Fabric Cutting:
Cutting department is a separate area in a production enterprise where garment components are cut out. Before cutting takes place, textile materials for cutting are stored, counted and inspected, the cutting process is planned, markers to cut components are created and fabric spreads are laid out for cutting. Some components may then be fused with interlinings. All components are then inspected, sorted and bundled for further processing in a sewing line. In this article I will discuss quality control in cutting department in garment industry.
Fabric cutting is a basic and important process in garment manufacturing. Cutting is one of the initial stages in apparel production. Cutting department is responsible for cutting fabrics and feeding the sewing department. Fabric cutting should be done accurately as per exact dimension of the pattern pieces in the marker. If pieces are cut too big, then that could potentially affect the size of other pieces. If a piece that is cut too small then it will be incapable of being fixed. For a perfect sewing of the garment, the cut must be very good. So, quality control in garment cutting room plays a vital role in garments because right measured cutting is required to get the right shape of garments product.
Parts of Quality Control in Cutting Department:
Quality control in cutting department mainly divided into four parts. Those are:
- Marker Inspection
- Spreading Control
- Cutting Quality control
- Piece Goods Inspection
Quality Control in Garment Cutting Department:
Quality control in cutting department plays a vital role in garments because the right measured cutting is required to get the right shape of garments product. A quality control operation is performed after the components are cut and fused. The replacement of faulty components is more convenient at this stage as it does not affect the previously finished cutting process, or the forthcoming sewing process. All the cut components are inspected and the following quality parameters are controlled: fabric quality; check miscut, the conformity of the size and shape of cut components to their pattern pieces; the quality of notches and drill marks. They are described below.
1. Control of fabric quality:
Fabric quality of the cut components is inspected visually. If textile or garment faults arising from the cutting or fusing processes are found, the component is taken out of the bundle and sent to be recut.
2. Check for miscut:
Check for miscut or the failure of the Cutter to split the line. Tolerance is 1/16”. Report all defects for miscuts to Cutting Supervisor.
3. Control of size and shape:
After the manual cutting process, the size of cut components is controlled by comparing the components with their pattern pieces. The dimensions of the cut components may have certain admissible tolerances. These depend on the importance of the dimensions in the garment (smaller tolerances are admissible in the horizontal dimensions of components), all dimensions of a component (the smaller its size, the smaller the admissible tolerances) and the application of the component (larger tolerances are admissible in interlining components). After automated cutting the control of size and shape of components is not performed as the process ensures high cutting precision.
4. Control of notches and drill marks:
After the manual cutting process, the quality of notches and drill marks is inspected. Their placement is compared with the corresponding marks in the pattern pieces. If inaccurately placed notches or drill marks are found during inspection, the components are taken out of the bundles and sent to be recut. After automated cutting the control of notches and drill marks is not performed as the process ensures high cutting precision.
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Editor of Fashion2Apparel. She is a fashion designer and ex-lecturer in Fashion Designing. She wants to spread fashion knowledge throughout the world.
