Stretch mesh fabric overview
Hello, dear students.
Today we shall discuss the quality
of different types of stretch mesh fabrics
which the market offers us at the moment.
There is a number of characteristics of mesh fabric
you can define already during purchase.
It is especially important for the production of high quality expensive garments,
the fabric will also be of a high quality.
It provides durability of a garment,
comfortable and perfect fit during its use,
and leotards remain in great condition for several seasons.
So there are some characteristics
you need to consider during purchase.
Some properties can only be detected during the use of a garment.
Now let us see what
we need to have a look at during purchase.
I have a sample in my hand.
This stretch mesh is of high quality.
We buy it from our supplier «Chersasport».
In our workshop we work just with this mesh.
So what should we remember while shopping?
When we find a fabric,
we should pay attention to the colour.
This one has a middle colour.
It matches nicely a slightly tanned skin tone.
This is how I check the colour in a shop.
I place it on my forearm
and compare how good it matches the skin tone.
Our supplier has a lighter colour as well,
and a darker version.
You will find all product codes,
attached to this video.
There is a listing of colours and meshes.
The next step is to check
the consistency of a fabric.
There are relatively big hole loose meshes
I don't have them in our workshop.
i just don't buy them.
They are very soft and loose
with uneven weave texture.
That type of mesh often gets snags,
and starts pilling in a while.
It is better not to buy that type of mesh.
As a garment, even if sewn nicely,
will have a cheap and not neat look
because of this mesh.
There are more dense tight meshes.
This one is very thing, with light weave.
This one is more dense
with bigger holes.
The quality of these meshes doesn't differ much.
They are both of a good quality.
It depends on preferences.
Some like light thin mesh,
others prefer more dense mesh.
In my opinion, a mesh with higher density, of course,
would be a bit stronger that the thin one.
But unfortunately I cannot give you a proper overview of a dense mesh
as we don't buy it very often,
Most of the time we use the thin one.
One more important point
to keep in mind while shopping
is the stretchability of a fabric.
Ideally, we measure fabric stretchability and its factor of stretchability
with a ruler at the table.
Here I use a cutting grid mat as a ruler
with 1 cm markings.
I cut out samples with exact dimensions of 10 x 10 cm.
As you can see it fits into the square divisions on the mat.
Now we shall try to maximally stretch it
lengthwise and then crosswise.
But first, we need to understand
what the lengthwise and crosswise is.
On our two samples we can see
the lengthwise grain (warp)
and the crosswise grain (weft).
Here is lengthwise, and this is crosswise grains.
I hope the quality of the video allows you to see the direction of strains.
On this sample we see the direction of the warp
and the weft.
You can always easily find it on a fabric.
Now we are coming to measuring the stretchability.
We shall be filling in a chart during measurements.
There is a prepared chart for you to download.
You can find it in the instruction to this video.
Here I will write in that this is mesh,
product code 0719 - it is a thin one.
Colour 232
the size is
10 cm lengthwise.
Now I take the sample lengthwise.
I hold my hand
so that the edge of the fabric is placed at the beginning of the measurement.
And stretch the fabric to its fullest
and measure it.
As we can see it is 23cm.
Accordingly, I am writing in 23 cm.
We do the same crosswise.
I write in that it is a weft.
The initial size is 10 cm.
I hold my hand at the beginning of the measurement
and maximally stretch it.
it is 15 cm,
so I write in 15 cm.
We shall make the same measurements for the rest of the samples.
We got them from different suppliers.
Unfortunately most suppliers do not specify manufacturers.
So in any case we rely on what they say.
Even if they present a certificate,
we cannot be 100 % certain the certificate is for this particular product.
Let's take another sample.
Our supplier is a
very reliable one.
Meshes are of good quality.
I take a different type of mesh
which is more dense.
The product code is 6287.
The colour is the same 232.
The same as before, I place the sample and stretch to its fullest extent.
It stretches to 25cm.
So the initial measurement is 10 cm
and stretched to 25cm.
The same crosswise.
10 cm to begin with
and 16 stretched.
According to textbooks on technology of sewing,
a fabric should be slightly stretched
without causing deformation.
We are in a slightly different situation.
We are interested in the ultimate stretching,
thus we stretch to the fullest extent.
Now we take this mesh from a shop Asta.
It is a very thin mesh,
it has a light shine to it, of a light tan colour.
This mesh was good up until recently.
Unfortunately, it has one drawback,
which I mention a bit later.
but in general it is good.
I like it and if, for example, I cannot buy the mesh I am used to
the one I buy from my supplier,
I most likely buy this one.
Place the sample lengthwise
and maximally stretch it.
10 and 25.
Crosswise.
10 and 18.
Now we examine a mesh from a supplier «Roxy».
This is the sample.
Stretch it lengthwise.
Now crosswise.
The manufacturer of this mesh is Krisan.
crosswise 14.
To my regret, I don't know a supplier for this sample.
Rita Mamun asked our workshop
to cut off non-decorated sleeve from the red leotard «We will rock you»
This leotard was made in Rita Demidova's workshop
It is a wonderful workshop, but I am not sure where they supply it.
Let's have a look at the quality of this sample.
Crosswise
And the last sample
of an unknown origin, let's say.
It was purchased in one of Moscow shops.
There was a period
it was impossible to find any mesh,
and we had to take whatever we could find, at least trying to match a colour.
As we can see the colour is more or less ok ,
But we can notice one very interesting peculiarity.
Let us see its stretchability lengthwise.
and crosswise.
As we can see the stretching capacity lengthwise is less
than crosswise.
It also happens.
And in this case we have to cut a leotard
the other way round.
Usually, we cut a leotard's back and front
lengthwise, and a sleeve crosswise.
But in this case we have to cut everything in a different direction.
Here we have our measurements.
Now we shall try to calculate a coefficient.
Coefficient, if calculated correctly,
Will be the initial measurement
divided by the measurement of a fully stretch mesh.
Now we shall calculate it correctly, and after, a different way,
which is more convenient and not as confusing.
Therefore, we calculate the coefficient of stretchability correctly.
But the thing is,
when we calculate the right way,
firstly, it is hard to do that for a person without using a calculator.
secondly, those numbers are hard to work with.
it is much easier to divide the second measurement of stretched mesh
by the initial,
for example, 23 divided by 10 is 2.3.
or 15 divided by 10 is 1.5 etc.
This measurement is more illustrative.
I clearly understand, my fabric has a stretchability of 2.3 times
and here 1.5 times.
It is much more clear.
I don't understand why coefficient
is calculated another way.
In our workshop we calculate the coefficient the convenient way.
Why do we need the coefficient?
Simply to understand which mesh is worth buying, and which one is not.
I shall fill in the chart with coefficients and we shall see.
For a leotard to last a long time for a growing girl,
the coefficient of the mesh cannot be less than 2.
The crosswise stretching shouldn't worry us much,
as it solely important for
when a gymnast puts a leotard on.
The lengthwise stretching is highly important,
as it directly has an impact on
how comfortably a girl can move.
Let's say in bridge stand, walkovers.
A leotard undergoes maximum deformation
lengthwise in bridge stand,
when a girl does backbend and holds her ankles.
If mesh is not stretching well,
it will be impossible to do so.
For instance, we shall take the last sample,
which has a stretchability of 15cm lengthwise,
its coefficient is 1.5.
In this leotard a girl will be practically unable to make bridge stand.
It will not allow her to move freely.
The leotard will not be able to stretch enough.
We had to use that kind of mesh,
but cut pieces crosswise.
Its stretchability is 1.8 crosswise.
Out of all the meshes we have looked at,
I would choose those, which have lengthwise stretchability of more than 2.
This is a mesh from our supplier Chersasport,
Asta's mesh
and the one from Krisan.
These were the characteristics
which we should consider while shopping.
But there are characteristics,
which we can see only during the use of a garment.
As we work with synthetic fabrics
all our meshes we have reviewed so far
are synthetic fabrics with spandex.
If we work with natural fabrics,
we would be forced to preshrink it
every single time before making a garment.
What is the preshrinking treatment?
It is a heat treatment of a fabric, using steam or boiling water.
You can soak a fabric in boiling water and then steam iron it.
Usually synthetic fabrics don't undergo preshrinking treatment.
There is no need for that as they don't shrink and change their dimensions/ geometry
undergoing a heat treatment.
But unfortunately, as our experience shows,
not all synthetic fabrics behave the same.
Here I have sample of a mesh, which was bought some time ago from our supplier Roxy.
I cut this sample from a new roll with exact dimensions of 10 x 10 .
I have two more samples here, of the same mesh,
which underwent different heat treatment.
this sample was cut to the same size of 10 by 10.
and was steam ironed twice
with the temperature of 120 degrees.
as you can see, its geometry has changed a lot.
There is a 5 % shrinkage.
And this is not the limit of how this material can shrink.
With a different heat treatment, shrinkage raises
up to 10 % lengthwise.
What does that mean?
If we don't preshrink the fabric,
after sewing a garment, we start decorating it with hot-fix rhinestones.
During the decoration process the garment will have a shrinkage of 10%.
The length of a leotard is usually 60 cm,
it is its final length
will get shorter by 6 cm, from what we needed.
It is not even 1 size down, more than 1 size.
Therefore, you will fit a leotard, and then decorate it,
a girl will come to collect it but the leotard will turn out to be too small.
To avoid that,
the mesh will have to be preshrunk.
It would be great,
if that was the only one flaw of that mesh. But no.
This sample is cut to the same size of 10 by 10.
It was not heat treated,
but during lessons,
it was repeatedly stretched lengthwise and crosswise.
As you can see, this changed the mesh dimensions.
It stretched 10 % crosswise
It means, if we sew a leotard from this mesh,
in a while we shall have to take the sides in,
as the attire will stretch.
We have to shorten the sleeves,
as they will become longer.
A 50 cm sleeve will have to be shorten
by 5 cm.
These are serious drawbacks of that mesh.
Fortunetely, other types of mesh don't behave like that during their use.
But there is a number of other drawbacks,
which become apparent only in the process of use.
During a garment use,
armhole is the most common place
where elastane threads tear.
They stretch like this on a fabric.
They stick out like tails, can you see that?
This is not a bad case here.
This leotard has been worn for more than 3 years,
and how does the armhole look like on this leotard?
it is quite acceptable after such a long time of using the leotard.
Sometimes it is much worse,
Sometimes we have to cut off white sticking threads,
as the garment has a very untidy look.
From all the mesh samples, we have just reviewed,
the mesh from our supplier Chersasport is free from this flaws.
I haven't noticed this on the Krisan's mesh.
and to my surprise, the mesh of the unknown origin doesnt have this drawback either.
What are other drawback?
This mesh of the unknown origin
has a peculiarity, which unfortunately,
is hard to see in the video.
The right side is smoother,
whereas the wrong side is rougher.
And by the way, how to identify which side is right and which one is wrong?
The mesh will always curl to the wrong side with stretching or contracting.
As you can see, the edges are curled out to the wrong side.
A good quality mesh will almost never curl,
a low quality one will curl more.
A mesh with the smooth right side,
and rough wrong side, have another peculiarity.
The smooth side will not hold rhinestones.
We tried to glue rhinestones, using different techniques,
but, to our regret, they fell off.
Thus we had to use the wrong side as the right side,
as the wrong side at least somehow holds rhinestones.
There can be other surprises, as this mesh is impregnated with
some sort of antiperspirant, anti dust spray
which allegedly protects fabric from getting dirty.
I would say, that is all I wanted to cover in this lesson.
But there is one more thing
I need to mention about the preshrinking.
From a bad experience with that mesh, we started to preshrink
Chestasport mesh at some point,
A high heat treatment showed 5% shrinkage lengthwise,
whereas crosswise it stayed ok.
But the thing is, the shrinkage appeared straight after the heat treatment,
but later on, in the process of working with a garment
the mesh returned back to its size. It recovered its geometry.
It is like jeans which have been washed.
Straight after wash they are tight,
but later on they stretch, coming back to their original size.
That is what happened with this mesh.
That is why this mesh should not be preshrunk,
otherwise a leotard will turn out to be far too big.
You should remember though whatever we discussed here,
regarding the mesh samples, applies only to these particular samples.
As our experience shows, even if we buy a mesh from the same supplier,
and the supplier buys a mesh from the same manufacturer,
it doesn't mean that the quality
of the mesh will stay the same.
For example, that happened with the mesh from Asta.
For some time it was of an excellent quality.
No elastane threads sticking out.
You almost couldn't kill it.
Even now I get leotards which were made 5 years ago,
sometimes even 6 years ago, and were sewn from this mesh.
They still have pristine unused look,
even after being with few owners.
The mesh was as new as it was few years back.
For some time that type of mesh disappeared from this shop,
and then came back.
You can see the manufacturer is the same,
as its structure has not changed,
the look is the same
so is the colour range.
But the mesh does show threads
even after couple of competitions.
And on the other hand.
It is not guaranteed that the supplier will buy mesh
from the same manufacturer.
After discovering some faults in fabric,
they can change a manufacturer,
or let the manufacturer know about the faults
so they can work on the quality improvement.
SO I hope all suppliers will sell the best quality meshes,
and the quality will keep improving, not get worse.
After this lesson I recommend you to calculate stretch coefficient
of the mesh you use in your sewing.
Also I would recommend
not to change suppliers too often.
The thing is, the coefficinet will affect
how much we need to add or take in from the original construction.
You should find a mesh which you can purchase all the time
and do the necessary calculations for this mesh
and work only with it.
Changing the mesh, you will have to
readjust your construction to a new one.
This is the end of the lesson.
For more infomation >> 12/23/18 12:12 PM (1100 W Moore St, Richmond, VA 23220, USA) - Duration: 5:01. 
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