Seam Characteristics of Breathable Waterproof Fabrics with Various Finishing Methods

We evaluated the seam characteristics with finishing, seaming and sealing processes and seam Puckering behavior of the breathable waterproof fabrics with laser scan. There were differences in 99% significant level between the seamed fabric and the sealed fabric. Seam breakage was initiated with the breakage of sewing thread, so the seam strength after seaming was almost uniform. The sewn seam strength and elongation increased with sealing process in all finishing methods. Pucker grade of laminating type was generally much higher than that of the coating type. We confirmed that wave length and amplitude have more important meaning than the number of weave in the breathable waterproof fabrics. The puckering in breathable waterproof fabrics is mainly occurred by inherent and feeding pucker. The former if due to the insertion of sewing thread and the littler is caused by differential feeding when two pieces of fabric are fed into the gap between a press foot and needle plate.