Volume 6 • Issue 4 • 1000265 J Textile Sci Eng ISSN: 2165-8064 JTESE, an open access journal Research Article Open Access Kumar et al., J Textile Sci Eng 2016, 6:4 DOI: 10.4172/2165-8064.1000265 Research Article Open Access Journal of Textile Science & Engineering J o u r n a l o f T e x t i l e Sc i e n c e & E n g i n e e r i n g ISSN: 2165-8064 Keywords: Stretch denim; Lycra; Fabric compression; Air permeabil- ity; Stretchability; Elastic recovery Introduction Denim, the favourite fabric of the youngsters has indeed come a long way. Te consumer’s choice, although unstable and unpredictable, it has remained almost the same while selecting denim for their fashion item [1-4]. Te scope for denim wear is increasing tremendously every year and its worldwide market share has increased unpredictably in the last few decades. Recently the fashion trend is moving from denim to stretch denim (denim with Lycra) [5]. Stretch denim usually incorporates an elastic component (such as elastane) into the fabric to allow a degree of stretchability in garments [6,7]. Denim is a heavy woven fabric made from 100% cotton coarse indigo dyed warp and grey wef yarn [8-10]. Te traditional denim is rather hard and high density fabrics with high mass per unit area. Twill weaves such as three-up-one-down (3/1) and two-up-one-down (2/1) are predominantly used for denim construction [11-13]. Denim is available in attractive indigo blue shades and is made for a variety of applications and in a wide range of qualities. Denim is comfortable, fashionable, afordable and durable for which it is popular in all the age groups. Denim is available in diferent weights ranging from 200-300 g/m 2 which are categorized as light denim to 300-600 g/m 2 , known as heavy denim. Denim’s durability lies in the combination of the yarn and the weave. Te consumer’s today need durability and comfort in their fashion items including denim [14-17]. Twill weaves have good abrasion resistance, meaning the fabric will absorb a lot of friction before it breaks apart. Te reason for such great durability is the way the yarns are woven together: one set of yarns foats over another in 2-5 (generally 2-3) sets of yarns at regular intervals to create a diagonal textured fabric surface. It is these yarn “foats” that absorb the abrasion. Denim has always been used for very durable outdoor work clothing because of its weight, rigidity and thickness. Denim is a good choice for casual jackets, skirts and jeans. In recent years, the advancements in garment-fnishing techniques have led to easy processing and subsequently its use has broadened into diferent lifestyles. Te clothing made of denim can be ofen sold in high prices depending on its ft, ornamentation, fnishing and brand [18]. Abstract The performance of a garment during its usage is very important for consumers. Performance as such is a very wide term and may range from satisfying the requirements during its use to the durability. Comfort is also considered by many consumers today as one of the performance requirements. For stretchable denim fabric, the ft related comfort lies in the ability of the material to be stretched when a load is applied according to body movements and retain to its original length. While designing the stretch denim, fabric weight and weave plays important role for comfort, performance and fashion. In this study, the effect of fabric parameters such as areal density, Lycra content and weave on characteristics of stretchable denim fabrics were investigated. Various properties such as thickness, tensile strength, fexural rigidity, stretch and recovery properties and air permeability of the fabrics were evaluated. The test results revealed that increasing the fabric weight increased fabric warp tensile strength, compressibility, stretch and recovery, whereas the fexural rigidity, weft tensile strength and air permeability were decreased. As Lycra contents in fabric increased, fabric thickness was increased which resulted in higher fexural rigidity of fabric. Fabric construction and weave also infuenced the fabric fexural rigidity and air permeability related to performance and comfort of stretchable denim fabric. Designing and Development of Denim Fabrics: Part 1 - Study the Effect of Fabric Parameters on the Fabric Characteristics for Women’s Wear Kumar S 1 , Chatterjee K 1 , Padhye R 2 and Nayak R 2 * 1 Technological Institute of Textiles and Sciences Bhiwani, India 127021 2 School of Fashion and Textiles, RMIT University, Brunswick, Australia 3056 *Corresponding author: Rajkishore Nayak, School of Fashion and Textiles, RMIT University, Brunswick, Australia 3056, Tel: +61 03 9925 9349; E-mail: rajkishore.nayak@rmit.edu.au Received June 27, 2016; Accepted August 12, 2016; Published August 18, 2016 Citation: Kumar S, Chatterjee K, Padhye R, Nayak R (2016) Designing and Development of Denim Fabrics: Part 1 - Study the Effect of Fabric Parameters on the Fabric Characteristics for Women’s Wear. J Textile Sci Eng 6: 265. doi: 10.4172/2165-8064.1000265 Copyright: © 2016 Kumar S, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Te stretchable denim fabrics give the elasticity to fabric so that it closely ft to body without restricting the body movement [19- 21], hence providing wear comfort [22-24]. Lycra yarn is added to denim to increase its stretch and recovery properties [25]. Generally, adding 1-5% of Lycra with cotton will stretch the fabric over the body providing a more comfortable ft. For example, Rahman [26] studied the efect of spandex ratio on fabric physical and mechanical properties such as: breaking strength, breaking extension, shrinkage and fabric growth [27-30]. Te fndings of this study revealed that the ratio of Lycra had a signifcant infuence on the physical properties of woven denim fabrics. Özdil [7] had studied the stretch and bagging properties of denim fabrics containing diferent amounts of elastane. Te test results revealed that increasing the amount of elastane in denim fabric enhanced comfort properties related to stretch. Core spun yarn can also be used as flling in which core part is Lycra flament and sheath fbres cotton, to improve the stretchability of denim [7,25,31,32]. Te performance and comfort factors of these garments during use are very important. Generally, the comfortable stretching of fabrics according to body movements as well as recovery afer stretching, are the desirable properties. In recent years, due to the demand for more comfortable clothing, elastane-containing denim fabrics are becoming increasingly popular. Some of the earlier studies focused on the efects of Lycra on physical and stretch properties of the denim fabrics. Some recent studies focused on the anti-bacterial