Seams have a number of ill-effects, but investigation indicates new methods by which shaped seamless woven fabrics can be produced by current technology. Paper presented to the 84th Textile Institute Annual World Conference, Raleigh, March 22-25. Cutting and sewing is the most labour-intensive step in producing shaped products. Several drawbacks are associated with cut and sew that include stress concentration and bulkiness at the seams, needle holes in the fabric, damaged yarns and fabric waste. The consequent adverse effects are high labour cost, premature product failure (industial products), and discomfort for user (apparel). There have been a number of successful attempts to produce seamlessly shaped textile products. However most of these methods have limitations. The current methods have limited production speeds; require specialised equipment; still require a manual processing stage, or produce fabric that has either structural limitations or inappropriate physical properties for a variety of end uses. Recently a thorough literature review covering the current methods of producing seamless woven products has been published by Anderson.
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