Knitted Fabric Garments Industry Impact and its Growth

What is Knitted Fabric;

Knitted fabric is a textile that results from knitting, the process of inter-looping of yarns or inter-meshing of loops. Knitted fabric types are made from one or more long interconnecting and looping yarns, much like if we were to knit traditionally with knitting needles and a ball of yarn. This makes Knit fabrics a stretchy type of fabric, used mostly for casual wear clothing, but with plenty of other uses too.

Features of Knitted Fabrics:

Extensibility:                                                                                                                                                                        

 Knitted fabrics (more specifically, weft knits) are highly extensible with incomplete elastic recovery. This semi-permanent deformation left after the partial recovery can be almost removed by agitation, as in washing and tumble drying. This characteristic makes the fabric more comfortable when body movements are made, and it provides better freedom to the wearer. However, the extensibility of knitted fabric is also responsible for creating problems in cutting and sewing the garments. The semi-permanent deformation may generate bagging at knees and elbows.

Crease and tear resistant:

The knitted fabrics are highly crease resistant. This is due to the loop arrangement of such fabrics. When bent or folded, the loops act as reversible hinges at the edges. High tear resistance of knitted fabrics is due to the fact that the loops distribute the stress throughout the entire fabric, being extensible.

Limpness: 

It is the opposite of stiffness. Both the warp and the weft knits have low bending length, which is reflected in their typically soft drape.

Softness: 

The feel of the fabric is related to its stiffness or flexural rigidity of the material. As the knits have lower flexural rigidity than the wovens of the same weight, they have a softer feel.

Fullness: 

The fullness or hand of the knitted fabric is dependent on the bending modulus of knitted structure. Bending modulus is directly related to the flexural rigidity and inversely to the cube of thickness of the fabric. Since the weft knits have low flexural rigidity and high thickness, they are fuller than wovens or even warp knits. In addition, the low twist of the yarns also contributes to softness and fullness of the knitted fabrics.

Air permeability: 

Knitted fabrics are several times more air permeable than the woven fabrics. This attribute is due to the fact that the structure in itself is composed of much airspace generated due to the interlacement of loops. This property is a useful quality for underwear, whereby the garment next to the skin can breathe.

Types of Knitted Fabric;

Weft knitting;

Weft knitting is a method of fabric formation in which the loops are made in a horizontal way from a single yarn and each consecutive rows of loop build upon the prior loops consecutively. The intermeshing of loops can take place both in a circular or flat form on a course-wise basis. The fabric formed is very elastic, comfortable and warm to wear. Properties can be varied depending on the types of yarn used. The curls along the course and wales direction are due to the fabric structure and the knit density.

Warp knitting;

Warp knitting is a method of fabric formation in which the loops are made in a vertical way along the length of the fabric from each warp yarns. Thus, there will be a needle for each yarn. The knitted stitches in warp knit fabrics have a crisscross diagonal appearance which feels smoother than weft knits. It shows less elasticity than weft knitting. It becomes favourable over weft in properties like soft and drapey, higher density, warm to wear. Through this process many different types of yarn can be processed like combed, staple, carded and filament which is not possible with weft knitting.

Conclusion;

Knitting is fabric formation technique in which the yarn is bent into loops and those loops are interconnected to form fabric. Knitting can be defined in simple words as the interloping of yarn. The bending of yarn provides better stretchability, extensibility, comfort and shape retention properties. However they tend to be less durable than the woven fabric. The manufacturing process of knit fabric is easier than woven fabric. So cost of knit fabric manufacturing is cheaper than woven fabric.