US20150011141A1

US20150011141A1 - Shapewear

Info

Publication number: US20150011141A1
Application number: US14/314,486
Authority: US
Inventors: Mary Carmen GASCO-BUISSON; Amelie SAUSSEREAU; Serena DE MAIO
Original assignee: Grace & Wilde SA
Current assignee: Grace & Wilde SA
Priority date: 2013-07-08
Filing date: 2014-06-25
Publication date: 2015-01-08

Abstract

A shapewear garment made from a double face fabric having an inner face that comprises a cotton layer that does not have a gusset in the crotch portion of the garment. A shapewear garment having adjustable bodice cups having draw strings that gather the bodice cups along a vertically-extending seam in the garment. The fabric of the bodice cups has a folded upper edge defining a neckline without a seam. A shaperwear garment or other garment made using a high tension, flexible thin seam for seaming two adjacent stretchable fabrics along abutting edges, and having an adhesive film bonded across the abutting edges and a pattern of stitching through the adhesive film and the adjacent, abutted stretchable fabrics.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional application 61/843,761, filed July 8, 2013, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to shapewear.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

How well women look in their clothes is very important to them. Foundation garments have been worn for a very long time to help slim and smooth the body underneath clothes. Better known today as shapewear, these foundation garments include body briefs, bodysuits, brassieres, control top panty hose, control panties, control pants, control briefs, control slips, control skirts, control camisoles, control tanks, hip slips, waist shapers, corsets, garter belts, and girdles.
Shapewear are undergarments designed to change the wearer's shape, producing a more fashionable, slim figure and to enhance the natural curves of the body. Take for example control briefs. They are designed to lift a wearer's bottom, flatten the tummy and add shape and form to the thighs.
When women (or men) wear shapewear or other types of high compression garment, they seek different levels of compressing of the body—to make it look and/or feel shapelier, slimmer and/or firmer. For shapewear, some people increase the level of compression by wearing a size or more smaller than their actual size. This results in shapewear requiring strong seams or bonds between fabric panels, to avoid having the garments tear or the seam break apart when worn under high compression, or even while being stretched during dressing/undressing. Today's commercial shapewear and other compression garment brands use either standard sewn or stitched seams, or fused bonded seams, wherein the edges of two pieces of fabric are overlapped and fused together using a thermofused film or tape between the overlapped portions, under heat and pressure. The standard sewn or stitched seams can be very strong, but results in the use of some extra material (worth at least two fabric thicknesses) and can protrude well above the fabric surfaces of the garment, which can cause discomfort, marks on skin, and/or can rub against skin when wearing compression garments. They can also reveal visible seam lines under outer clothing, especially tight outer clothes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a garment that is made from one or more stretchable fabrics having properties that allow the garment to stretch to comfortably conform to a wearer's unique shapes and curves. The garment is preferably made from at least one stretchable fabric containing a fiber that has a high yield strain and a low hysteresis, thereby providing a fabric with optimum stretching with less force and greater recovery power. This results in a wearer experiencing little or no perceptible resistance to stretch movements, as well as a quick shape recovery so as to closely conform to the body of the wearer.

No-Gusset Panties

An invention herein includes a panty, body or full body garment that covers the crotch area of the wearer with a double face fabric, without the need for a gusset or additional absorbent material in the crotch area. The outer face of the fabric provides the cosmetic benefit and/or end-look desired. The inner face comprises cotton that provides the benefits of softness, comfort and moisture-management, which eliminates the cost of providing a gusset. Elimination of the gusset also eliminates additional seams for joining the gusset to the garment that can contact the skin in that region of the body. A double face fabric is stretchable to provide shaping and/or slimming benefits.
In an aspect of the invention, a U-shaped panel of the double face fabric extends along the inner thigh areas and across the crotch area of the garment. The configuration of the U-shaped panel avoids forming an axial seam in the crotch portion of the garment.

Adjustable Bodice Cups

An invention herein includes a shapewear garment covering the torso or both the torso and the waist of the wearer, and including adjustable bodice cups. The shapewear garment can be a bodice, a slip, a body, a bodysuit, or bustier. The bodice cups feature includes an adjustment means for gathering or pulling the panel material vertically, including along a vertically-extending seam in the garment. The adjustment means can be used for adjusting the fabric of the bodice cups to cover the chest, including the bra when a bra is worn, and for adjusting the fabric to be positioned below or beneath the bra or the bottom of the breasts, or a position therebetween. The position therebetween can include adjustments in the bodice cups to cover bras of various designs, styles and sizes that can reveal different levels of décolletage or cleavage. The adjustable bodice cups allow the wearer to employ a single shapewear garment that can be adjusted to be worn to cover all, some, or none of the bra or breasts, and to reveal any level of décolletage. Conventional garments may have bodice cups that can be folded to not cover the bra, but the double layer of fabric creates a visible and unsightly bulge that can often roll down the torso, that defeats the shaping and slimming objective of the garment.
The adjustable bodice cups can include a pair of opposed panels (or cups) made of a light, stretchable material; for example, a bi-elastic woven or knitted fabric. Such fabric can, for example, range from 45 g/m²to 103 g/m²in weight and be made of polyamide (60% to 80%) and elastane (20% to 40%). Each panel is configured to cover one of the breasts of the wearer in the up position. The pair of panels can be formed from a single patterned piece of fabric, or from two separate pieces that are joined together. In the case of a pair of separate panel pieces, each panel piece includes a side edge that is attached (seamed or otherwise joined) to at least a portion of the corresponding side edge of the other panel, to define a middle seam. The panels also include one or more fixed edges along which the panel is attached along the periphery of the upper edge of the base garment, from the middle seam to the upward-extending side portions of the base garment.
In one embodiment of the invention, the material of the bodice cups or panels, along the upward-extending side portion of the upper edge of the base garment, is gathered into a plurality of laterally-extending gathers or pleats, which provide additional room for the breasts.
The panels have upper edges that cooperate to define a neckline of the bodice cups. A folding of the fabric material along an upper edge of the panel creates a neckline that is free of trim or seams, and doubles the stretchable material to increase the stretch strength along the upper edge.
A portion of the fabric of each panel can be folded under along the side edge, and the folded side edges can be joined together along a second seam line that extends parallel with and laterally outboard from the middle seam (that joins the respective side edges), to form a vertical tunnel or tube between the folded-under fabric. One type of an adjustment means for gathering the panel material along the middle seam is provided by a draw string or ribbon. In one embodiment of the invention, a draw string or ribbon is secured along the fixed lower edge of each bodice panel, at a lower end of the tunnel, and extends up through the fabric tunnel, exiting the fabric tunnel through an upper opening. The pair of ribbon ends extending from the upper openings of the two tunnels can be manipulated to adjust the height of the bodice cups, and then tied together, or similarly fastened, to secure the positioning of the bodice cups. To adjust (lower) the height of the bodice's neckline, the ribbons are pulled downward to draw or gather some, more of, or substantially all of, the ribbon out through the upper openings, causing the upper edges of the bodice neckline to be gathered partially toward, more toward, or nearly entirely to, the upper edge of the base garment.
In one embodiment of the invention, the draw string or ribbon can be attached within each tunnel, along the fixed lower edge of each side panel, one on each side of the middle seam. In another embodiment of the invention, a single length of draw string or ribbon can be passed through the adjacent tunnels and looped under the middle seam. The looped-under portion of the ribbon can be left free from attachment, or can be secured in place, including fixed with a stitch or a seam.
The adjustable bodice cups allow a variety of configuration for covering some, none, or all of the wearer's bra, and for covering a wide variety of bra designs, with a single garment that replaces two or more garments, of different sizes or of the same size but with or without cups (coverage for the bra area), that the wearer would usually need for such function.
Other adjustment means for gathering the panel material along the middle seam can include an elastic or stretchable ribbon; buttons and button holes, or snaps, to form pleats fastened along the middle seam; and mechanical fastener portions (commonly known as Velcro).
In another embodiment, the folded inner layers can be seam attached to the outer layer or to the base garment to provide an opening or space for insertion of removable size- or shape-enhancing cup inserts.

High-Tension, Flexible, Thin Seams

An invention herein includes a seam between two adjacent fabrics, including two adjacent stretchable fabrics, and a method of forming said seam. The seam and its method of forming can be used in the shapewear garments of the present invention, for joining a portion of the periphery of one piece of stretchable fabric material to a portion of the periphery of a second piece of stretchable fabric material. The integrity of a seam is particularly challenged in shapewear garments where the strains on the stretchable fabrics can debond or tear a bond or seal between the seamed fabrics.
The seam comprises the first and second pieces of stretchable fabric in abutting or edge-to-edge contact, an adhesive film bonded to an attachment surface adjacent to the edge of each of the first and second pieces of stretchable fabric, and a pattern of stitching formed through the adhesive film and the adjacent portions of the first and second pieces of stretchable fabric. The stitching pattern improves the integrity of the seam, which can include improving the bonding of the adhesive film to the fabric layers, and reducing the tearing of the adhesive film and the underlying fabrics.
The adhesive film has minimal thickness (t) over the joint between the first and second pieces of stretchable fabric, is not apparent or easily visible under tight clothing worn over the shapewear garment. The thinness of the film is at least about 2 mil, and up to about 10 mil or more, including about 5-6 mil (0.13 mm to 0.155 mm). The thinness of the film reduces the stiffness and unsightly distortions of the seam along the seam line. The adhesive film can be a fabric or a thermoplastic that is heat and pressure bonded to the attachment surfaces. The adhesive film extends from the edges and over the attachment surface of each of the first and second pieces of stretchable fabrics by a width (w) of at least about 2 mm, including at least about 4 mm, at least about 6 mm, at least about 8 mm, and up to about 12 mm, including up to about 10 mm, or up to about 8 mm, or up to about 6 mm. Excessively wide attachment film can cause unsightly distortion and stiffness along the seam, so a narrow, flexible and strongly-fused adhesive film is preferred.
In an aspect of the invention, the adhesive film has flexibility and minimum stiffness. The adhesive film has stretch properties in at least, and alternatively only in, its length direction or orientation, to improve the stretch features of the seam and the product. An example of such a stretch film is mono-stretch fabric tape.
The thermobonded film is stitched or sewn to either or both of the flexible fabric pieces adjacent the edges using a stitching technique that permits stretching and flexing of the stitched fabrics. This allows the seam to flex and move with the underlying stretchable fabrics, which improves the appearance, avoids distortion of the seam, and avoids breakage of the thread or stitching. The same or a different thread material can be used as the stitching thread on both the inside surface (adhesive film side) and the outside surface of the fabric. By way of example only, a polyester thread can be used on the inside surface, while a cotton thread can be used on the outside surface.
A shapewear garment can employ the improved seam of this invention on either the inside (skin-side) or the outside (outer) surface.
The one or more stretchable fabrics that a main body of a shapewear garment is made from can contain a fiber having a high yield strain such that the fiber is capable of undergoing significant elongation without plastically deforming. A garment constructed from such a stretchable fabric will be able to stretch to fit wearer's body, including body dimensions that fall into multiple size groups, and recover its original dimensions when the wearer takes off the garment (i.e., the fibers of the stretchable fabric do not plastically deform substantially or meaningfully based on the stretching forces put on the garment by the wearer's body).
In an aspect of the present invention, the garment is configured as shapewear that self-adjusts to the shape and size of a wearer, to continuously self-adjust to that wearer's body shape and/or size that can change when the wearer bends her body during various physical activities or changes occurring during natural physiological cycles, while enhancing comfort, support, and/or flexibility to the wearer.
A shapewear garment of the present invention can be configured as any type of shapewear described herein (i.e., body briefs, bodysuits, brassieres, control top panty hose, control panties, control pants, control briefs, control skirts, control slips, control camisoles, control tanks, hip slips, waist shapers, corsets, garter belts, and girdles) or within the knowledge of one skilled in the art.
A shapewear garment of the present invention can be produced by providing two or more distinct and patterned pieces of stretchable fabric material, and joining a portion of the periphery of one piece of stretchable fabric material to a portion of the periphery of a second piece of stretchable fabric material. The joining of the stretchable fabrics described herein may be constructed using known fabric joining techniques that further enable stretching and recovery. While the types of fabric joining techniques that serve this purpose are well known in the art, non-exclusive examples include stitching, such as hosiery stitching and open overlook stitching, thermal or adhesive bonding of overlapping edges of the adjacent fabrics, and butt bonding which is a technique wherein the peripheral edges of the adjacent fabrics are joined together. One example of butt bonding is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,521,067, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, wherein the adjacent edges fabrics are butt joined together with a bead of thermo-adhesive material. Another non-limiting example of butt bonding is described in PCT Patent Publication WO2004/111329, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, wherein a fused seam is formed by joining two pieces of fabric by means of a thermofusible film.
While this invention is described in relation to the making of shapewear garments, it is understood that this seam can be used to seam fabrics in other articles of apparel or garments, including but not limited to medical compression apparel, high compression sportswear, and other high-tension or stretchable fabrics and garments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purposes of illustrating the present invention, there is shown in the drawings an illustrative form, it being understood however, that the invention is not limited to the precise form shown by the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a dual-layer shapewear garment.

FIGS. 2 through 5 illustrate the construction of a high-tension, flexible thin seam to join the edges of two panels of a shapewear material.

FIG. 6 illustrates a shapewear garment with a high-tension, flexible thin seam.

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate the a high-tension, flexible thin seam with a skin-friendly material covering the thin seam.

FIG. 9 illustrates a shapewear garment having adjustable bodice cups.

FIG. 10 illustrates two panels of fabric that are joined to form the adjustable bodice cups.

FIGS. 11 through 13 illustrate the construction of the adjustable bodice cups including the adjusting ribbons.

FIGS. 14A through 17B illustrate front and side views of a wearer of shapewear of FIG. 9 with the bodice cups adjusted to various positions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

For purposes of this invention, the following terms are defined below.
“Shapewear” can include tank tops, thigh slimmers, singlets, body briefs, bodysuits, brassieres or bras, boy shorts, panties, pants, briefs, slips, camisoles, hip slips, skirts, waist shapers, corsets, garter belts, and girdles, or configurations within the knowledge of one skilled in the art. As such, any exemplary types of shapewear shown in the drawings or described herein are not to be considered limiting in the term shapewear.
“Axial seam” means a seam oriented parallel with an axial plane through the body that divides the right-hand side from the left-hand side.
A “double faced fabric” is one single fabric that is knitted using at least two different yarns in a specific manner that creates two different fabric faces. For example, the first face of the fabric comprises one type of fiber, and the second face of the fabric comprises another type of fiber. Double faced fabric are used in conventional lingerie/shapewear garments, mostly for cup moulding or sport bras.

No-Gusset Panties

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an invention related to shapewear, illustrated as a pair of panties 10 having a waist opening 12, a pair of leg openings 14, and a crotch area 16. The shapewear garment is made from two (or more, “multilayer”) pieces of fabric material that are joined together along seams. The fabric material is typically a double faced fabric that includes an outer face that provides the cosmetic benefit and/or end-look desired, and an inner face that is comfortable, soft to the touch, and preferably moisture absorbent, and typically comprises cotton fiber. The comfort and moisture-management sufficient of the inner cotton face eliminates the need for a gusset or any additional absorbent material in the crotch area 16. An example fabric is 43% cotton composite, 36% polyamide micro, and 21% lycra, with a fabric weight of 280 gm/m². A similar gusset-less shapewear garment can include a full body suit, boy shorts, and other garments that cover the crotch area.
In the illustrated embodiment, the crotch area 16 is covered by a U-shaped panel of double faced fabric 30 that extends along the inner thighs of the leg portions 13 and transversely to the body's center axis, across the crotch area. A front and a rear seam 50 join the U-shaped fabric panel 30 to the remainder of the garment material 20 along the front and rear of the crotch regions and along the leg portions to the leg openings 14. The configuration avoids forming an axial seam in the region of the crotch and the inner thighs for improved feel and comfort. The seam can preferably constructed using a thin, flexible seam as described herein.

High-Tension, Flexible, Thin Seams

FIG. 2 shows a first stretchable fabric member 201 and a second stretchable fabric member 211, each having a peripheral edge 202,212, and an attachment surface 203,213 disposed along the edges 202,212. An adhesive film material 221 is joined to the abutted attachment surfaces 203,213, as shown in FIG. 3, by heat and/or pressure to fuse the adhesive film 221 to, and into, the material on the attachment surfaces 203,213 of the flexible fabric, to form an adhesive seal 240.
FIG. 4 shows a stitching pattern 251 of a thread formed through the adhesive seal 240 to form an improved high-tension, flexible seal 250 that improves the securement and integrity of adhesive seal 240. The stitching pattern 251 extends along the length of and through the adhesive seal 240 and the edge portions of the first and second stretchable fabrics 201,211, improving the adhesive attachment of the film to the fabrics, and securing the integrity of the seal 250. As shown in FIG. 5, the stitching pattern 252 penetrates the opposite surfaces 204,214 of the fabrics. The shapewear garment 10 shown in FIG. 6 can position the seal 250 with the adhesive film on the inside (skin-facing side) of the garment, or on the outside. The stitching is preferably a flexible and stretchable thread to maintain the flexibility and stretchability of the seal and the fabrics joined therewith. Many kinds of stitching can be used to secure the seal 250, including, for example, a zigzag stitch.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the seam 250 can include a second thermofusable film 261 that can cover the adhesive film 221 as shown in FIG. 7, or the opposite side of the seal as shown in FIG. 8. The second thermofusable film 261 is preferably made of a softer, more skin-friendly material or fabric, to reduce skin marks and improve the feel of the garment to the skin. An example of such a material is a polyurethane or fabric tape.

Adjustable Bodice Cups

FIG. 9 illustrates an invention herein of a shapewear garment 100 covering the torso or the waist and the torso of the wearer, and including adjustable bodice cups 101. The adjustable bodice garment includes a base garment 102 that covers the lower torso or the waist and the lower torso. The base garment 102 has a plunging upper edge 103 that is configured to extend from the front-center 106, below the bra of the wearer, and upward along the sides of the bra. A shoulder strap 105 can be optionally provided on each side (meaning on each of the wearer's left and right sides), attached to the upward-extending side portions 104 on the front and the back of the base garment 102.
FIGS. 10, 11, 12 and 13 show the elements and construction of an embodiment of the adjustable bodice. The adjustable bodice 101 can include a pair of opposed panels 111 and 121 that are made of the stretchable material as described herein. Each panel 111,121 includes a center edge 116,126 that will be attached (seamed) to at least a portion of the corresponding center edge of the other panel, to define a middle seam 151. The middle seam 151 can be formed by various means, including a high-tension butt seam as described in another embodiment herein. Each panel 111,121 also includes one or more fixed edges that attach the panels along the periphery of the upper edge 103 of the base garment 102, from the center point 106 where the center edges are joined to the upper edge of the base garment, to the upward-extending side portions 104 of the base garment, as shown in FIG. 11. The material of the panels along the upward-extending side portion of the upper edge of the base garment is gathered into a plurality of laterally-extending gathers or pleats 108 (shown in FIG. 9), which provides additional room for the breasts. Left-side panel 111 includes a lower fixed edge 115 and a laterally side edge 117, while right-side panel 121 includes a lower fixed edge 125 and a laterally side edge 127. These side edges of the formed bodice will then be attached, typically by seams, along the upper edge 103 of the base garment.
Left-side panel 111 (and right-side panel 121) is formed from a patterned piece of fabric material that is folded over onto itself along an upper seamless fold 114 (124) to form the neckline edge of the bodice, and to provide an outer-facing layer 112 (122) and an inner-facing layer 113 (123). The fabric is stretchable, thin, and light, for example, a hi-elastic woven or knitted fabric. Such fabric can, for example, range from 45 g/m2 to 103 g/m2 in weight and be made of polyamide (60 to 80%) and elastane (20 to 40%). As shown in FIG. 11, the center edges 116 of the outer layer 112 is folded inwardly toward the inner layer 113 by an amount sufficient to provide an elongated loop 119 in the outer layer 112 along the center edge 116. (A similar loop 119 can be formed in the inner layer 113, and corresponding loops 129 can be formed in the inner and outer layers 122 and 123 of the right-side bodice panel.) The abutting, confronting loops 119 and 129 are joined using stitching 151 to secure the panels 111 and 121.
The fabric loops 119,129 are also closed along affixment line 118 (128) with an affixment means, illustrated as thread 150, that attaches (stitches) the fabric edges 116,126 to the inner layers 112,113 with stitched seam 152 (FIG. 12). The closed loops 119,129 form tunnels that provide a passage of a draw string or ribbon 130. A length of the ribbon 130 passes into the tunnel at an upper opening, illustrated as an eyelet 136, and a portion 131 extends down through the tunnel, free from attachment to the layers. As illustrated, a single ribbon length is looped and passed up through the adjacent tunnel formed by the adjacent loop 129 in the right-side panel 121. The loop of the lower ends 132 of the ribbon 130 can be free or can be fixed to the lower end edges 115,125 of the panels 111,121. The length of the ribbon 130 is sufficient to allow for maximum extension of the fabric material along the tunnels, and for tying off the ends of the ribbon together. Alternatively, two separate lengths of ribbon can be used, with the lower end 132 fixed to the lower end edges 115,125 of the panels 111.
Once formed as shown in FIG. 13, the assembled bodice can be attached to the base garment by well known means, or by a seaming means described herein. To adjust the height of the bodice's neckline 107, the ends 133 of the ribbon 130 are pulled downward to draw or gather some, more of, or substantially all of, the ribbon 130 out through the upper eyelets 136, causing the upper edges 114,124 of the bodice neckline 107 to be pulled partially toward, more toward, or nearly entirely to, the upper edge 103 of the base garment 102. The wearer can then tie the extending portions 133 of the ribbon 130 together to fix the gathering of the bodice panels in place.
FIGS. 14A-14B illustrate front and side views, respectively, of the several uses and configurations into which the bodice 101 can be adjusted by a wearer. In FIGS. 14A and 14B, the adjustable bodice 101 a is shown in an up-most position, with the neckline 107 a up over the bra and revealing no cleavage. In this configuration, the ends of the ribbon 130 are slack or “let out” sufficiently to allow the stretchable bodice material to rise high on the chest, between the opposed side portions 104 of the base garment 102. The double-layer of stretchable fabric along the folded upper edge holds sufficiently the panels in the up position without sagging.
In FIGS. 15A and 15B, the adjustable bodice 101 b is shown in a slightly lowered position, with the neckline 107 b covering the upper edge of the wearer's bra, and revealing some cleavage. In this configuration, the ends of the ribbon 130 have been drawn slightly to gather slightly the bodice panels downward at the middle seam, thereby applying tension laterally in the bodice panels between the side portions 104 of the base garment 102 and the middle seam.
In FIGS. 16A and 16B, the adjustable bodice 101 c is shown in a much more lowered position, with the bodice neckline 107 c now position at or below the upper edge of the wearer's bra, and revealing both the bra and significant cleavage. In this configuration, the ends of the ribbon 130 have been drawn more tightly to gather moreso the bodice panels down toward the bottom middle seam, thereby applying more tension and more stretch laterally in the bodice panels.
In FIGS. 17A and 17B, the adjustable bodice 101 d is shown in a lower-most position, with the bodice neckline 107 d now positioned below or at the bottom edge of the wearer's bra, and gathered entirely under the wearer's bra (“open bust”). In this configuration, the ends of the ribbon 130 have been drawn maximally to the bottom of the middle seam, to gather the bodice panels completely at the bottom middle seam. The wearer usually, after maximally gathering the middle portion of the bodice with the ribbon 130, will move and position the neckline 107 of the panels under the bra cups.
In another embodiment, one or more additional layers of a fabric can be included in each panel to add dimension, coverage, and/or color as desired. In another embodiment, one could use a single layer of material not folded at the top. In another embodiment, a single piece/panel of fabric can be used instead of the two opposed panels 111,121.
It can be appreciated that various other optional components including lace, embroidery, mesh, and the like may be added to any garment constructed according to the present invention for a variety of reasons including improving comfort, control, and aesthetic appearance.
While the foregoing description and drawings represent an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, it will be understood that various additions, modifications, and substitutions may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the accompanying claims. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to only the embodiments specifically described herein. In particular, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms, structures, arrangements, proportions, and with other elements, materials, and components, without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be used with many modifications of structure, arrangement, proportions, materials, and components and otherwise, used in the practice of the invention, which are particularly adapted to specific environments and operative requirements without departing from the principles of the present invention. The presently disclosed embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims, and not limited to the foregoing description.

Claims

We claim:

1. A garment including a panty or full body garment that covers the crotch area of the wearer, the garment comprising a double face fabric, the double face fabric comprising an inner cotton layer, wherein the crotch portion of the double face fabric does not include a gusset or additional absorbent material.

2. The garment according to claim 1 wherein the garment has opposed leg portion having an inner thigh area, and the crotch portion is a U-shaped panel that extends along the inner thigh areas and across the crotch area, transversely to the body's center axis, thereby avoiding forming an axial seam in the crotch portion.

3. The garment according to claim 1 wherein double face fabric is stretchable.

4. A shapewear garment covering the torso or both the torso and the waist of the wearer, and including adjustable bodice cups including an adjustment means for adjusting the height of the bodice cups.

5. The shapewear garment according to claim 4 wherein adjustment means comprises draw strings that gather a panel material of the bodice cups along a vertically-extending seam in the garment.

6. The shapewear garment according to claim 4, wherein the garment includes a base garment that covers the torso or both the torso and the waist, the adjustable bodice cups including a pair of opposed panels made of a light, stretchable material.

7. The shapewear garment according to claim 6, wherein each of the opposed panels is formed from a single patterned piece of fabric that has a folded-under side edge that attaches to at least a portion of the corresponding folded-under side edge of the other panel to define a middle seam, and an upper edge defining a neckline, formed with a portion of the panel folded under itself.

8. The shapewear garment according to claim 7, wherein each panel includes a vertical tunnel formed in the folded-under side edge by a second seam line that extends parallel with and laterally outboard from the middle seam, wherein the draw strings extend up through each tunnel and out through an upper opening in the tunnel.

9. The shapewear garment according to claim 8, wherein each draw string is secured at a lower end of the tunnel.

10. A high tension, flexible thin seam including two adjacent stretchable fabrics, each fabric having an abutting edge and an attachment surface adjacent the abutting edge, an adhesive film bonded to the attachment surfaces across the abutting edges, and a pattern of stitching formed through the adhesive film and the attachment surfaces of the adjacent stretchable fabrics.

11. The seam according to claim 10, wherein the adhesive film has a thickness of at least about 2 mil, and up to about 10 mil.

12. The seam according to claim 10, wherein the adhesive film is heat and pressure bonded to the attachment surfaces.

13. The seam according to claim 10, wherein the adhesive film extends from the abutting edge and over the attachment surface by width of at least about 2 mm, and up to about 12 mm, including up to about 10 mm, or up to about 8 mm, or up to about 6 mm.

14. The seam according to claim 10, wherein the adhesive film has stretch properties only in its length direction

15. The seam according to claim 10, wherein the pattern of stitching is a stitching technique that permits stretching and flexing of the stitched fabrics.

16. A garment made from two or fabric pieces that are joined using a high tension, flexible thin seam of claim 10.