Patent Abstract:
An interchangeable hemline for changing the style of the hem of a garment includes a decorative strip, a durable strip, a first fastener, and a second fastener. The garment can be a pant, skirt, sleeve, collar, short, or the like. The decorative strip has the durable strip and first fastener attached to one side of the decorative strip. The second fastener is attached to the exterior of the garment just above the hem. The first fastener can be mated with the second fastener to hold the decorative strip to the outside of the garment. Once attached, the first and second fasteners along with the durable strip are no longer visible. The durable strip forms a pull tab at one end of the decorative strip. The pull tab facilitates removal of the decorative strip from the hem of the garment.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/553,198, filed Mar. 15, 2004. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to an interchangeable and removable attachment for use on the hemline of any garment, such as a pant, skirt, sleeve, collar, or short.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE  
       [0003]     Various fashion styles have featured decorated hemlines. The decorated hemlines range from simple fabrics to fancy beaded designs permanently attached to the hem of the garments. While consumers may enjoy the look of the garment, they are presented several challenges. Cleaning a garment that has a decorative hemline offers one challenge to consumers. If the decorative hemline is not elaborate, the hemline can be washed with the garment. If the decorative hemline is beaded or has other delicate or intricate decoration, however, the garment must be dry-cleaned. Often, the decorative hemline can be damaged in the dry-cleaning process. Once damaged, the garment is often not repairable and hence not wearable. In addition, many decorative accessories, such as those made with feathers or beads, could prevent conventional cleaning of the garment. Versatility of the garment offers another challenge for the consumer. Consumers are very limited with their styling options when purchasing a garment with a decorative hemline. Purchasing several pair of decorative hemline garments can become cost prohibitive.  
         [0004]     The present invention of the interchangeable decorative hemline addresses one or more of these challenges.  
       SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE  
       [0005]     An interchangeable hemline for a hem of a garment includes a decorative strip, a durable strip, a first fastener, and a second fastener. The decorative strip has an inside surface and has a length for substantially fitting around the hem of the garment. The durable strip is attached or sewn to the inside surface of the decorative strip. The durable strip forms a pull-tab that extends beyond one end of the decorative strip. The first fastener is attached or sewn to the durable strip, and the second fastener is attached or sewn to the garment adjacent the hem. The first fastener mates with the second fastener to substantially hold the decorative strip to the hem of the garment. The pull-tab facilitates removal of the decorative strip from the garment and bears most of the pulling action when the first and second fasteners are unmated.  
         [0006]     The first fastener is preferably a first strip of a VELCRO fastener, and the second fastener is preferably a second, corresponding strip of the VELCRO fastener. The first strip of the VELCRO fastener sewn to the durable strip is preferably narrower than the durable strip and is sewn preferably sewn adjacent an upper edge of the durable strip. In addition, the first strip of the VELCRO fastener is preferably narrower than the second strip of the VELCRO fastener sewn to the garment. In one embodiment, the durable strip is a strip of twill tape, and the pull-tab can be formed from an approximately half inch loop formed at one end of the twill tape. In another embodiment, the durable strip is a length of ribbon, and the pull tabs can be formed from free ends of the ribbon that extend beyond both ends of the decorative strip and that tie together.  
         [0007]     The decorative strip decorates the hem of the garment by removably attaching to the hem of the garment with the first and second fasteners. The durable strip reinforces the decorative strip and the first fastener, and the pull-tab formed at one end of the durable strip facilitates removal of the decorative strip from the hem of the garment. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]      FIG. 1  shows a garment having an interchangeable hemline attached on the hem.  
         [0009]      FIG. 2A  shows one side of the interchangeable hemline.  
         [0010]      FIG. 2B  shows another side of the interchangeable hemline having a durable strip and first fastener.  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  shows the garment having a second fastener of the interchangeable hemline attached to the hem of the garment.  
         [0012]      FIG. 4A-4B  shows various stages of attaching or removing the interchangeable hemline to the hem of the garment.  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  shows another embodiment of an interchangeable hemline attached on the hem of a garment. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0014]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a garment P is shown having an interchangeable hemline  10 . In the present example, the garment P is a pair of pants having an interchangeable hemline  10  attached on the hems of each pant leg. In general, however, the interchangeable hemline  10  can be used on pants, skirts, shorts, dresses, or the like. In addition, the interchangeable hemline  10  can be used on the hems, sleeves, collars, or the like of the garments. For example, the interchangeable hemline  10  can be used on hems of pants as shown, on the lower hems or sleeves of jackets and shirts, or on the lower hems of skirts or dresses.  
         [0015]     The interchangeable hemline  10  for the hem of the garment P includes a decorative strip  20  having first and second ends  22  and  24 . The strip  20  attaches around the hem of the garment P so that the ends  22  and  24  meet together. The decorative strip  20  is generally a strip of decorative material. In one embodiment, the interchangeable hemline  10  can be made out of the same material as the garment, although this is not strictly necessary. The interchangeable hemline  10  can also have a decorative border attached to an upper edge of the decorative strip  20 . In the present embodiment, the interchangeable hemline  10  of FIGS.  2 A-B is made of a different decorative material. In addition, beads are attached to a lower edge of the decorative strip  20  and are intended to dangle from the interchangeable hemline  10  once attached to a garment. Therefore, the styling of the garment can easily be changed, updated, or lengthened using the interchangeable hemline  10 .  
         [0016]     A pull-tab  32 , which will be described in more detail below, is accessible from the adjoining ends  22  and  24 . The pull-tab  32  is used to remove the decorative strip  20  from the garment P. With the decorative strip  20  removed, the garment can easily be laundered. The decorative strip  20  is simply removed prior to each washing or dry-cleaning. The garment P can then be cleaned properly, and the decorative strip will not be damaged. Secondly, because the decorative strip  20  is removable and interchangeable, consumers can create a whole new look to the garment P by applying other removable decorative strips  20 . In this way, a garment can be provided with a different aesthetic look by applying a different decorative strip  20 .  
         [0017]     Referring to FIGS.  2 A-B, front and back sides of the interchangeable hemline  10  are shown. As noted above, the interchangeable hemline  10  includes the decorative strip  20  having first and second ends  22  and  24 . In  FIG. 2A , a front side or outside surface  21  of the hemline  10  is shown. This side  21  is visible when the interchangeable hemline  10  is attached to the garment. The pull tab  32  extends from one end  22  of the decorative strip  20 . The pull tab  32  facilitates removal of the interchangeable hemline  10  from the garment. Hence, the durable strip  30  that forms the pull tab  32  bears most of the impact of the pulling action when removing the interchangeable hemline  10  from the garment.  
         [0018]     In  FIG. 2B , the back side or inside surface  23  of the interchangeable hemline  10  is shown. This side  21  is typically not visible when the hemline  10  is attached to the garment P. As seen in  FIG. 2B , the interchangeable hemline  10  also includes a durable strip  30  and a first fastener  40 . The durable strip  30  is narrower than the decorative strip  20  and is approximately the length of the first fastener  50 , which fits around the circumference of the hem H as shown in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0019]     As shown in  FIG. 2B , the durable strip  20  is attached to the inside surface  23  of the decorative strip  20  near the top edge of the strip  20 . Preferably, the durable strip  30  is sewn to the decorative strip  20 , although other techniques, such as gluing or heat bonding, can be used. Preferably, the durable strip  30  is a strip of twill tape or other strong material for reinforcing the decorative strip  10  and the first fastener  40 .  
         [0020]     The durable strip  30  forms the pull tab  32  that extends beyond one end  22  of the decorative strip  20 . The pull tab  32  can be formed from an approximately half inch loop of the durable strip  20 . The end  33  of the loop for the pull tab  32  can be either sewn or glued in place. The first fastener  40  is attached to the durable strip  30  near the “top” edge of the strip  30 . Preferably, the first fastener  40  is a first strip of a VELCRO fastener. In addition, the first fastener  40  is preferably sewn both to the durable strip  30  and to the decorative strip  20 , although other techniques can be used.  
         [0021]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the garment P is shown without the decorative strip attached. The interchangeable hemline ( 10 ) also includes a second fastener  50  attached to the garment P adjacent the hem H. Preferably, the second fastener  50  is sewn directly onto the hem H of the garment P, although other techniques can be used. The second fastener  50  is intended to mate with the first fastener  40  shown in  FIG. 2B . Therefore, the second fastener is preferable a second, corresponding strip of VELCRO capable of mating with the first fastener  40 .  
         [0022]     Referring to  FIGS. 4A-4B , the interchangeable hemline  10  is shown in various stages of attaching to the hem H of the garment P. To attach the decorative strip  20  to the garment P, the first fastener  40  is mated with the second fastener  50  to substantially hold the decorative strip  20  to the hem H of the garment P. For example, one end  22  of the decorative strip  20  is first attached to the hem H of the garment P. On some garments P, it may be preferred to align the end  22  of the strip  20  with the seam S of the garment P. In this way, the decorative strip  20  may not overly stiffen the hem that it is attached to and may keep the hem H somewhat flexible at the seam S. For example, it may be preferred on pants that the ends  22  and  24  of the decorative strip  20  be aligned with the outside seam S of the pant leg, which can prevent the closure from rubbing against the other pant leg as the wearer walks and potentially coming unfastened.  
         [0023]     With one end  22  attached to the hem H, the fasteners  40  and  50  are mated together around the hem H of the garment P as successively shown in  FIGS. 4A-4B , until the other end  24  of the decorative strip  20  meets the first end  22  at the seam S of the garment P. Removal the decorative strip  20  is the reverse of  FIGS. 4A-4B . Removal begins with holding the garment P, then pulling the pull tab, and separating the first and second fasteners  40  and  50  around the hem H.  
         [0024]     As best shown in  FIG. 4A , the first fastener or strip of VELCRO  40  sewn to the durable strip  30  is narrower than the second fastener or strip of VELCRO  50  sewn to the hem H of the garment P. Although the first and second fasteners  40  and  50  have been shown as the two mating portions of a VELCRO fastener, it will be apparent that other devices, such as buttons, hooks and eyes, snaps, or the like can also be used.  
         [0025]     Preferably, the second fastener  50  is the portion of VELCRO having a mesh, and the first fastener  40  is the portion of VELCRO having a plurality of stiff hooks intended to engage the mesh of the second fastener  50 . The second fastener  50  must be securely attached to the garment P because this fastener  50  is intended to be washed with the garment P. Using the mesh portion of the VELCRO fastener for the second fastener  50  on the hem H of the garment P may prevent other garments from sticking to the second fastener  50  when laundering the garment P with other clothing.  
         [0026]     Referring to  FIG. 5 , another embodiment of an interchangeable hemline  10  is shown attached on the hem of a garment. The present embodiment of the interchangeable hemline  10  is essentially similar to other embodiments disclosed herein except that the present embodiment uses a ribbon  60  (rather than twill tape) as the durable strip attached to the decorative strip  20 . The ribbon  60  is attached to the decorative strip  20  in a similar fashion as the twill tape disclosed above. In addition, the fastener (not shown) is similarly attached to the ribbon in a similar fashion as disclosed above.  
         [0027]     The length of the ribbon is greater than that of the decorative strip  20  so that free ends  62  and  64  of the ribbon  60  form pull tabs extending beyond both ends  22 ,  24  of the decorative strip  20 . Acting as pull tabs, the free ends  62  and  64  facilitate removal of the interchangeable hemline  10  from the garment. Hence, the ribbon  60  bears most of the impact of the pulling action when removing the interchangeable hemline  10  from the garment. In addition, the free ends  62  and  64  tie together when the interchangeable hemline  10  is attached to the garment. For example, the free ends  62  and  64  can be tied into a bow for decoration and for keeping the interchangeable hemline  10  attached to the garment.  
         [0028]     Modifications and equivalents of the disclosed concepts such as readily occur to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 0