Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to the fields of garments,
garment patterns, and garment manufacture. It has particular
relevance to infant garments.
The one-piece garment known as the infant sleeper is a
very popular item of clothing for young children. It is a
union-suit design, with an opening from the neck-band down the
front of the garm~nt, and then down one leg. It is usually made
from a two-way stretch terry-cloth, but a variety of materials are
also used for it by the garment industry.
Traditionally, the infant sleeper has been manufactured
from a five piece pattern including a back panel, left and right
front panels, and left and right sleeve panels. Use of a~five
pi~ce pattern has meant a large amount of hand labour has been
required to cut, and then to sew the garments together.
The object of the present invention is to provide a new
garment particularly suitable for use as an infant sleeper, and a
one, two or three piece pattern for manufacturing same, according
to a new manufacturing method.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an
2 infant sleeper, pattern and manufacturing method which are
improvements over known sleepers, patterns for sleepers and
manufacturing methods for same.
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In one broad aspect, the present invention relates to a
garment incluaing: (a~ a body section having a back por-tion, an
open front portion, and a neck-band portion; and (b) a pair of
sleeves; characterized in that said sleeves are contlguous with
said body and there is a lateral seam extending along the
underside o~ each said sleeve at least part way across the front
of said body.
In anot~ler broad aspect, the present invention relates to
a pattern for a garment, said pattern including at least one body
panel and at least two sleeve panels joined thereto; said body
panel having a back portion flanked by a pair of front portions,
said back portion being substantially rectangular, said front
portions being substantially rectangular, each being half the
width of the back portion, and each having a straight top edge
separated from a sleeve panel by a lateral slit, said sleeve
panels being substantially rectangular and connected to the back
portion between a head-hole and the inner end of a lateral slit,
the upper edge of said lateral slit de~ining the bottom edge of a
said sleeve, each said sleeve panel having an upper edge extending
~0 ~rom an upper corner of said pattern to a medial slit which
extends downwardly to said head-hole, said upper edge of said
sleeve panel corresponding in length to the combined length of the
upper edge of a front portion and the lower edge of a sleeve
panel.
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In another broad aspect, the present invention relates to
a method of manufacturing a garment comprising the steps of: (i)
applying a pattern as described in Claim 29 to a one way stretch
material, the pattern extending from top-to-bottom in -the same
direction as the direction of stretch of the material, and cutting
said material to match the pattern; (ii) folding the front
portions of the body panels on the piece of cut material over the
back portion thereof, with the vertical edges of sald front
portions aligned; (iii) folding the upper part of the arm panels
on the cut material downwardly, so that the upper edges of the arm
panels are aligned with the lower edges thereof and the upper
edges of the front panel (iv) sewing a seam from the outer
extremety of each sleeve panel to the inner extremety of each
sleeve panel, to join the upper edge of the sleeve panel to the
lower edge thereof and to the upper edge of a front portion of the
body panel; and (v) finishing said garment by applying cuffs, a
neck-band, facing and closures.
In yet another broad aspect, the present invention
relates to a method of manufacturing a garment comprising the
steps of: (i) applying a pattern as described in Claim 31 to a one
way stretch material, the pattern extending, from top-to-bottom,
in the same direction as the direction of stretch of the material,
and cutting said material to match the pattern; (ii) folding the
front portions of the body panels on the piece of cut material
over the back portion thereof, with the vertical edges of said
front portions aligned; (iiij folding the upper part of the arm
panels on the cut material downwardly, so that the upper edges of
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the arm panels are aligned with the lower edges thereof and the
upper edges of the front panel; (lv) sewing a seam from the outer
extremety of each sleeve panel to the inner extremety of each
sleeve panel, to join the upper edge of the sleeve panel to the
lower edge thereof and to the upper edge of a front portion of the
body panel; and (v) folding the front portion of each leg panel on
the cut material over onto the back portion thereof, with the
gusset between the front and rear portions of the leg panel
opposite the selected leg panel; (vi) sewing a seam from one side
of said leg panels to the other along the perimeter thereof to
join the front and rear portions of said selected leg panel
together around the perimeter thereof, and to join the gusset to
the inner edge of the rear portion of the other leg panel, and the
front and rear portions of the other leg panel around the
remainder of the perimeter thereof (vii) finishing said garment by
applying cuffs, a neck-band, facing and closures.
In drawings which illustrate the present invention by way
of example:
Figure 1 is a plan view of a typical five-piece prior art
~0 infant sleeper pattern;
Figure Ia is a front view of a finished sleeper made
according to the pattern of Figure l;
Figure 2 is a plan view of a one-piece pattern for a
sleeper according to the present invention;
Figure 2a is a front view of a finished sleeper made
according to the pattern of Figure 2;
Figure 3 is a plan view of a two-piece pattern for a
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sleeper according to the present invention;
Figure 3a is a front view of a ~inished sleeper made
according to the pattern of Figure 3;
Figure 4 is a plan view of a three-piece pattern for a
sleeper according to the present invention;
Figure 4a is a front view of a finished sleeper made
according to the pattern of Figure 4;
Figure 5 is a plan view of a second form of a three-piece
pattern for a sleeper according to the present invention;
Figure 5,a is a front view of a finished sleeper made
according to the pattern of Figure 5.
In all drawings o~ patterns, edges to be sewn are
indicated with cross-hatches.
Reerring to Figure 1, it will be seen that the
conventional or "industry standard" prior art sleeper is a
five-piece design with a back panel A left and right front panels
B and C and left and right sleeve panels D and E. ~eck-bands and
cuffs aside, (because these features are similar in prior art
garments, and the garments of the present invention) there are
~0 ive seams in an industry standard sleeper. A first seam 1
extends around practically the entire perimeter of the garment
from one wrist to its associated underarm, down the side, around
the legs, up the other side, down the sleeve, to the other wrist.
Four more seams 2 connect the sleeves to the body of the garment,
at the front and the back. (the arrows on Figure la indicate the
seams at the bac- ol the garment).
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The inseam 3 of a leg may be left open, if desired, so
that it is easier to clothe an infant with the garment. This open
inseam will merge with the open front o~ the garmen~. The fabric
used most often in the industry standard sleeper is a two-way
stretch terry cloth.
Referring next to Figures 2 and 2a, a one-piece pattern
according to the present invention is illustrated in Figure 2.
The various panels which make up the pattern are delineated by
dotted lines, and include:
Back panel 4
front left side panel 5
front right side panel 6
left sleeve panel 7
right sleeve panel 8
gusset panel 9
A head-hole 10 is provided near the junction of the
sleeve 7 and 8 and back 4 panels. A conventional neck-band 11 and
cuffs 12 are sewn into the head-hole at the appropriate time.
The pa-ttern of Figure 2 is preferably cut from one-way
stretch terry cloth, with the direction of stretch oriented
length-wise on the pattern (i.e. from head to toe). This point
should be borne in mind when using a stretch fabric in the method
of the present invention, because it has been found that if a
two-way stretch fabric is used, or if the stretch on a one-way
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stretch ~abric is oriented laterally, the seams in the legs of the
garment will tend to twist around the leg. However, as noted
below, fabric without stretch is also susceptable of use in the
present invention, with minor modification in the pattern.
The lowest edges 7a, 8a of the sleeve panels 7, 8 are
separated from the uppermost edges 5a, 6a of the front panels by a
slit. The upper edges 7b, 8b of the sleeve panels 7, 8 are
straight, and are twice as long as the lower edges 7a and 8a
thereof. Accordingly, when right and left front panels 5,6 are
folded over onto back panel 4 during the manufacture of the
garment of the present invention, edges 5a and 7a will extend as
one continuous edge. Also, edges 6a and 8a will extend as one
continuous edge. Moreover, these two continuous edges will lie
opposite the top edges 7b and 8b. Fuxther, it will be seen that
gusset panel 9, which extends off one of the front side panels
(illustrated as extending off left panel 6, but may extend from
the right panel) so that when the front side panels 6, 5 are
folded over onto the back panel 4, gusset panel 9 will be aligned
with the inside edge of the back panel of the opposite leg.
With the above description of a one-piece pattern of the
present invention in mind, the manufacturing method of the present
invention may be summarized as follows:
i) the pattern is laid out on a one-way stretch terry
fabric, with the longitudi~nal (i.e. head to toe)
direction of the~pattern ~ligned with the direction of
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stretch of the fabric, and the fabric is cut according to
the pattern;
ii) the right and left front panels 5 and 6 are folded over
onto the back panel 4. Note: the front panel from which
the gusset 9 extends should be folded over first because
the gusset should directly overlay the opposite leg of
the back panel 4.
iii) sleeve panels 7 and 8 are then folded down so that the
top edges 7b and 8b thereof abut continuous edges 7a - 5a
and 6a - 8a.
iv) a seam is sewn along the bottom edges of the folded
material, from the outside of one foot around that foot,
up the inseam of that leg to the crotch, down the inseam
of the other leg, around the foot, ending on the outside
of that foot. If there is a gusset provided (and this is
not absolutely necessary, but it is desirable), then on a
portion of the inseam of one leg, there will be three
layers of material - the back panel, the gusset, and the
front panel. In this area, which extends from the crotch
down the leg, usually about two-thirds o the way, only
the back and gusset panels are sewn together, so the
front of the garment which is open, will extend down one
leg. In this way, an infant can be clothed easier - with
the gusset maintaining strength around the perimeter of
the legs;
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v) the sleeves are joined together by sewing top edges 7b
and 8b of the sleeve panels to continuous edges 5a - 7a
and 6a - 8a in a pair of lateral seams, each extending
from the wrist end of a sleeve along the underside of a
sleeve to the underarm area of the garment, and then
across the front of the garment in a lateral seam across
the ches~, ending at the open front of the garment.
Clearly, steps (iv) and (v) may be e~ecuted in
reverse order, if desired.
vi) cuffs 12, a neck-band 11 and closures 13 are applied,
the closures 13 which can be used include all
conventional forms, such as snaps, buttons, zip fasteners
and hook/pile fasteners (such as VELCRO~).
As can be observed from Figure 2a, the front of the
~arment is, in fact, formed partly by the front side panels 5 and
6, and partially formed by the upper halves of the sleeve panel.
Referring -to Figures 3 and 3a, it will be seen that the
present invention may be applied to a two-piece pattern, by simply
dividing the pattern in two, either longitudinally as shown by
line 14, or laterally as shown by line 15. The material is, in
such a case, cut as two pieces,~whlch may be of different colours,
so that the first sewing step of the manufacturing process will be
to sew the two pieces of material together into one piece.
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Referring to Figures 4 and 4a, a further varient is a
three piece pattern, the three pieces being the large unitary back
panel-front panels-sleeve panels piece, and two truncated wedge
shaped pieces 16, which form the top-most and inner-most part of
the sleeve panels. In the finished garment, as can be seen from
Figure 3a, these pieces 16 form the upper-front of the garment.
In manufacturing the garment of Figure 4a, the difference
from the method taught above using Figure 2a as a model garment is
that after the pieces of the garment are cut, the first sewing
step will be to attach pieces 16 to sleeve panels 7 and 8 by a
pair of seams 16a to obtain the one-piece material "blank" on
which the manufacturing method of the present invention can be
carried out. It will be seen that seams 16a extend, in the
finished garment, from the neck-band to the underarm, on both
sides of the front of the garment. Panels 16 may be a different
colour than the remainder of the garment.
It will also be seen, from Figure 4, that the slits
separating the sleeve panels 7 and 8 from the front side panels 5
~0 and 6 may be quite wide. This design is used when it is desired
to use a fabric with limited or no stretch, because, as can be
seen from Figure 4a, a fuller sleeve is obtained with this
arrangement.
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Referring to Figures 5 and 5a, it will be seen that a
different three-piece pattern than that taught above is possible
by cutting each sleeve panel as a separate, possibly different
coloured, piece. Again, the first sewing step will be to sew the
sleeve panels 7 and 8 to the main part of the material, along a
pair of seams, 17, which extend diagonally from the underarm area
of the sleeves to the neck-band, in the back of the garment.
Referri?llg back to Figure ~, if the pattern is cut at the
~ dot and dash line 18, the upper part of the pattern will be a
one-piece shirt pattern. This modification may be applied to any
of the embodiments illustrated.
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