Stockings and Hosiery Manufacturing

A narrow calf that leads down to a well-turned ankle has something that men find hard to ignore. When the same leg is covered in a sheer stocking, ignoring it becomes virtually impossible! Women's hosiery as we know it today -- whether the overwhelming Cuban heel seamed stockings that's carefully rolled on for those special evenings or the practical pantyhose worn to the office -- are a far cry from the coarse, hand-knitted wool stockings worn through the peasants of the 17th century.

Not only have the machines invented as far back as the 16th century been improved upon, a diversity of method changes have also been made to women's hosiery during the past half century. A 1950s invention marked a provisional disappearance of seamed stockings, and the short skirts of the 1960s led to the invention of pantyhose -- passion killers as far as male stocking enthusiasts were concerned. Modern women seem to have settled on a blend of the practical with the aesthetically pleasing, with a greater variety of pantyhose being available for day-to-day wear along with a welcome renaissance for seamed stockings.

New-fashioned hosiery manufacturing has to accommodate the high demand for quality goods. From the finest 7 denier sheer stockings, by way of multi-colored and wildly patterned hose and onwards to practical 60 denier pantyhose, women fancy the best. New-fashioned stockings and pantyhose are produced on circular machines that take away the need for back seams via knitting tubes that are hence 'set' to the shape of the leg.
while the first circular machines produced sheer stockings with a reinforced heel pocket, new machines have done away with this, offering a better fit regardless of the wearer's shoe size. The addition of lycra to the stocking yarn is perhaps the biggest break-through in hosiery manufacturing; the result being stockings and pantyhose that combine elasticity with the ability to cling implicitly to the leg. Unfortunately, the addition of lycra to women's hosiery has one draw-back. While lycra's great,I actually miss that sheer stocking influence you obtain with old-fashioned method stockings. An observation shared by the use of many a true stocking connoisseur. Seamed stockings, having made a huge come-back in new years, are still available but are manufactured using a different approach -- one that was used before the invention of the circular machine.

Subsequent the original hosiery manufacturing techniques of the 30s - 50s, flat knitting is used. After the fabric has been produced, every stocking is individually seamed. The head of the seam has an end loop, a minute hole that every seamed stocking has as a result of the machinist turning the welt -- the stocking top -- interior out, in order to finish off. Once they are sewn, the stockings are boarded. This is a procedure where each stocking is stretched in excess of a flat metal leg form and 'set' with steam.

The knit tightens, creases are eliminated and the leg is shaped accordingly. Since the procedure is time consuming, seamed stockings are never cheap. Couple this with the fact that around a third of production -- above all during the production of sheer stockings -- is discarded during quality control and you'll identify with why. While the women's hosiery manufacturing procedure will undoubtedly keep evolving, there will relentlessly be a demand for the sheer stockings of bygone days that are equally as loved by means of the women who wear them as the men who identify with the sight of a 'bit of stocking top'. Hosiery manufacturing has come a long way and it is safe to say that wear your stockings with pride.