Sewbo uses stiffening solution to sew a t-shirt automatically. Sewbo stiffens the fabric with polyvinyl alcohol plastic stiffener to cut the garment (Via Sewbo)
Happy National Manufacturing Day, everyone! Apparently, it is on 10/7. In honor of the day, I want to talk about the next level in garment manufacturing.
Sewing is a similar to a fine art; you have to have patience, time, and capability to get really good at it. Maybe someone in your family is an expert sewer leading to unique homemade sweaters. But can you imagine a robot sewing a garment on its own? Well, it’s happened. Sewbo, a Seattle based startup, wants to change the way we think about sewing.
To create the sewing robot, the company used a regular industrial robot model. They then taught it how to use a consumer sewing machine. The result is a flexible robot arm that easily handles the gentle fabrics. The robot creates a t-shirt by stiffening the fabric with polyvinyl alcohol plastic stiffener, treating it more like a piece of cardboard. This makes it easy for it to cut and manipulate. The robot then feeds the pre-cut pieces into a sewing machine. Once this is done, the stiffening process is reversed by dipping the garment in hot water removing the non-toxic polymer stiffening and the garment soft and wearable again.
The polyalcohol vinyl plastic stiffener isn’t new to the fashion industry. It’s a useful tool when creating garments since it can be recovered and reused. According to inventor Johnathan Zornow, the solution works on fabric they've tried, including denim, lace, cotton poly blends, and upholstery fabrics. Unlike a consumer sewing machine that uses pins to hold the seams together, Sewbo uses an ultrasonic welder to bond the edges of the hardened fabric.
Right now Sewbo is putting the finishing touches on the robot before making it available to the public, but there are people already interested. Zornow says the military is interested in their new technology. The company is currently working with the military to explore how the technology can work for them. Sewbo also believes this automated process can be useful for creating reusable shopping bags and even medical scrubs.
Though Sewbo is innovative, what they’re doing isn’t entirely new. Automation is used in the garment industry, but it’s very limited. Also, there are machines that cut and measure fabric, but they often can’t handle soft material very well. Keep in mind there are also other projects, such as OpenKnit and Electroloom that bring the automated process to making clothes using 3D printing elements. Still, can start a new trend in the garment industry and make the automated process a bigger part of the industry.
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