Garment Defects:

Garment defects is very important issue for the buyers. Generally defects signify lack of quality.
During apparel manufacturing process various types of defects occur in garments like faulty
zippers, irregular hemming, loose buttons, raw edges, improper button holes, uneven parts,
inappropriate trimming, and difference in fabric colours.

Fig: Various garment defects

Different Types of Defects in Garments:

1. Spirality
2. Shade difference within a same garment
3. Holes
4. Stain
5. Puckered seam
6. Open seams / Broken seams
7. Broken stitches
8. Dropped stitches/Skipped stitches
9. Wavy stitches/Staggered stitches
10. Uncut/ loose thread
11. Sizing defects
12. Poor ironing
13. Seams not aligned at crossing of seams
14. Distorted knitting
15. Broken buttons
16. Defective snaps
17. Defective snaps
18. Exposed notches
19. Exposed raw edges
20. Fabric defects
21. Inoperative zipper
22. Untrimmed thread ends
23. Misaligned buttons and holes
24. Missing buttons
25. Needle cuts / chews
26. Incorrect or mixed sew in labels
27. Incorrect or mixed swing tickets/bar codes
28. Pulled / loose yarn
29. Oil/ dirt mark on surface
30. Unfinished buttonhole
31. Zipper too short

Garment Defects Causes and Remedies

Spirality:
Causes:
 Yarn twist too high.
 Yarn quality is very poor.
 Bad combination between yarn twist & machine rotation direction.
Remedies:
 Control of yarn twist (yarn twist should never be above 700 try/m).
 Reduction of feeder number.
 Appropriate finishing reduces fabric spirality.

Different shades within the same garment:

Seams appear to be lighter or darker than the other seams surrounding it.
 Fig: Shade variation in same garment

Causes:

 It arises due to improper cutting, bundling and numbering.

 Uneven to batch missing shade.
 Different Batch mixing for same garment.
Remedies: 

 After cutting the garment parts must be kept in proper bundle with number.
 One batch fabric shade is used for same garment in every part.
 Shade is marking each part due to fabric cutting.

Hole:
Broken holes in the fabric where you are able to see through the fabric to the other side.
 Fig: Hole in garment

Causes:

 Holes can come from fabric or it could be caused by the production side, either by
improper trimming or broken needle puncturing the fabric.
 Very stiff & dry yarn
 Fluff
 Improper cleaning
Remedies:

 Better inspection of fabric and cut piece.

 Use a fabric fault detector.
 Air humidification
 Use of yarn having lower hairiness.

Stain:
Causes:

 INK, Food and drinks that are spilled on the garment stain. are one of the most common
ways clothing becomes stained.
Remedies:

 Iron should be regularly checked for dirt/impurities and malfunctions

 Lubricant free, Teflon coated thread take up hooks
 Operator cleanliness and discipline
 Organised, clean and well ventilated workplace
 Steam should not be substituted with water

Seam Puckering:
Seam puckering refers to the gathering of a seam either just after sewing or after laundering
causing an unacceptable seam appearance.
 Fig: Seam puckering

Causes:
This problem arises due to uneven stretching on to plies of fabric during sewing , improper
thread tension , wrong sewing thread selection , dimensional instability of the plies of fabric etc.

Remedies:

 Feed dog, eyelets and thread guides should be checked periodically for damages
 Machine feed mechanism must be better quality
 Operator training
 Tension, SPI and presser foot pressure should not be fiddled with much
 UBT/trimmer should be used instead of pulling and breaking thread
 Needle-thread-fabric combination should be well judged
 Sewing thread must be selected properly

Open seam or broken seam:

Portion of the garment that has not been covered by sewing thread.

Fig: Open seam in garment

 Causes:

 This happens due to improper handling of the parts of garments, improper setting and
timing between needle and looper or hook etc.
Remedies:

 Pattern needs to be correct
 Clear markings for stitch line
 Good quality or D-core thread should be used
 Proper setting and timing between needle and looper or hook.
 Worker training
 Threading, SPI and backtack settings should be checked oftenly
 Proper handling of the parts of garments
 Tension should be quantifiable
 Feed dog and hook set timing should be checked periodically

Broken Stitch:
Non-continuous sewing thread.

Fig: Broken stitch in garment

Causes:

 It appears due to improper trimming or machine usage.

Remedies:
 Needle plate, presser foot and feed dog should be checked periodically for damages
 Proper machine usage
 Tension and threading should not be fiddled with much
 Washing parameters should be strictly followed
 Proper trimming
 Good quality or D-core thread should be used
 Needle thread fabric combination should be well judged
 Needle alignment should be right

Drop stitch/Skipped stitch:

Irregular stitching along the seam.

Fig: Drop stitch

Causes:

 It appears due to improper handling of cut pieces or machine usage.

Remedies:

 Examine the setting and timing between needle and hook or looped.
 Placing of needle properly.
 The tension of thread should be adjusted.
 Needle size & thread size must be adjusted.
 The pressure of pressure foot must be adjusted accurately.

Wavy/staggered stitching:
Stitches are not straight.

Causes:
 It appears due to improper handling of cut pieces , faulty feed mechanism , needle
deflection or wrong needle.
Remedies:
 Shrinkage should be taken into account beforehand and suitable thread should be used
 Needle to be changed
 Needle size and thread size should be changed
 Operator training
 Guides should be provided
 Feed mechanism to be changed
 Tension, SPI and presser foot pressure should not be fiddled with much
 Feed dog should be checked periodically

Uncut/ loose thread :

Extra thread or loose thread on seam line.

Fig: Loose thread on seam line

Causes:

 It appears due to improper trimming or finishing.

Remedies: 

 UBT/thread trimmer should be used

 Operator training
 Garments finishing should be checked properly.

Seams not aligned at crossing of seams:

Seams are not lined up at intersection of seams. 
 Fig: Seams not aligned at crossing of seams

 Causes:

 Defects generally come about either from improper handling of the cut piece.
Remedies:

 When these defects starts to appear at close to 2% or 5 pieces, the production must be
informed and the operator must re-trained in the proper usage of the machine.

Distorted knitting:

Fig: Distorted knitting

Causes:

 These defects can be identified by looking at the surface area, they usually appear as
irregular on the fabric.
 Remedies:

 Better inspection of fabric and cut piece. Ensure that fabric and cut pieces that are not
up to standard are not put into line and production is wasted. Replace not standard cut pieces
with usable ones before input.
Sizing defects: Difference in measurement of various parts of garments, wrong placement of
pocket, buttonhole, embroidery and prints, measurement discrepancy- all these problems come
from pattern section.

Poor ironing: If not sufficient, there might be creases and crinkles on garment surface and if
ironing is too heavy, there might be shining mark on garment.