FABRIC PRINTING:
Finishing
on a High Note
Cutting, sewing, welding, and more– when fi nishing fabrics, it all comes
down to what you’re producing.
By Richard Romano
In this fourth installment of our “Fabric Expert” series, we
look at fabric fi nishing. Just as paper, board, and similar
materials can be fi nished in a variety of ways – cut, mounted,
grommeted, laminated, etc. – so, too, are there several
ways in which printed textiles can be fi nished.
It’s important to note up front that, as with any kind of
fi nishing process, the equipment and skills you need will
typically be a function of the kinds of textile products that you
are printing, whether that be signage or apparel.
Sewing is a common fabric
fi nishing technique, which,
depending upon the size of the
enterprise, can range from a single
seamstress and a small-capacity
machine, up to industrial-scale
sewing systems.
Now that’s a knife
Th e fi rst and most obvious fi nishing process is cutting. Cutting
printed textiles is not remarkably diff erent from cutting paper
– it can be done by hand, with machines, or on cutting tables
such as those by Esko or Zund. Th ere are, however, some
special considerations.
Th e most basic cutting tool is scissors, and the step up from
that is a rotary blade, a small, handheld electric cutter with
a circular or octagonal blade. “Th is is used for cutting one or
several layers at once,” says Tommy Martin, product manager,
textile & apparel business development and marketing,
PrintingNewscom June 2017 Wide-Format & Signage 21