Hiroko Yokura and Sachiko Sukigara
For over a century, traditional Japanese cotton crepe fabrics have been popular for men’s underwear in the humid summer. Now, consumer demand is for crepe fabrics that are more…
Abstract
Purpose
For over a century, traditional Japanese cotton crepe fabrics have been popular for men’s underwear in the humid summer. Now, consumer demand is for crepe fabrics that are more attractive, reflecting a shift in use from underwear to women’s dresses. The purpose of this paper is to clarify how the structures of the crepe and its constituent yarns affect the physical properties, handle and silhouette formability of crepe fabrics for dresses.
Design/methodology/approach
Three plain-weave gray fabrics were finished by four different processes to change their crepe structures. The mechanical and surface properties of the fabrics were measured using the Kawabata evaluation system for fabrics. The primary hand values and silhouette formability of the fabrics were calculated using conversion equations based on the physical properties. The handle of the crepe fabrics and the aesthetic appearance of flared collars made of them were assessed by female students using the semantic differential method.
Findings
Comparing the fabrics made from the same gray fabric, the piqué crepe fabrics showed larger Hari (anti-drape) and Shari (crispness) than the others. The subjective hand value of softness was closely related to fabric thickness. The assessors preferred the fine piqué crepe fabrics over the wide piqué fabrics regarding both the tactile feeling of the fabrics and the aesthetic appearance of the flared collars. The attractiveness of the flared collars was dominated by the shear stiffness of the fabrics.
Originality/value
The fine piqué crepe fabric made from fine yarns produced a more preferable handle. The fine piqué fabric made from thicker yarns produced flared collars with silhouettes that are more attractive. This indicates that the fine piqué structure is a positive feature that makes the fabric suitable for various types of dresses.
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Sachiko Sukigara, Hiroko Yokura and Masaka Niwa
Investigates the effects of moisture transfer on the compression properties and the volume change of wool, polyester and cotton futon padding by taking a series of creep…
Abstract
Investigates the effects of moisture transfer on the compression properties and the volume change of wool, polyester and cotton futon padding by taking a series of creep measurements under three relative humidities and obtaining master creep curves from these curves at 20°C, 65 per cent RH. Discovers that the compression phenomena for wool, which absorbed the moisture from a drying state, were different from those obtained from desorption. Reveals that crimpy fibre assembly showed more volume change and better recovery than uncrimpy fibre assembly at high water content. Notes that the fibre crimp is also an important parameter for wool fibre assembly at high water content as well as standard condition.
Sachiko Sukigara, Hiroko Yokura and Masako Niwa
Non‐recovery of wool Futon padding was investigated by compression and creep tests. Simulation tests are also carried out to use the minuter model Futon. Fibre crimp was found to…
Abstract
Non‐recovery of wool Futon padding was investigated by compression and creep tests. Simulation tests are also carried out to use the minuter model Futon. Fibre crimp was found to be an important parameter to be considered in the non‐recovery of Futon. Futon padding which consists of crimpy fibre has large apparent fibre density and shows less reduction of thickness compared with those made from uncrimpy fibres. The moisture inside and outside the Futon has a large influence on the recovery process.
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Sachiko Sukigara and Masako Niwa
Describes an investigation into the sensation of wetness and dampness by both subjective and objective measurements. When fabric has a high water content, the subject felt a…
Abstract
Describes an investigation into the sensation of wetness and dampness by both subjective and objective measurements. When fabric has a high water content, the subject felt a strong feeling of stickiness. This stickiness was evaluated objectively by measurement of the friction between the wet fabric and artificial skin. The speed of moisture transmission measured by the simulation test is one of the parameters used to evaluate the clammy feeling.
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Htet Htet Htike, Jian Kang and Sachiko Sukigara
The traditional Japanese cotton-crepe fabric chijimi has been used for summer clothing for over a century because of its good skin comfort. The high extensibility of this fabric…
Abstract
Purpose
The traditional Japanese cotton-crepe fabric chijimi has been used for summer clothing for over a century because of its good skin comfort. The high extensibility of this fabric relies on the high-twist cotton yarns used in the weft direction. The purpose of this paper is to show the effect of environmental humidity on the extensibility of highly twisted cotton yarns to help in choosing weft yarn suitable for woven fabric.
Design/methodology/approach
Four highly twisted cotton yarns are examined under 10-90 percent RH and in 25°C water. Cyclic tensile tests are performed to obtain the tensile energy, resilience, extensibility at maximum applied load (EM), and residual strain.
Findings
Comparing the same yarn-count samples Y1 and Y2, the EM of Y2 (2,200 T/m) is larger than that of Y1 (1,000 T/m) under all RH conditions, and the difference increases at humidity over 60 percent RH. For fabric crepe samples woven by Y1 (warp) and Y2 (weft), the extensibility (EM-1) in the weft direction is in the range 16-26 percent, which is equivalent to that of outer-knitted fabrics. The extensibility and recovery of chijimi is largely dominated by the twist of weft yarns, which is also influenced by changes in relative humidity.
Originality/value
The skin comfort of Takashima chijimi has been of interest, but the high extensibility of this cotton fabric has not been given much attention. The results of this study show that yarn twist is key to controlling extensibility in high-humidity environments.