What's the deal with seam rotation (seam twisting) on jeans? What causes it and can it be avoided?

For decades I have been buying jeans that seem fine in the store, when I try them on. But after the first washing I often find that one or both legs have rotated, or twisted, such that instead of the seams being at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock, they are, say, at 5 o'clock and 11 o'clock on the left leg, and 4 o'clock and 10 o'clock on the right leg. (This is just a example.

) Is this defect a result of washing/drying or are the jeans detectably defective in the store? Am I doing something wrong that causes the rotation or is it a very common manufacturing defect? And can anything be done to correct jeans that have suffered seam rotation, other than returning them to the store?

This problem is not as prevalent as it was years ago, but it still happens, especially with Lee jeans, my favorite brand, unfortunately. Asked by Joe_Freeman 57 months ago Similar questions: deal seam rotation twisting jeans avoided Lifestyle > Fashion.

Similar questions: deal seam rotation twisting jeans avoided.

It can have a few causes. The usual cause of "leg torque" is that the fabric has shrunk unevenly. This can happen with all twill fabrics (of which denim is one.) If you look closely at your denim jeans, you will see that the vertical threads are exposed for a short distance, then dive under a horizontal thread and immediately back up.

Most denim is 3x1, meaning the vertical threads go under one horizontal thread and over three. The next thread over then shifts the pattern down one thread, so the overall effect is a diagonal pattern. That means the fabric will shrink more in one direction than in another.

Specifically, a square of twill fabric will turn into a parallelogram. The sides will not be square.In jeans legs, this results in the leg being twisted or "torqued. " Leg torque can also be caused by a hasty seamstress pulling on the fabric to join it to another piece.

That would be rare in jeans. The way for a manufacturer to prevent leg torque is to first, preshrink the fabric. Second, they can "antiskew" it by pulling the fabric back into shape at the mill.

Lastly, they can change the fabric construction. They can use "broken" twills, in which instead of having a diagonal pattern marching all the way across the fabric, the pattern is zig-zags, first up, then down, so it looks like a herringbone weave (and actually is one. ) It isn't clear if leg torque is a quality problem in jeans.

Some very traditionally constructed jeans seem to have this problem/feature. The reason is that so called "selvage" denim is made in extremely old fashioned ways, and has rarely been antiskewed. So perhaps you shouldn't worry about it.

Torque would definitely be a problem in khakis, though..

1 karlc, regarding your answer "It can have a few causes. ": What a great answer! I've also wondered about this myself, thinking I was just anal!

Karlc, regarding your answer "It can have a few causes. ": What a great answer! I've also wondered about this myself, thinking I was just anal!

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.