Method for manufacturing pillowcases

Abstract

In a method and apparatus for constructing pillowcases, upper and lower layers of fabric are conveyed along separate paths with their obverse surfaces facing upwardly. Cuffs are formed along one longitudinal edge of each layer. The upper layer of fabric is then reversed to an obverse-side down orientation, and the upper and lower layers of fabric are superimposed with their obverse surfaces mutually facing and their cuffed lateral edges mutually corresponding. The superimposed upper and lower layers of fabric are then stitched together along the lateral edge opposite the cuffed lateral edge. Next, a length of the superimposed upper and lower layers of fabric is cut to a length equal to the desired width of a finished pillowcase. The resulting rectangular workpiece comprises upper and lower panels of fabric stitched together along one transverse edge and cuffed at their opposite transverse edge. Next, the upper and lower panels of fabric are stitched together along their corresponding longitudinal edges, such that the workpiece is sewn closed along one transverse edge and both longitudinal edges and is cuffed at the open transverse edge. Finally, the workpiece is turned inside out so that the cuffs and the obverse surfaces of the fabric face outwardly and the seams are concealed.