DIGISEW: Anisotropic Stitching for Variable Stretch in Textiles
Abstract - The textile industry touches many aspects of our daily lives, with clothing, furniture, vehicle interiors and covers, as well as a plethora of medical, sports, and leisure-driven specialized products. This research aims to expand the types of fabric properties that are available for design and manufacturing by introducing methods for modifying material stiffness and tensile characteristics. Specifically, this paper introduces a technique to incorporate anisotropic stitching to control direction and strength of a fabric’s stretch through the use of an embroidery machine and computer-driven stitch design and planning. The contributions of this paper include: a method for specifying and controlling direction in stitch planning; a sequential stitch planner that incorporates both density and direction; and ashowcase of results that support the value and uniqueness of this new process of manufacturing for textile artifacts.