The technical designer: a new craft approach for creating seamless knitwear
type: CreativeWork
description: The separation of the design and technical roles within commercial knitwear design has led to a 'technical skills gap' between designers and industrial knitting technology, which has contributed to the communication problems between designers and technicians. Historically, these issues have been ignored and designers have accepted compromised versions of their original ideas. However, the advent of seamless knitting technology has exacerbated the issue and the skills gap has grown exponentially, as designers struggle to engage with seamless knitting processes. The nature of seamless garment design is that all aspects must be considered simultaneously, and pattern-­‐cutting principles for two-­‐dimensional garment blanks are no longer relevant. The most crucial aspect of the design process is the programming of the garment, from which designers are generally excluded. The complexity of the programming has led to manufacturers creating wizard-­‐based functions that simplify and speed up the process, and produce standardised garment styles. The database of pre‐programmed garment styles has been held responsible for uniformity of garment silhouettes within the commercial fashion industry. This research develops a craft theory, that has broadly developed from David Pye and Peter Dormer’s seminal work up to the 1990s, and locates it in relation to more contemporary work on digital craft. Programming is acknowledged as a form of digital craft and the Shima Seiki APEX CAD system and SWG-­‐N knitting machine are the craft tools. The creative experimental practice explores the possibilities of taking control of the programming and knitting of seamless garments, in terms of the creative design development of new seamless sleeve head styles. The practice is carried out within an 'experimental system' away from the constraints of industry. The data from semi-­‐structured interviews with commercial knitwear designers and technicians is discussed in relation to the 'communication …
abstract: The separation of the design and technical roles within commercial knitwear design has led to a 'technical skills gap' between designers and industrial knitting technology, which has contributed to the communication problems between designers and technicians. Historically, these issues have been ignored and designers have accepted compromised versions of their original ideas. However, the advent of seamless knitting technology has exacerbated the issue and the skills gap has grown exponentially, as designers struggle to engage with seamless knitting processes. The nature of seamless garment design is that all aspects must be considered simultaneously, and pattern-­‐cutting principles for two-­‐dimensional garment blanks are no longer relevant. The most crucial aspect of the design process is the programming of the garment, from which designers are generally excluded. The complexity of the programming has led to manufacturers creating wizard-­‐based functions that simplify and speed up the process, and produce standardised garment styles. The database of pre‐programmed garment styles has been held responsible for uniformity of garment silhouettes within the commercial fashion industry. This research develops a craft theory, that has broadly developed from David Pye and Peter Dormer’s seminal work up to the 1990s, and locates it in relation to more contemporary work on digital craft. Programming is acknowledged as a form of digital craft and the Shima Seiki APEX CAD system and SWG-­‐N knitting machine are the craft tools. The creative experimental practice explores the possibilities of taking control of the programming and knitting of seamless garments, in terms of the creative design development of new seamless sleeve head styles. The practice is carried out within an 'experimental system' away from the constraints of industry. The data from semi-­‐structured interviews with commercial knitwear designers and technicians is discussed in relation to the 'communication …
author: Taylor, J
language: en
date published: 2015-09
date modified: 2026-07-24T06:30:54Z
provider: Nottingham Trent University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Nottingham Trent University