Visit to Smedley’s hosiery factory at Lea Mills in Derbyshire - Part 2

All component parts of a garment are inspected for faults in the knitting process before they are made in to a whole garment. Approximately 2 % of production may have faults. The knitted panel is stretched on an illuminated table. An ironing type action is done using a clear “flat iron” tool which spreads the material out for inspection. A small fault can be seen In the photo, which is marked with a “sticker” and sent for an “invisible” repair. In the second photo a more obvious fault is being repaired by hand.

Completed garment parts are joined on circular linking machines. The garment piece has to be placed so that every hole is correctly positioned on a needle. There is a row of holes which is slightly larger than the others, which indicates which row should be placed on the needles. You need good eyesight for this work. I was shown the line …… and could not identify it!

In this photo two sets of linking are set up. The sewing machine head stiches the pieces together and cuts off the surplus material very quickly.

Templates for a variety of garments used to define neck lines etc.