Method for producing a knitted garment

A method for producing knitted ready-made garments type waistcoat or jacket includes the step of: knitting a piece of tricot (10) having a rectangular configuration with two long sides (12, 13), two short sides (11) and at least two fold markings (18, 19, 21, 23, 24); folding the piece of tricot in at least two places, substantially in parallel with the short sides (11) for forming the back (14) and side parts (15) of the jacket; forming the remaining parts of the tricot piece at the short sides a divided front (16) with a substantially v-shaped front neck part; making an arm opening at each side part of the tricot piece; knitting each divided front part (16) with two or more fold markings (18, 19, 21, 23, 24), of which at least two of these markings (18, 19) extend substantially from the respective long side and meet each other in a vertex (20) at a distance from the short sides (11) of the tricot piece; and folding each divided front part (16) along the fold markings and is joined together to at least double thickness.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
This is a continuation of PCT/SE95/00902 applicatin filed 31 Jul. 1995. 
The present invention refers to a method for producing knitted ready-made 
garments of the type waistcoat or jacket, comprising knitting a piece of 
tricot having a rectangular configuration with two long sides, two short 
sides and at least two fold markings, folding the piece of tricot in at 
least two places, substantially in parallel with the short sides for 
forming the back- and side parts of the jacket, wherein the remaining 
parts of the tricot piece at the short sides, form a divided front with a 
substantially V-shaped front neck part, and making an arm opening at each 
side part of the tricot piece. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Traditional manufacturing of ready-made garments, e.g. jackets or 
waistcoats, usually comprises cutting sections and stitching them together 
into a complete garment. This assembly of the garment is labor-intensive 
and requires a high degree of precision in order to make the garment 
fulfill the demands regarding quality and trueness to size. If the garment 
is provided with a pattern, cutting and assembly should be performed with 
regard to the pattern which often causes spillage of fabric. 
The same goes for knitted garments, with the exception that the different 
parts which form the garment may be knitted to substantially the right 
shape separately, without any cutting. However, the assembly of the parts 
is just as labor intensive and involves the risk of faults in the 
production. 
It is known to manufacture knitted jackets or waistcoats by knitting a 
large rectangle. This knitting may be performed in computer controlled 
knitting machine with double bed, which enables patterns and structure 
knitting. By folding the rectangle at two places, it will form the back 
piece, the side pieces and a divided garment front. This method reduces 
the manual work effort during assembly of the garment. Openings are made 
at the sides, either for forming the arm openings of a waistcoat, or for 
mounting the as of a jacket. 
The design and the manner in which the material in the divided front of the 
garment hangs, is very important for the appearance of the garment. 
Therefore, it is common to manufacture these so called "front pieces" 
separately and mount them at the two short ends of the rectangular piece. 
Alternatively, it is also possible to provide each front piece with a 
folding, so that two facings are provided and a V-shaped neck opening. The 
folds may also be produced in such a way that each front piece is folded 
in parallel to the two short ends of the rectangular piece, whereafter 
further folds are produced so that the facings are obtained and the 
V-shaped opening. One disadvantage with this is that the two times double 
folding results in four knitted layers which may lead to a garment which 
is unnecessarily heavy. One drawback with this prior art which involves 
forming the front pieces by folding the short ends of the rectangle, is 
that one is comparatively rigidly confined to certain basic variants. 
THE TECHNICAL PROBLEM 
One object of the present invention is therefore to further simplify and 
reduce the manual work effort during manufacturing of these garments, so 
that it does not involve mounting of separately manufactured front pieces 
nor folding to more than double thickness. 
THE SOLUTION 
For this purpose, the method according to the invention is characterized in 
that each front part is knitted with two or more fold markings, of which 
at least two of these markings extend substantially from the respective 
long side and meet each other in a vertaz at a distance from the short 
sides of the tricot piece, and that each front part is folded along the 
fold markings and is joined together to at least double thickness. 
By this method, it will be more simple to provide aesthetically attractive 
front pieces and one will have much more than before in designing such 
front pieces.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
In FIG. 1, a rectangular knitted tricot piece 10 is shown with short sides 
11 and long sides 12, 13, during completion to a ready-made jacket having 
a divided front and a V-shaped neck opening. 
The tricot piece is folded as is shown at the right part of FIG. 1, 
substantially in parallel with the short sides 11 for forming the back 
part 14 and side parts 15 of the jacket. The remaining parts of the tricot 
piece 10 adjacent the short sides 11 form the divided front part 16. An 
arm hole has bean made at the side of the tricot piece for mounting a 
sleeve 17. 
As the left part of FIG. 1 shows, each front part 16 is knitted with two 
straight fold markings 18, 19 extending from a respective long side 12, 13 
and meets each other in a vertex 20 at a distance from the short side 11 
of the tricot piece. Another fold marking 21 ads between the short side 11 
and the upper long side 12, substantially parallel to the fold marking 18. 
As the right part of FIG. 1 shows, the front part 16 is folded, at first 
along the marking 21 and then along the markings 18, 19 so that they will 
be located at the inside 15 of the garment. The folded parts are secured 
by stitching partly along the shoulder part of the garment and partly at 
22. 
FIG. 2 shows correspondingly, another variant of the invention. Here the 
folding is performed towards the outside of the garment. For this object, 
the tricot piece is provided with fold markings 23, 24 in addition to the 
fold markings 18, 19. Thus, the folding is first made outwards along the 
markings 18, 19. Then surplus material is folded inwards along the 
markings 23, 24. The front part is secured, partly along the shoulder part 
of the garment and partly at 25 and 26. The upper part of the front part 
then forms a facing, while the bottom part forms a pocket 28 on the front 
part via an angle stitching 27. Pockets may also be formed directly during 
knitting of the rectangular tricot piece by a continuous knitting. 
The tricot piece 10 may entirely or partly be knitted with one or more 
patterns in two or more different colors, in such a way, that the pattern 
appears with its reverse side and right side at the same side of the 
tricot piece. 
The fold markings of the front part may be provided by knitting in yarn 
having a contrasting color. An alternative and more advantageous method is 
to provide the fold a of the front art by knitting the tricot piece over a 
narrow segment in a single bed over a number of needles. This means that 
the fold marking forms a genuine physical fold in the garment material, 
which contributes to the faultless hanging of the garment and ensures an 
attractive appearance which is maintained even if the garment is washed. 
Fold markings may also be produced by some other structure knitting of the 
tricot piece. In this way, the fold markings may also become an active 
part of the total design of the garment and thus may increase its purchase 
value. 
Other fold variants than the shown and described are of course conceivable. 
Owing to the elasticity of the knitted material, it is possible to combine 
two or more folds, so that these meet in an angle at a distance from the 
edge of the rectangular tricot piece, without deformation of the final 
shape of the garment making it less attractive. Modern technique in 
knitting also makes it possible to vary elasticity in certain parts of the 
tricot piece where it is needed. Also, the fold markings 18, 19 do not 
have to extend all the way out to the long sides 12, 13.