Patent ID: 8321984

Claim:
A method of fabricating a portion of an upper for an article of footwear, comprising: positioning a plurality of panels into an assembly in which the locations of the panels correspond to locations to be occupied by the panels in a completed upper, wherein the assembly includes a substrate material panel having a first side and a second side, a mesh material panel having a first side facing away from the substrate material panel and a second side facing the substrate material panel, at least a portion of the mesh material panel overlapping the substrate material panel in a mesh/substrate overlap area, and a skin material panel having a first side facing away from the substrate material panel and a second side facing the substrate material panel, at least a portion of the skin material panel overlapping both the substrate material panel and the mesh material panel in a skin/mesh/substrate overlap area; compressing the assembly at a first temperature in a first pressing operation during which the first sides of the substrate material, mesh material and skin material panels face a compressible surface conforming to the assembly; and compressing the assembly at a second temperature in a second pressing operation during which the first sides of the substrate material, mesh material and skin material panels face a compressible surface conforming to the assembly, and wherein the second pressing operation is performed after the first pressing operation, and the second temperature is lower than the first temperature.