess the impact of the created framework on choices and rank performance analysis. The study results in linear sum and vector normalization are suitable normalization techniques with AHP as well as Shannon's entropy weight (SEW) criteria weight methodology with Spearman's rank correlation coefficients as 0.8333 and 0.9285, respectively, which shows consistency of the rank of alternatives with the results obtained by previous researchers. This study can be used to select suitable normalization and criteria weight methods for the m-polar fuzzy set ELECTRE-I algorithm while solving multi-criteria decision-making problems. The framework is intended to address various industrial problems with many criteria, including the selection of robots, non-traditional machining techniques, and various industrial challenges without considering their subgroups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A direct-current large-volume atmospheric pressure air glow discharge plasma (APAGDP) was developed to enhance the sewing process of denim fabric. The generated plasma was characterized optically, electrically, and spectroscopically. The generated plasma presents a positive electric resistance behaviour. The plasma emission spectra are dominated by the nitrogen second positive system. Its intensity increases with the applied voltage. The generated plasma was used as a pre-treatment to enhance the sewing of the denim fabric at different exposure times, from 5 to 600 s. The scanning electron microscopy images showed no damage to the surface morphology of the denim fabric after plasma treatment. The sound pressure level (SPL) was used to verify the plasma effect on the denim fabric as compared to the untreated fabric. The SPL decreases with plasma exposure time. This result indicates that the plasma improves the sewing performance of the denim fabric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Making autoethnography outlines a method for combining the practices of making (sewing and crochet) and interpretive writing to capture the relationality of the self and materials. I discuss how I have developed my fascination with making as a conduit for working through the challenges of writing autoethnography and the personal vulnerabilities that this practice can reveal. I detail how experimenting with making autoethnography through the stages of discovery, development and embedding develops a practice to interweave my interpretation of the relationality and materiality of making. Through paying attention to development over time as well as the time spent making, this approach explicitly integrates a temporal framing within autoethnographic methods. I also explore how making expresses the complexity of relationships bound through caring and grief. In embedding this methodology, I consider how attempting to capture the diversity of making though recording time, materials and skills, can take the researcher closer to unpicking the qualities of making and how these are constituted by social identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses Annet Couwenberg's monograph, "Sewing Circles," which explores the use of circles as a productive and rational form of research. The monograph is centered on Couwenberg's exhibition at the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture at the University of Maryland. It includes essays that provide an overview of Couwenberg's research, details on her materials and methods, and a visual survey of her work from the last 10 years. The article highlights the connections between art and science in Couwenberg's work, as well as her experimentation with emerging technologies and examination of an immigrant identity. [Extracted from the article]

A brain tumour (BT) is a growth of tissue that is organised by a gradual accumulation of anomalous cells, and it is significant to segment and classify the BT from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for treatment. The manual investigation of brain MRI tumour classification and recognition is the normal technique; however, the result produced in this manner is expensive and inaccurate. Hence, this research invents the novel BT segmentation and classification techniques, where Adam Sewing Training Based Optimization with the UNet++ (AdamSTBO+UNet++) performs the segmentation task, and Adam Salp Water Wave Optimisation with the Deep Convolutional Neural Network (AdamSWO-DCNN) performs the classification task. Here, AdamSTBO is generated by adapting the concept of Adam optimiser with the upgrade function of Sewing Training Based Optimisation (STBO) algorithm. The experimental result provides that the AdamSTBO+UNet++ for BT segmentation attained a dice coefficient of 0.909, which is higher than the existing BT segmentation techniques. Likewise, using the novel BT classification technique in this research, AdamSWO-DCNN got the accuracy, Negative Predictive Value (NPV), Positive Predictive Value (PPV), True Negative Rate (TNR), and True Positive Rate (TPR) of 0.928, 0.918, 0.925, 0.929, and 0.929. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most common types of damage to books is when the boards detach from the bookblock. Consequently, book binders and conservators have been creating ways to reattach boards for decades. This article will briefly examine some of these attachment methods and how they informed, but failed to address, some of the board reattachment problems commonly encountered. It then presents a reattachment treatment that requires minimal intervention to the original spine or board materials but still provides a secure means to attach the boards without compromising the integrity of the sewing structure and allows the volume to be fit for purpose. The treatment is efficient, safe and uses readily available equipment, making it ideal for conservators in private practice and those working with time and cost restraints. The article details step-by-step the novel technique that the author developed to address these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide relevant math and detailed sewing instructions for constructing a toroidal scarf that reverses three ways and whose design uses the unique inversion properties of a particular torus geometry and particular 3-component link. We explain how the scarf's sewing instructions are guided by the mathematics underlying its construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on bedroom of sewing and the joyful laughter of this day, similar to the day of the liberation of the country where one had wrapped the statue of a young girl on horseback in the national flag. It mentions heard patriotic songs, men, women, boys and girls were singing and heroines of the maquis and the Liberation, shouted from one end at the other. It also mentions recognition of responsibility of France and the French army in the death.

The coarse wool breeds have a very small share in the clothing market due to the difficulty of their weaving and sewing. Herein, we propose a new method for utilization of coarse wool fibers (Barki), after grading and sorting according to handle, fineness, and kemp content to separate the class of fine fleeces and patches with no kemp fibers. Barki wool fibers were then blended with woolen polyester fibers to produce 30:70% and 45:55% wool/polyester woven fabric. The properties of the produced fabrics from Barki wool/polyester yarns were compared with those of Merino wool/polyester fabric 45:55%. The effects of wool type, nature of sewing threads, stitch type, and the number of stitches per centimeter, on the seam slippage as well as other inherent properties of the fabrics, were studied. The results indicate that a fine soft grade of Barki wool could be used in apparel, and the least seam slippage was obtained upon using fabric and stitch from the same type of yarns using 5 stitches/cm. As the ratio of polyester fibers in the blended fabric increases, the seam slippage as well as, crease recovery, and tear strength get better except that for pilling resistance and drapeability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with intracranial needles have rarely been reported. Several foreign bodies penetrating the cranium such as knives, nails, pencils, and wood pieces have been described in the literature. It is rare to discover a foreign body which has been inserted through either of the fontanelles before their closure in an attempted infanticide. Here we report one such rare case of intracranial sewing needle in a 24-year-old female which was accidentally inserted through the open anterior fontanelle from the traditional skull cap she was wearing during infancy. The needle was discovered incidentally on a routine skull radiograph done for a minor head injury. It was decided against any intervention to remove the needle owing to the fact that the presence of the foreign object was not causing any symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artists, fashion and foundations can connect in different ways. Operating and independent foundations tell biographies and legacies of artists. During their life and as for their legacy, artists can influence styles, frames, fashion being one constitutive way of life. Fashion corporations and foundations can be inspired by artists and artists can be supported by them. The aim of this article is to estimate how much accounting data of American artist-endowed foundations give evidence of their connections through art-keting with multiple stakeholders in order to support creativity, above all, fashion. Art-keting includes several and complex phenomena, from co-marketing to contaminations and hybridizations. It encompasses both relationship marketing and social media communication. The methodology includes the analysis of economic performance as for data in 990 Forms and a multiple regression analysis of 2016's accounting main lines of a sample of the biggest US artists-endowed foundations. If artist-endowed foundations connect with fashion thanks to multiple projects, their assets grow thanks to art-keting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber crafts occupy a vital position in technology innovation and present a promising space for computer science education, which continues to face lopsided participation. It remains unclear whether and how fiber crafts can become a context for computational learning and what role different materials play with the risk to miss computational approaches that could broaden computational cultures. Fusing constructionist and posthuman perspectives, this study analyzed how middle school students performed computational concepts while weaving and manipulating fabric and how the craft materials drove what could be learned computationally in these contexts. Present the fiber crafts as a context for performing computational concepts (i.e., variables, conditionals, functions) and that the materials play a role in what can be learned computationally. While weaving drove computing as the performance of automation, fabric manipulation required speculative and physical three-dimensional modeling as computational. The paper presents fiber crafts as a promising context for computational learning and theorizes the ongoing material as material syntonicity, contributing a material direction to fostering more inclusive and sustainable computing cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From medieval romances to twenty-first century popular novels, weaving, sewing, embroidery, and knitting have been a framework for female voices otherwise marginalized by the culture depicted in the text or by the genre itself. The habitus connecting women and textiles is strong enough that, even as textile production has become almost wholly industrialized, the association remains powerful in contemporary popular culture. This article offers a comparative look at the textiles produced by women in Laura Esquivel's novel Como agua para chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate, Mexico, 1989) and Völsungasaga (The Saga of the Volsungs, Iceland, late 13th century). Although separated by almost a millennium, in these literary texts, Tita and Brunhild each use their skill at textile production to express the things they cannot say out loud. The close readings performed here are part of a larger work examining the varied means by which women in patriarchal societies enact agency through their reproductive labour, particularly women's communication of narrative through production of both texts and textiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The One Hour Dress was considered a "sensation" when introduced in 1923 by sewing and fashion expert Mary Brooks Picken (1886–1968) of the Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Through demonstrations held at American department stores between 1923 and 1925, Picken sought to stop a national decline in sales of sewing equipment and supplies. Endorsement by film actress Mae Marsh (1894–1968) linked the dress with Hollywood glamour at a time when celebrity and mass consumption were changing the fashion industry and advertising. Reconstructing the One Hour Dress led to a re-examination of the Michigan State University Museum's historic dress collection, where was found a garment constructed along similar lines. The authors offer guidelines to identify One Hour-type dresses. The One Hour Dress, as a teaching tool, offers a case study for studying the past to merge pre-industrial dressmaking (local production, customization) and modern standards of quality and style. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to consider how the knot in plain sewing can represent a node within a larger human, social, and ritual analogy. Knots in hand sewing bind thread into stitches fixed to the desired area by securing each end of a seam or hem and connecting different thread lengths to make a longer one. Thus, knots enable fabric and thread to be turned into craftwork, and determine the identity of the work itself: its appearance, durability and stability. Besides its functional meaning, the knot is loaded with symbolism. Its ambiguous materiality has given the knot a crucial place in magic and religion, as well as in the formal and the social sciences. It may represent the durability of a relationship and, within it, the interdependence of the parties, or a problem that is hard or even impossible to solve; it can also assume a connotation of impurity, though not necessarily in a negative sense. Within this wider context, the combination of practice and theory can help identify some knotty problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Adlington explains, "Unlike domestic sewers, the dressmakers of the Upper Tailoring Studio were under no pressure to conform to austerity measures that affected war-weary civilians worldwide" (221). - Berta Berkovich Kohút (1) b This question is posed to the reader at the outset of Lucy Adlington's I The Dressmakers of Auschwitz: The True Story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive i . [Extracted from the article]

Although eighteenth-century quilted petticoats consisted of simple rectangular panels sewn into tubes and pleated to narrow waistbands, the stitched patterns of these decorative skirts offered a wide variety of design options for the wearers. Using computer-assisted-design line drawings, scholars can more easily compare the stitching patterns and categorize the quilting by date and location. This article presents previously unpublished designs and new historical discoveries in quilted petticoats since the publication of "The Layered Look, Design in Eighteenth-Century Quilted Petticoats" in Dress 34 (2007). This study focuses on five sub-themes: British professionally drawn and constructed quilting, cord-quilted examples that have a round stamp on the reverse, regionalism in two areas—Philadelphia and New England, and pieced striped petticoats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sewing threads as the main part of a seam, are exposed to various levels of tensile loading during sewing and garment use. Therefore, their tensile performance and time-dependent mechanical property such as stress relaxation may influence seam performance and appearance. The current study aims to evaluate and compare the stress relaxation of six common sewing threads in both straight and loop forms. Moreover, the influence of strain level and extension rate on stress relaxation were investigated. The obtained outcomes revealed that increase of extension rate would lead to the stress relaxation enhancement; however, strain level rise resulted in stress relaxation diminish. When sewing threads deform to the loop, higher values of stress relaxation were recorded. The obtained experimental outcomes were consistent with the two-component Maxwell's model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cultural and Creative Industries have great potential for providing employment and economic development, as has been demonstrated by a number of international studies. However, cultural firms tend to be small and employment is precarious, with a high level of informality and freelance work. This study investigates the characteristics of micro-enterprises who sew bespoke garments for individual customers using a particular South African textile, called Shweshwe. Findings show that the informality of the businesses does not have a statistically significant impact on turnover, when controlling for other factors, such as the education level of the owner. This suggests that the informal business model may be a deliberate, rational choice for firm owners working in a project-based cultural sector, rather than a survivalist strategy of last resort. Employment creation is, however, greater for those micro-enterprises operating in the formal sector, suggesting that there may still be benefits to formality for some firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expected increase in the disposal of off-grid solar e-waste (SEW) in the Global South is potentially the dark side of a promising innovation. We suggest placing research aimed at identifying appropriate schemes for the collection and recycling of SEW within a conceptual framework that builds on the literature on environmental upgrading in global value chains (GVC). We advance the GVC literature by incorporating complementary insights from social anthropology and life-cycle assessments, which will enable end-user behaviour and waste disposal to be integrated into the GVC framework. It is shown how the conceptual framework could be applied in Kenya as an example of a regional hot spot for solar e-waste. We suggest three separate research areas that would ideally be combined as a coherent and programmatic approach to ensure the provision of solid inputs informing national SEW policies and systems of regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When sewing is subjected to critical scholarly attention it is often from a public health perspective with participants typically above the age of 40 years. Consequently, very little is known about what factors bring younger ages to, and sustain their interest in, sewing for leisure. To gain a deeper understanding of the role of sewing, this qualitative study sought to explore and foreground the experiences of people aged 40 years and under who engage in sewing for leisure. By means of creative research methods (including photos, online written narratives, interviews, and sewn items), 78 participants participated in this global study to share their sewing experiences. The findings highlight that their reasons for sewing were multifaceted and included pride, accomplishment, the opportunities for social connections and self-awareness, as well as suggestions of sewing supporting the psychological 'flow' state. This research is an exploration of how the smaller act of engaging in sewing for leisure offers wider multifaceted benefits that contribute to much larger topics of identity, self-esteem, communities, social interactions, and enjoyment. This article offers a new insight into sewing by foregrounding the voices and experiences of those who have previously gone unheard within existing sewing research: those aged 40 years and under. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older people are marginalized and are often subjected to discrimination and injustice. Yet they have a wealth of experience, wisdom, and skills that they can contribute. This story describes a project where a group of older women made tote bags for a symposium. The story unfolds from initial contact with the group to the bags being taken from Africa to the rest of the world. The reciprocal gratitude and the achievement of social justice, even on a small scale, proves that it is possible to make the world a better place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical skill gaps highlighted by UK professionals in the fashion industry and identified by Government bodies were evidenced in the classroom while observing fashion students. The issues include lacking an understanding of garment construction quality, technical knowledge and skills, and timescale boundaries. It was also observed that students lack the confidence to experiment with construction techniques. A study was initiated to revitalise and enhance sewing skill capability through a purposely designed resource tool. Secondary research and interview responses from industry personnel working closely with undergraduate students and graduate designers substantiated the preliminary observations. The resource tool samples were inspired by two UK archive collections enabling the inclusion of lesser-used complex construction techniques. The tool is described, its effectiveness discussed and future developments are given. When fully developed, the resource tool could also enable craft dressmakers to develop and enhance their skills and expertise, by introducing them to less-documented techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a determination of a sewing quality index in order to assist the industry in providing quality clothing before production. The particularity of this work lies in the fact that it encompasses various sewing quality parameters (efficiency, slippage, and puckering) into a single overall quality index. Moreover, a program was investigated, to determine the quality index, so that the manufacturer has only to enter the available data. In fact, by entering the input parameters which are blend composition, seam direction, fabric mass, stitch density, and seam thread linear density, an overall quality index will be given and the seam quality as well as the defect sources will be displayed. To reach this aim, regression models were determined to predict seam quality. In this work, 18 denim fabrics were sewn with two commercial sewing threads. Their influences, ranked according to the seam quality, were also determined. The seam efficiency was calculated by determining both the seam and the fabric's tensile strength. The seam slippage was determined by calculating the difference between the elongation at the break of the seam and the elongation at the break of the fabric. Seam puckering was determined by measuring both the fabric and seam’s thickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper asks how changes to the way that dressmaking was practiced in two separate communities exemplified post-independence changes to Jamaican national identity. It was first written in 2013, from research conducted in and around two Jamaican residences: one in the beach-front, tourist hot spot of Montego Bay and the other in rural Elgin in Clarendon, at the island’s mountainous heart. At the time of Jamaican independence, these geographically and socio-economically different locations were nuclei for dressmaking practice, although for different purposes. Through them, the paper identifies two separate, classed and racialized worlds on a relatively small island, examining a social, political, architectural and creative landscape formed by the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade and European colonialism. It considers how, and how effectively these landscapes were changing in the post-independence period of decolonial struggle, in which a new Jamaicanness was being formed. To do so, it focuses on three individuals who engaged in sewing within these houses at the time: Sewing school leader Dee Davis, fashion designer Trevor C. Owen, and peripatetic seamstress Miss Aslyn. Research methods combined Oral History interviews with surviving individuals connected to the two houses, analysis of the houses themselves, and archival research conducted in Jamaica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ever-changing field of fashion design provides impetus to incorporate education about non-traditional and low cost entrepreneurial career options into fashion design curriculums. The purpose of this exploratory research was to develop, deliver, and evaluate the effectiveness of a curriculum to teach undergraduate fashion design students to design, produce, and market digital patterns to home sewers. Finding indicated that fashion design students are interested in such curriculums additions and find the inclusion of home sewing pattern development beneficial. Further research is needed to explore the interest of a wider scope of fashion design students, as well as, investigate additional options for students to use their fashion design skills. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports an experimental investigation of the effect of the seam threads linear density, the stitch density and some fabric properties on the seam efficiency. Furthermore, on the basis of the seam quality parameters, regression models were determined in order to predict seam efficiency. In this work, 18 denim fabrics, having different compositions and masses, were sewn with two commercial sewing threads. Their performances, ranked according to the seam quality, were also determined. The seam efficiency was calculated by determining of the seam tensile strength and the fabric tensile strength. It was concluded that the increase in the seam thread linear density increases the seam efficiency, as well as the stitch density. However, the fabric mass has a random effect on seam efficiency. About the composition, we conclude that the seam efficiency decreases with polyester but increases with elastane. According to the seam direction, it was found that, in the weft direction, the seam efficiency was more important than in the warp direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, wet (washing, bleaching, etc.) and dry (abrasive, laser shaping, rodeo, etc.) operations applied on fashion denim products have become an important factor to increase the added value. However, these wet and dry processes applied to the denim products may have adverse effects on the strength of the fabric and other supplementary materials of denim products. For example, thread breakages affect the repair ratios and quality of products, which causes time and profitability losses in companies. The main objective of this study is to analyse how the types of washing affect the strength of the sewing threads that are commonly used in the production of denim trousers. In this study, 100% cotton denim fabric with a weight of 11.5 ounces and two different sewing threads were used. The fabrics are sewn as trouser legs with chain and lock stitch. Five different washes were applied to the trouser legs. The obtained data were evaluated in the R statistical program. As a result of the analyses made it is proven that the washing techniques used have an effect on the sewing threads’ tensile strength and elongation at break. The tensile strengths of lock stitch and chain stitch decrease averagely 35% and elongation at break of lock stitch decreases %22 and chain stitch decreases 29.8%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the rush to be rich, contemporary commentators warned that not everyone was suited to life on Victoria’s goldfields. Women unfamiliar with household labour or exertion were cautioned to remain at ‘home’. This article explores the genteel women who migrated to Victoria during the first two decades of the gold rush, and how they negotiated the British ideal of genteel leisure against the demands for domestic labour in the colony. In particular, it interrogates the often-mundane plain sewing practices necessary to make a new home alongside the push for a colonial genteel industriousness, demonstrating how women manipulated standards of living through everyday material practices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this study, we combine Nylon 6 nanomembranes with tulle and organza fashion fabrics to construct a full-scale, flying kite. For the first time, this work demonstrates the processing of electrospun nanofabrics using laser cut and ultrasonic technologies. The composite fabrics were analysed for their morphological and mechanical properties. Micrographs show the nanofibres are about 129 nm in diameter and the fashion fabrics have yarn diameters greater than 40 µm. The nanofibres were at least 300 times smaller than the individual fibres in the fashion fabrics and successfully joined with non-puncturing ultrasonic seaming. The fracture strain of the nanomembrane–tulle composites increased 58–171% compared to the control samples due to nanofibre entanglements on the open weave structure of tulle. The ultrasonic sewn fabric regions endured 169% greater applied stress with the addition of the organza fabric and the seaming process compared to the nanomembrane–tulle composite. The burst strength of the composites compared to the controls did not change. The integration of these technologies allows us to manufacture nanofibres with everday textiles to fit many potential applications and uses. The provided supplementary video shows the assembly process and flying of the kite as proof-of-concept. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the experiences of sociable and solitary needlewomen in the long eighteenth century to reveal some of the emotional benefits derived from the act of sewing. Following Rosenwein’s theory of “emotional communities,” this article considers how needlework was centered in a number of emotional groups sited within the domestic sphere. The article will argue that the home was the place for “emotional sewing” and that both sociable and solitary sewing provided sources of emotional support. It considers evidence from eighteenth-century women’s diaries and reminiscences, including those written by Sarah Hurst, Anna Larpent, Catherine Hutton, and Gertrude Savile, which provides a rare opportunity to consider feelings about a skill traditionally passed from mother to daughter and frequently practiced in social groups. Despite the feeling that needlework symbolized the restricted role of eighteenth-century women, who were confined to their domestic environment while constrained by male expectations, the article suggests that the subversive side of sewing should not be ignored. Well-practiced in all needlework skills, some women may have had a different view of needlework using the hours spent sewing to focus on other concerns and negotiate time for their social, emotional, and intellectual well-being. It examines the likely difference between female and mixed groups when good cheer and merriment may have been as important as intellectual discussion and emphasizes that solitary sewing allowed time for reflection and consolation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

During the late 1860s a debate raged in the pages ofThe Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazinewhich generated hundreds of letters from readers, male as well as female. The debate concerned the use of corsets in general and tight-lacing in particular. It was part of a larger discussion about women’s dress, a discussion which was to culminate in the reform dress movement, which was, in its turn, part of the greater ‘Woman Question’. In their lives and in their novels Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë engaged to different extents in the question of women’s dress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most innovative designers working today, Hella Jongerius (b. 1963) studied industrial design at Eindhoven Design Academy, The Netherlands. After graduating in 1993, Jongerius participated in the first Droog Design Exhibition at the Milan Furniture Fair and opened her design firm, Jongeriuslab, in Rotterdam. Jongerius' projects include products, textiles, ceramics, and interiors. Her work transcends the boundaries between craft and design and celebrates both the artisanal and industrial. Her clients include IKEA, KLM, Maharam, Nymphenburg, Royal Tichelaar Makkum, and Vitra. Jongerius' work has been shown internationally in galleries and museums including Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (New York), Design Museum (London), The Museum of Modern Art (New York), and the Stedelijk Museum (The Netherlands). In 2013, Jongerius was invited by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to lead the redesign of the United Nations North Delegates Lounge in New York City. Last November, Sarah A. Lichtman sat down with Hella Jongerius at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York to discuss her recent projects and design thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay begins by situatingJane Eyre(1847) within contemporary representations of sewing in canonical novels by the Brontë sisters and George Eliot. These texts depict the complex and contradictory nature of needlework. The essay reveals how sewing takes Jane from her girlhood at Lowood School to her deliberate auditioning for the role of Rochester's “lady wife” at Thornfield Hall. It is a journey that is aided and punctuated by Bertha Mason's destructive acts upon fabrics, each of them a coded and crucial message to Jane. The essay's argument is founded upon three linked points: that the pivotal moments in Jane's life and social journey are woven into the story of her stitching; that this story draws upon fairy-tale archetypes; and that Jane's increased skill in manipulating her needle is bound up with her control over her narrative and her theatrical self-presentation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study focuses on the evaluation of sewing thread consumption of jean pants using the fuzzy logic theory. Referring to literature works, fuzzy logic method remains an accurate method that allows a new level of flexibility over traditional mathematical methods in defining and evaluating constraints. The application of fuzzy rules and fuzzy memberships is discussed and investigated. Using the influential parameters and optimized sewing conditions (suitable adjusted regulations of each input) such as thread composition, needle size and fabric weight, the results show that sigmoid membership gives better fitting of experimental results. Compared with the experimental consumptions, theoretical findings of the jean pant can be predicted in the desired field of interest. The results also indicate that the pant consumed thread remains influenced especially by the thread properties and the needle size as well. Compared with regression model, the fuzzy model gives a more accurate prediction and provides widely the amount of sewing thread than the regression model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students in apparel programmes today are denizens of a world of computers, social media, and popular culture manifestations such as Project Runway. They have a different focus and different expectations and skills than students from previous generations. Current textbooks and teaching methods for apparel patternmaking were developed by and for these previous generations, and are rooted in the era of home economics. As educators we need to rethink how we introduce students to creative technical apparel design. The methods discussed here were developed over the last 30 years and evolved based on frequent student feedback. Teaching methods that resonate best with current students emphasise the conceptual, visual, and practical; they focus on the creative process and individual development. Exercises are important, but only to introduce basic concepts. Assignments quickly shift to individual creative projects. Technology skills are increasingly important, but the teacher's role is to guide and assess the learning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the complex positioning of Jeanne-Justine Fouqueau de Pussy (J.J.), editor-in-chief and columnist for the long-running Journal des Demoiselles (1833-96), vis-à-vis the dominant ideology of the feminine in nineteenth-century France. From 1833 to her retirement in 1853, J.J., a self-supporting and mature divorcée living alone, presented herself as a jeune fille who lived at home with her parents and corresponded about the latest fashions and trends with an anonymous and imaginary reader. This article argues that, in spite of the journal's markedly conservative tenor as a vehicle for promoting respectable femininity and its explicit aim to prepare young girls for bourgeois marriage, the columns of its principal spokeswoman can be read as the expression of an alternative agenda centred in female sociability and autonomy. Analysing fashion plates and sewing patterns alongside sample columns from the twenty-year span of J.J.'s 'Correspondance', the article traces the idea of literal and figurative 'reflectivity' to investigate J.J.'s mixing of surface and subtextual messages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article demonstrates how one woman's identity changed as she was empowered through her participation in a sewing cooperative community of practice. A community of practice framework allows examination of participation in ongoing negotiated interactions in which people construct expert and novice identities as they work together. Identity, as we define it here, is not static, but a constantly shifting set of identities, or aspects of identity, that are constructed in ongoing interaction. What this study adds to such an understanding of identity is that particular aspects of identity are also not static but show shifts over time as people negotiate place and gain the social capital associated with skills, expertise, and competencies. In the case of the woman, Diana, considered here, the multiple aspects of identity under negotiation shift as she becomes a more experienced, expert member of the sewing cooperative, and these shifts are illuminated in discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Due to the superior mechanical properties of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) materials, they are vastly used in industries such as aircraft manufacturers. The aircraft manufacturers are switching metal to composite structures while studying reliability (R-value) of CFRP. In this study, a numerical simulation method to determine the reliability of Multiaxial Warp Knitted (MWK) textiles used to make CFRP composites is proposed. This method analyzes the distribution of carbon fiber angle misalignments, from a chosen 0° direction, caused by the sewing process of the textile, and finds the R-value, a value between 0 and 1. The application of this method is demonstrated by an illustrative example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, polyurethane (PU) and polyurethane/silicone (PU/silicone) coated fabrics were manufactured and the effects of coating parameters such as coating material, coating technique, and production parameters on sewing performance of the coated fabrics were investigated. During manufacturing processes, one fabric sample having cotton as raw material and having plain weave was used as the base fabric. The base fabric was coated with two coating materials as PU and PU/silicone by two coating techniques such as rotary screen coating and blade coating with systematically changing production parameters (screen pressure and contact angle). Therefore, twelve coated fabric samples having different technical specifications were produced. Due to the limited number of studies in related literature, sewing performance of the coated fabrics was investigated by the tensile properties of the unsewn and the sewn fabrics and also the seam efficiency values were compared. Variance analyses were used to determine and evaluate the effects of coating parameters on seam performance of the coated fabrics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article¹ traces the transformation of handicrafts (shugei) in modern Japan, from a concept which referred generally to manual skills to an exclusively female sphere of activity that incorporated sewing, weaving, sericulture, and cooking. The first part of the article sets the stage by discussing the role of education in the gendering of handicrafts and by defining the sphere of handicrafts during the Meiji period through a detailed analysis of a handful of similar concepts which circulated at the time. In the second part, the article turns to the ways in which the new concept of handicrafts was disseminated through the medium of textbooks and popular magazines. The examination of these media suggests that handicraft-making was conceptualized and explained as a type of activity that offered comfort and cultivated feminine virtues, while also preparing women for their future role as mothers. Furthermore, handicrafts acted as a sort of safety valve for the labor market, offering women the possibility of supporting themselves in times of need and supplying cheap labor in times of war, when there was a shortage of male labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experimental study was carried out to determine the effects of the selected sewing parameters in denim fabric on seam strength, and the results were analyzed statistically and graphically. Subsequently, a regression analysis was performed on data obtained in the experiments in order to create equipments to predict weft and warp seam strengths before production and consequently equipments with high validity were obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]