Step 1: Understanding Fabric Spreading: Fabric spreading is the process of laying out multiple plies of fabric on a cutting table before cutting garment components. It's crucial to spread the fabric evenly, without tension or distortion, to ensure accurate cutting and consistent garment size.
Step 2: Challenges with Knitted and Stretch Fabrics: Knitted and stretch fabrics are more difficult to spread than woven fabrics because they are prone to stretching and distortion. If spread under tension, they will relax and contract after cutting, leading to inaccurate garment sizes.
Step 3: Importance of Positive Feed: A positive feed system actively controls the fabric feed rate, preventing it from being stretched during spreading. It uses rollers or other mechanisms to feed the fabric at a controlled speed, matching the speed of the spreading machine. This ensures that the fabric is laid down without tension.
Step 4: Other Options:
Positioning devices: Helpful for aligning fabric edges, but don't directly address tension control.
Width Indicators: Useful for monitoring fabric width, but don't prevent stretching.
End treatment devices: Deal with the ends of the fabric roll, not the spreading tension.