Drape behavior of woven fabrics with seams

Drape is a unique property that allows a fabric to be bent in more than one direction with double curvature. For many years, textile researchers studied this attribute in order to evaluate the drape quality and improve the drape appearance of garments. However, fabric drape can be more realistically investigated by considering seams. At present, research in this area is very limited. This paper presents a fundamental drape analysis of seamed fabrics using Cusick's drapemeter. Simple plain and twill woven fabrics with various fiber contents of cotton, linen, silk, wool, and polyester are given radial and circular seams. The effects of seam allowance and seam position are investigated experimentally. Drape behavior is determined and compared in terms of drape coefficient, node analysis, and drape profile. Investigating drape on seamed fabrics can improve apparel design and fabric end-use applications. Moreover, it contributes to garment drape prediction for the clothing CAD system.