Middle-layer sportswear

Skin-layer and middle-layer sportswear comprising knitted fabrics dominate the current apparel market. In this chapter, all methods of manufacturing of knitted garments, such as cut and sewn, stitch shaped and cut, fully fashioned and integral, will be discussed. Of these manufacturing methods, seamless garments make up a growing part of the sportswear market. 

Whilst there are various fabric technologies utilized in apparel manufacture, the characteristics of knitted fabrics provide greater stretch ability for garments, thus enabling a more effective outcome for ergonomic requirements of sportswear worn against the skin or as a middle layer. In addition, skin-layer and middle-layer sportswear comprising knitted fabrics dominate the current apparel market and therefore provide a sound basis for further research and discussion. 

This chapter gives an overview of the different layers of clothing used in sportswear for cold weather (base layer, middle layers, outer shell) and their main thermal properties. It shows how the layers have to be combined to give an optimal performance and how the design may influence the overall insulation of the garment. 

---