GB2245815A - A template for forming a neckline - Google Patents

Abstract

A template (20) for forming blocked necklines of different widths and possibly different depths on a garment comprises a laminar element (21) having opposing edges (28, 29; 31, 32) which define respective portions of a neckline shape to be formed on the front and rear panels of a garment, each shape being symmetrical about a centre line or axis, (34) of the element (21). The element also has indicia (24, 25, 37) indicating at least one position of the element in relation to the shoulder line of the garment, indicia (34) indicating the said axis and a plurality of centre-line-position indicia (35; 36) spaced symmetrically on either side of the axis whereby the element can be placed on a front or rear garment panel with selected indicia (24, 37 or 25) aligned with the shoulder line on the panel to determine the depth of the neckline and with a respective one of the centre-line-position indicia (34, 35 or 34, 36) aligned with the centre line of the garment panel so that one half of the respective front or rear neckline portion can be marked at a time. <IMAGE>

Description

A TEMPLATE FOR FORMING A NECKLINE The present invention relates generally to a template for forming a neckline, and specifically to a template for forming a so-called blocked neckline in a knitted garment, especially a garment knitted on a knitting machine.

The technique for forming a blocked neckline is one which is known per se, and comprises the steps of stitching a desired line in the upper edge of the front and rear panels of a garment, the stitching being formed sufficiently securely to lock the garment stitches together: subsequently the panels are cut close to the so-formed stitch line which, when the front and rear panels are sewn together along the edges, will define a neck opening.

The difficulty encountered in performing this technique is that of accurately locating the required stitch line for the neck, bearing in mind that for a given garment pattern it is necessary to accommodate a wide range of different sizes to which the garment is to be made. For this reason it is not possible simply to provide a single template for defining the outline shape of the neckline. Attempts have been made to utilise templates which correspond to the shape of the portion of the garment panel to be removed, which can be positioned over a panel to.allow the operator to draw around the template, but such templates have not found wide acceptance due to the inability to accommodate changes in size, which include not only differences in the width of the opening, but also differences in the depth of the opening.

According to one aspect of the present invention, therefore, a template for forming a blocked neckline on a knitted or other garment, comprises a body having a curved outline defining at least one edge thereof, the said one edge having associated therewith a plurality of index marks or other indicia comprising first and second datum indicia a first of which relates to an axis of symmetry of the garment and a second of which relates to a predetermined edge of the garment orientated substantially orthogonally of the said axis of symmetry, and a plurality of subsidiary indicia spaced on either side of the first said datum indicator and at least on one side of the second datum indicator.

A template formed according to the principles of the present invention outlined above can be positioned, using the indicia referred to.

In one embodiment of the invention the template body is formed as a flat, rigid, laminar opaque monolithic element with appropriate indicia marked thereon either by printing to form visually perceptible indicia, or by embossment or engraving to form indicia which are discernible not only visually, but also in a tactile manner.

Alternatively, the template body may be made form transparent material, in which case the indicia may be formed as opaque lines or other shaped regions (such as triangles, the apex of which identifies the precise point indicated by the indicium) and, again, these may be simply formed by printing or may be embossed or engraved or otherwise formed in relief on the surface of the template body.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the curved edge defining the neckline for a front panel is formed as bight in one edge of the template, whilst a further curved bight is formed in another edge to define the neckline of a rear panel. Although a template body which is symmetrical about a centre line is preferred, it is within the ambit of the invention claimed to form a template occupying only one half of the region divided by the centre line, that is a template one lateral edge of which defines the centre line.

According to another aspect of the invention a template forming a so-called blocked neckline, comprises a body having means defining a neckline shape, and a plurality of indicia by reference to which the template is positionable in a selected position dependent on the desired size of the neckline. Although it is preferred that the neckline shape be defined by an edge of the template body, this could, alternatively, be defined by a series of holes through which suitable pins or other markers may be introduced to define the outline to be formed.

In an embodiment of the invention defined according to this aspect thereof the indicia may be formed in two sets extending orthogonally of one another whereby both the width and the depth of the neckline may be varied by suitable selection of the indicium for reference against appropriate reference points or lines on the garment panel forming the work piece.

The present invention also comprehends a method of forming a neckline in a knitted garment, comprising the steps of: selecting a template as defined hereinabove from one of a plurality thereof having a desired shape (it being appreciated that a set of templates having different neckline shapes may be provided as a set or kit), positioning the selected template by reference to the said indicia on one side of the garment centre line, marking the line of the said one edge (or other outline-defining means) overlying the garment, repositioning the template by reference to corresponding indicia on the other side of the garment centre line, marking the line of the said one edge overlying the garment in this position, stitching or sewing along the marked line and finally cutting out a portion of the garment to form the neckline.

The method of the invention may further include positioning the template in each positioning step by reference to further indicia defining the depth of the neckline to be formed.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a garment in the course of production prior to the formation of a neckline: Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the garment of Figure 1 after the neckline has been formed: Figure 3 is a face view of a template formed according to the principles of the present invention for use in performing the method of the invention: and Figures 4a, 4b and 4c illustrate steps in the performance of the method utilising the template of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, a knitted garment generally indicated 11 is shown during the course of production.

The knitted garment has a front panel 12 and a rear panel 13, and as is known, the neckline is not stitched, but rather straight upper line is formed by the knitting machine as indicated by the reference line 14. The dotted line 15 identifies the intended or desired line of the neck opening on the front panel 12 and the chain and dot line 16 identifies the approximate shape of the corresponding line on the rear panel. The neckline blocking technique involves marking the front and rear panels 12, 13 with the lines 15, 16 respectively, stitching around these lines and then cutting the surplus part of the panels following the lines of stitching to leave a garment having a neckline opening that illustrated in Figure 2 where the reference numerals 17, 18 are used to identify the stitch lines in the front and rear panels respectively, and the reference numerals 19 identifies the neck opening as a hole.

The neckline opening 19 such as that illustrated in Figure 2 requires to be dimensioned appropriately to suit the dimensions of the garment for the intended wearer, and must vary both in width and in depth. the template illustrated in Figure 3 may be used to achieve this objective.

Referring now to Figure 3 the template is generally indicated with the reference numerals 20 comprises a template body 21 having plane opposite faces (unreferenced) and two opposite parallel lateral rectilinear edges 22, 23 joining orthogonally orientated parallel rectilinear front and rear edges 24, 25 respectively.

The front edge 24 has an arcuately curved bight or recess 26 whilst the rear edge 25 has a similar, but shallower, bight recess 27. The bight recess 26 has a generally Ushape with two arcuately curved limbs 28, 29 and a rectilinear central section 30. Although shallower, the rear bight 27 also has two arcuately curved limbs 31, 32 joined by a longer rectilinear section 33.

In the illustrated embodiment the template 20 is an opaque rigid material and the upper face is marked with printed indicia as will be described above. Alternatively, as briefly referred to hereinabove, the indicia could be formed as opaque lines on a transparent body, or by elements in relief, such as engravings or embossments facilitating tactile as visual perception.

The indicia comprise first a main centre line 34 which bisects the body 21 into two equal identical halves, and which this constitutes the only line of symmetry in the template. On either side of the centre line 34, and associated with the rectilinear central part 30 of the bight or recess 26 are located a plurality of corresponding lines 35 each spaced by an equal amount from the centre line 34. A similar set of lines 36 are positioned on either side of the centre line 34 in association with the rectilinear central portion 35 of the bight recess 27 in the rear edge 25.

Finally, a further set of indicia represented as rectilinear lines lying orthogonally off the lines 34, 35, 36 is marked parallel to the front edge 24 in association with the curved limb 29 of the bight recess 26. These indicia are identified with the reference numeral 37.

The manner in which the template 20 illustrated in Figure 3 may be used to form a blocked neckline of any selected size is illustrated in Figure 4. First, the garment panel 13 is laid out flat on a suitable support surface and the centre line 38 of the garment identified in a suitable manner. The template 20 is then laid over the panel 13 with the rectilinear rear edge 25 overlying the top edge 14 of the panel. The required neckline width is selected by reference to the indicia 36 which, as can be seen in Figure 3, have associated therewith appropriate lettering indicating the width of neckline obtained by utilisation of the indicium in question. This example illustrates the second indicium 36 from the template centre line 34 being positioned in alignment with the garment centre line 38 which, as can be seen by reference to Figure 3, will result in a 178mm or 7" wide neckline opening.The line defined by the bight recess 27, identified in broken outline by the line 39 in Figure 4a is then marked on the garment panel 13 and the template is displaced laterally, without changing its orientation or its position with respect to the upper edge 14 of the panel 13, until the corresponding indicium on the other side of the template centre line 34 is brought into alignment with the garment centre line 38. The second half 40 of the neckline is then marked as illustrated in Figure 4b. The template 20 is then removed and the now-complete neckline can be stitched following the markings made with the aid of the template. Alternatively, of course, suitable hand stitching techniques may be used to stitch the neckline immediately onto the garment with the template in position.

The template may be used in exactly the same way to mark and stitch the neckline for a front panel 12, with the additional possibility of selecting the neckline depth by reference to the indicia 37, a selected one of which is positioned in correspondence with the upper edge of the front panel 12.

Claims (15)

1. A template for use in forming a blocked neckline on a garment panel, comprising a body having means defining at least one portion of a neckline shape and a plurality of indicia by reference to which the template is positionable in selected positions on the garment panel, each position according with a respective size of neckline to be blocked on the panel, the portion of neckline shape including at least the portion extending from an axis of symmetry of the garment panel defining the centre line of the garment to a line defining the shoulder line of the garment.

2. A template as claimed in Claim 1, in which the indicia include at least one set of spaced apart indicia which indicate a first position of the axis of symmetry in relation to the neckline shape corresponding to a maximum width of the neckline and additional positions spaced from the first position and corresponding to respective narrower widths of the neckline.

3. The template as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, in which the indicia include at least one set of spaced apart indicia which indicate a first position of the shoulder line in relation to the neckline shape corresponding to a maximum depth of the neckline and additional positions spaced from the first position and corresponding to respective shallower depths of the neckline.

4. A template as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the portion of neckline shape is defined by an edge of the template body.

5. A template as claimed in Claim 4, in which the template body comprises a substantially rigid, flat, laminar element.

6. A template as claimed in Claim 5, in which the indicia are formed on a mayor face of the laminar element.

7. A template as claimed in Claim 5 or Claim 6, in which the edge defining the neckline shape comprises a bight in one edge of the laminar element.

8. A template as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims in which the portion of neckline shape defined by the body includes the complete neckline of a front garment panel or of a rear garment panel and the indicia include an indication of the centre line of the neckline shape.

9. A template as claimed in Claim 8 as dependent on Claim 7, in which the laminar element includes a first bight in one edge thereof which defines the neckline of the front panel of the garment and a second bight in another edge thereof which defines the neckline of the rear panel of the garment.

10. A template for use in forming a blocked neckline on a garment panel substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.

11. A method of marking a neckline on a garment panel, including the steps of positioning a template as claimed in any one of the preceding claims on the garment panel in a selected position in relation to the garment centre line by reference to the said indicia, marking a first portion of the neckline shape extending from the centre line to the shoulder line of the garment on the garment panel by reference to the neckline shape defined by the template body, repositioning the template on the garment panel by reference to the said indicia so as to enable a second portion of the neckline shape which is a mirror image of the said first portion to be marked on the opposite side of the centre line continuous with the first neckline portion, and marking the said second neckline portion on the garment panel.

12. A method as claimed in Claim 11 as dependent on Claim 5, in which the laminar element defines one half of the neckline shape of the front panel and/or of the rear panel and the repositioning of the template includes the step of inverting the laminar element on the garment panel, the template having reference indicia discernible in both the first selected position and in the inverted position of the element.

13. A method as claimed in Claim 11 as dependent on Claim 8, in which the repositioning of the template includes effecting a translational movement of the template relative to the centre line of the garment.

14. A method as claimed in Claims 11, 12 or 13, including the step of selecting a template defining a desired shape of neckline from a set of templates defining different neckline shapes.

15. A method of marking a neckline on a garment panel substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.