A three-bar moldable warp knitted fabric having a satin-like technical back
suitable for use in forming seamless molded breast cups for women's
brassieres is produced on a Raschel warp knitting machine by knitting
satin-effect yarns on the machine's bottom bar in coursewise extended
underlaps producing the satin-like technical back of the fabric, knitting
high elongation-high shrinkage monofilament POY draw-warped polyester
yarns on the machine's middle bar to form a stabilized fabric ground
structure, and inlaying elastic yarns with the machine's top bar to impart
a compacted stitch density to the fabric when relaxed. When placed over a
heated molding surface of a breast cup mold, the ground yarns shrink
sufficiently and become heat set to collapse the fabric into a permanent
shape conforming to the molding surface, the elastic yarns maintaining
sufficient stitch density in the molded fabric to retain a uniform
satin-like surface effect at the fabric's technical back.