AU730605B3 - A sewing method (1) - Google Patents

Description

S:\USERS\ROBIKR\2195241_PP.doc 1 A Sewing Method (1) Field of the invention The present invention relates to a sewing method.

Background of the invention In the manufacture of garments, pieces of material of different shaped cloth are sewn together to form a clothing article. At the juncture where the pieces of cloth are joined together, it is common for the a portion of the joined material that is overlapping to extend outwardly from the planar surface of the material and hence, the garment will be worn so that the outside of the garment shows the side in which the material does not extend or 'jut' outwardly from the surface. In this situation, the garment is not a reversible garment as the extension of overlapping material of the stitching looks aesthetically displeasing.

Currently in reversible garments, such as reversible jackets, an inner lining is inserted to cover the inner side of the jacket and consequently cover the part of the overlapping part of the jacket material that extends outwardly from the surface. Additionally, the edges of the material where the two parts join may be exposed and this can be unsightly.

To overcome this problem, an additional inner lining to the garment jacket is required to cover the edges and this results in more work having to be performed on behalf of the garment manufacturer, which also increases the material cost of manufacture.

The applicant does not concede that the prior art discussed in this specification forms part of the common general knowledge in the art at the priority date of this application.

Summary of the invention It is an object of the invention to provide an improved method to affix two materials together and preferably an advantageous sewing method.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a sewing method for joining two sheets of fabric or fabric-like material together, said method comprising the steps of: forming a fold along an edge of a first sheet of said material; S:\USERS\ROBIKR\2195241 PP.doc 2 positioning an edge of a second sheet of material substantially parallel and substantially abutting said edge of said first sheet of material; sewing a first seam to fix a second sheet of material to said first sheet of material; folding said fold substantially parallel to said edge of said first sheet of material over said first seam; folding either said first sheet of material or said second sheet of material back, so that the two sheets extend laterally to opposite sides of said fold; and sewing a second seam through said fold and through the sheet underlying said fold to thereby hold the fold coplanar with the first and second sheets.

The first and second fabric material may comprise animal leather or said fabric-like material may be made of imitation leather.

Optionally, step further comprises the step of: adhering together the opposing faces of said fold.

In the description and claims of this specification the word "comprise" and variations of that word, such as "comprises" and "comprising" are not intended to exclude other features, additives, components, integers or steps but rather, unless otherwise stated explicitly, the scope of these words should be construed broadly such that they have an inclusive meaning rather than an exclusive one.

In the description and claims of this specification the term "fabric-like material" is to be interpreted broadly and will include within its scope materials such as leather and imitation leather.

Brief description of the drawings Notwithstanding any other forms which may fall within the scope of the present invention, preferred forms of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of a first material sheet; S:\USERS\ROBIKR\1 95241_PP.doc 3 Fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of a second material sheet joined to the first material sheet of Fig. 1 by a first seam; Fig. 3 is another schematic illustration of the first sheet of material of Fig. 1 and the second sheet of material of Fig.2 joined together; Fig. 4 is another schematic illustration of the joined two sheets shown in Fig.3; and Fig. 5 is a schematic illustration of the rear face of the joined two sheet shown in Fig. 4 with a second seam.

Fig. 6 to Fig. 8 illustrate another method of sewing two sheets of material together; Detailed description of the embodiments A preferred embodiment provides a sewing method for joining two sheets of leather together. The method includes the steps of forming a fold along an edge of a first sheet of leather; positioning an edge of a second sheet of leather substantially parallel and substantially abutting the edge of said first sheet of leather; sewing a first seam to fix a second sheet of leather to the first sheet of leather; folding the fold substantially parallel to the edge of the first sheet of leather over the first seam; folding either the first sheet of leather or the second sheet of leather back, so that the two sheets extend laterally to opposite sides of the fold; and sewing a second seam through the fold and through the sheet underlying the fold to thereby hold the fold coplanar with the first or second sheet.

The sewing method allows leather material to be sewn to form a garment in which either the suede side or the polished leather side of the material can be worn as a garment. The juncture along the region where the material joins doesn't extend outwardly or 'jut-out' out from the surface of the material. The edges of the garment are covered up by the fold and provide a garment which is aesthetically pleasing and therefore may be worn on the leather side or suede side.

Referring now to Fig. 1 there is illustrated a first sheet of leather material 10 having an edge 12. In this embodiment, the material 10 is being used to manufacture a leather and suede reversible jacket. This view shows suede side 11 of the material 10 and the opposite side is polished leather 18 (not shown).

S:\USERS\ROBIKR2195253_PP.doc 4 The edge 12 of the leather material 10 is folded to thereby form fold 13. Prior to forming fold 13, a strip of glue is applied adjacent to the length of distal edge 12 so that the fold 13 is held in place. The fold 13 width is about 5 mm from the distal edge 12 of the material to the crest of the fold. It will be appreciated that in other embodiments, the fold width is chosen by the garment manufacturer according to the particular garment requirements, but typically the fold width will extend from 5mm to 20mm when the method is applied to an article of clothing.

Referring now to Fig.2, there is shown a second sheet of leather material 16 having a polished leather surface 19. As in the first leather material 10, the opposite face of the second leather material has a suede surface. The second sheet of leather 16 has an end 20 which is placed parallel to and thereby abuts the edge 12 of the first piece of material 10 as shown by arrow 21.

Referring now to Fig. 3, the material pieces 10 and 16 are held in this position whilst a thread is sewn through the two pieces of material to create a seam 22 (as shown by thread line) and edges 12, 20 and fold 13 are intermediate the seam 22 which extends through the leather material 10 and 16.

Once the material 10 and 16 is joined together as shown in Fig. 3, the leather material is then separated from leather material 16 by moving leather material 10 in the direction of arrow 23 so that the material pieces 10 and 16 extend laterally away from fold 13 and seam 22, as shown in Fig. 4.

Referring now to Fig. 4, in order to complete the sewing operation, the fold 13 is again folded by an operator manufacturing the garment, by bending or folding the fold 13 in the direction of arrows 25 so that the fold 13, lies flush against the polished leather surface 19 of leather material 16. Usually, the operator holds down the fold 13 with their hands so as to hide the distal edges 12, 20 from view. Referring to Fig. 5, the operator then sews a second thread 24 through the leather material 10, 16 to thereby permanently cover the edges 20, 12.

To the person viewing a garment having the fold 13, only one thread can be seen sam 22) from the suede side of the joined material, whilst two threads 22, 24 are seen on the ed leather side as shown in Fig S:\USERS\ROBIKR\2195241 PP.doc It will be appreciated that the material used to create a jacket by stitching leather garments in this way allows either the suede jacket or the polished leather side of the jacket to be worn by a wearer because the edges 12 and 20 are completely covered by the fold 13. The single stitch line 22 of the suede or the double stitch line 22, 24 of the polished leather provides an aesthetically pleasing look as no distal edges jut out from the surface of the material.

Furthermore, the stitched lines 22, 24 can be spaced quite closely together as required by the tailor so that they give the appearance of a single thread when viewed from a distance.

This sewing method allows a reversible garment to be worn without having to stitch in a separate inner lining on the garment. Hence, only one sheet of material is necessary and this saves the manufacturer of the garment time and material costs. Furthermore, the wearer gets the added advantage of having a suede jacket and a polished leather jacket in the one article of clothing.

In other embodiments, the material may have a polished leather or suede side and either a wool, fur or imitation fur side. In this case, prior to the step of joining the two materials together, a portion of the fur may be removed from material adjacent to a distal edge of the a first sheet of material by removing the fur or wool with a razor. This prevents the fur from sticking out of the overlapping material. A garment created using this method, such as sheep skin, results in the sheepskin able to be worn so that the wool is on the outside side of the jacket or alternatively so that the skin is on the outside thereby providing a reversible article as described above.

Additionally, another method disclosed herein relates to a method to sew animal skin, in which a material such as sheep skin may be joined. One face of sheepskin comprises the animal hide surface while the other surface comprises sheep wool.

Referring now to Fig.6, there is illustrated a first sheet of leather material 10' having an edge 12'. In this embodiment, the material 10' is being used to manufacture a leather and sheep wool reversible jacket. This view shows sheep wool side 11' of the material 10' and the opposite side is polished leather 18' (not shown).

S:\USERS\ROBIKR2195253_PP.doc 6 The edge 12' of the leather material 10' is folded to thereby form fold 13'. Prior to forming fold 13', a strip of glue is applied adjacent to the length of distal edge 12' so that the fold 13' is held in place.

The fold 13' width is about 5 mm from the distal edge 12' of the material to the crest of the fold. It will be appreciated that in other embodiments, the fold width is chosen by the garment manufacturer according to the particular garment requirements, but typically the fold width will extend from 5mm to 20mm when the method is applied to an article of clothing.

Referring now to Fig.7, there is shown a second sheet of leather material 16' having a polished leather surface 19'. As in the first leather material 10', the opposite face of the second leather material has a wool surface. The second sheet of leather 16' has an end 20' which overlaps part of the fold 13' and as shown in Fig. 7, a first seam 22', is sewn parallel to the edge to thereby join the material 10' and material 16' together. This results in a strip of sheep's wool jutting out between the fold 13' and the seam 22', as shown by arrow This results in a strip of wool (refer to arrow A) being visible from the polished leather surface 18' and 19'.

Once the material 10' and 16' is joined together as shown in Fig. 7, the leather material is then separated from leather material 16' by moving leather material 10' and leather material 16' away from each other so that the material pieces 10' and 16' extend laterally away from fold 13', wool strip A and seam 22', as shown in Fig. 8.

Referring now to Fig. 8, in order to complete the sewing operation, the fold 13' is again folded by an operator manufacturing the garment, by bending or folding the fold 13' in the direction of arrow 25' so that the fold 13', lies flush against the strip of wool A of leather material 16'. Usually, the operator holds down the fold 13' with their hands so as to hide the edges 12', 20' from view. The operator then sews a second thread 24' through the leather material 10', 16' at the fold 13', to thereby permanently cover the edges 20', 12'.

To the person viewing a garment having the fold 13', no threads can be seen from the wool side of the joined material, whilst on the polished leather side 18', 19', two threads 22', 24' and the strip of wool A are shown. This strip of wool A provides a unique effect when the arment is created by using the described method because a 'line of wool' is seen extending \pgp ugh the garment at the point where leather pieces of material are sewn together.

I- U- Li)U- S:\USERS\ROBIKR\2195241_PP.doc 7 It will be appreciated that the material used to create a jacket by stitching leather garments in this way allows either the wool jacket or the polished leather side of the jacket to be worn by a wearer. On the wool side of the material, the joins can not be seen and therefore smaller pieces of material can be used to create a single garment. This method provides the advantage of providing the effect of the wool appearing to be continuous as the joint between the two skins is not noticeable. This provides the advantage of allowing smaller pieces of material to be used in the manufacture of a garment to create an overall single piece look.

Furthermore, this reduced wastage of the sheep skin as smaller pieces can be used.

Furthermore, it will be appreciated that the fold 13' described above may be held in place by not only gluing but stapling the material together, using sticky tape or by ironing the material to create the fold.

It would be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the present invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are therefore, to be considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims (3)

1. A sewing method for joining two sheets of fabric or fabric-like material together, said method comprising the steps of: forming a fold along an edge of a first sheet of said material; positioning an edge of a second sheet of material substantially parallel and substantially abutting said edge of said first sheet of material; sewing a first seam to fix a second sheet of material to said first sheet of material; folding said fold substantially parallel to said edge of said first sheet of material over said first seam; folding either said first sheet of material or said second sheet of material back, so that the two sheets extend laterally to opposite sides of said fold; and sewing a second seam through said fold and through the sheet underlying said fold to thereby hold the fold coplanar with the first and second sheets.

2. A sewing method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first and second fabric material comprises animal leather or said fabric-like material is made of imitation leather.

3. A sewing method as claimed in claim 2, wherein step further comprises the step of: adhering together the opposing faces of said fold. Dated this 18th day of October 2000 CHANG JAE HAN by his attorneys Freehills Carter Smith Beadle