International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology

Purpose – Drape is a property that affects the aesthetic appeal and functionality of materials used for clothing manufacture. When various cut components of apparel are assembled together, the drape behavior of the final garment could be affected compared to the base fabric. Goat suede leathers are widely used for making apparels. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of sewing on the drape characteristics of goat suede leather.

Design/methodology/approach – For this study commercially available goat suede leathers of Indian origin from five different firms were used. The bending length, drape coefficient and number of nodes were measured for goat suede leathers with different stitch and seam values and compared with the same measurements taken in plain leather. For bending length measurement, plain, single stitched and seamed samples were prepared. For drape coefficient measurement, plain, radially stitched and seamed namely half circle and quarter circle samples were prepared.

Findings – The introduction of seam (0.5 and 1?cm allowance) on the goat suede leathers increases the bending length significantly thereby reducing the drape ability but the influence of single stitch on the bending length is negligible. On contrary, there is a significant increase in drape coefficient values for simple radial stitched as well as for seamed samples. The number of nodes generated reduced marginally upon the introduction of stitch or seam.

Originality/value – The paper provides the information on the effect of sewing on the drape characteristics of goat suede apparel leathers. This is the first of its kind study on leather as clothing material.