Three-piece panty garment and methods of making

1. A panty garment, comprising:

a front panel and two back panels, each panel having a top and a bottom, formed from a separate tubular blank knit on a small-circumference circular knitting machine, and slit lengthwise;

a crotch portion integrally knit with the front panel;

a waistband at the top of the front and back panels;

two leg openings;

a lengthwise front seam joining each side of the front panel and one of the back panels and extending between the waistband and one of the leg openings;

a lengthwise rear seam joining the two back panels and extending between the waistband and the crotch portion; and

a rear crotch seam joining the bottoms of the two back panels with the bottom of the front panel and extending transversely between the leg openings.

2. The panty garment of claim 1 , the circular knitting machine comprising a knitting cylinder having a circumference, and wherein the garment comprises an unstretched girth substantially three times the circumference of the knitting cylinder.

3. The panty garment of claim 1 , wherein the two leg openings comprise cut-outs at predetermined locations in the tubular blanks.

4. The panty garment of claim 1 , further comprising a means for making various sizes of the panty garment on the same circular knitting machine.

5. The panty garment of claim 4 , wherein the means for making various sizes of the panty garment comprises increasing or decreasing the stitch loop length in the tubular blanks.

6. The panty garment of claim 1 , wherein the crotch comprises a Y-seam sewn about a lengthwise slit of the bottom of the front panel for a predetermined length.

7. The panty garment of claim 1 , wherein the crotch comprises a stitch pattern different from a stitch pattern of the remainder of the panty garment.

8. The panty garment of claim 1 , further comprising:

yam knit into wales and courses;

a knit direction from the bottom to the top;

the two leg openings comprising cut-outs across wales; and

run prevention stitches knit in predetermined courses downstream from the cut-outs,

wherein runs are prevented downstream from the cut-outs in a front portion of the garment.

9. The panty garment of claim 8 , wherein the run prevention stitches comprise float stitches.

10. The panty garment of claim 8 , wherein the run prevention stitches comprise tuck stitches.

11. The panty garment of claim 1 , wherein the two leg openings comprise cut-outs along an angle substantially parallel to knitted wales, wherein runs are prevented downstream from the cut-outs.

12. A three-piece panty garment, comprising:

a front panel formed from a first tubular blank, a first back panel formed from a second tubular blank, and a second back panel formed from a third tubular blank, each tubular blank knit on a small-circumference circular knitting machine knitting cylinder having a circumference, and each panel having a top and a bottom;

a crotch portion integrally knit with the front panel;

a waistband at the top of the front and back panels;

two leg openings;

a lengthwise front seam joining each side of the front panel and one of the back panels and extending between the waistband and a topmost point of one of the leg openings;

a lengthwise rear seam joining the two back panels and extending between the waistband and the crotch portion; and

a rear crotch seam joining the bottoms of the two back panels with the bottom of the front panel and extending transversely between the leg openings,

wherein the garment comprises an unstretched girth substantially three times the circumference of the knitting cylinder.

13. A method of making a panty garment, comprising:

knitting at least three tubular blanks on a small-circumference circular knitting machine;

making cut-outs for leg openings at predetermined locations in the tubular blanks;

slitting each of the tubular blanks lengthwise to form a front panel from a first tubular blank, a first back panel from a second tubular blank, and a second back panel from a third tubular blank, each panel having a top and a bottom;

sewing a lengthwise front seam extending between a waistband and one of the leg openings to join each side of the front panel and one of the back panels;

sewing a lengthwise rear seam extending between the waistband and a crotch portion to join the two back panels; and

sewing a rear crotch seam extending transversely between the leg openings to join the bottoms of the two back panels with the bottom of the front panel.

14. The method of claim 13 , the circular knitting machine comprising a knitting cylinder having a circumference, and wherein the garment comprises an unstretched girth substantially three times the circumference of the knitting cylinder.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising making various sizes of the panty garment on the same circular knitting machine by increasing or decreasing the stitch loop length in the tubular blanks.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising slitting the bottom of the front panel lengthwise for a predetermined length to provide a Y-shaped crotch and sewing the slit along the crotch.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

knitting the garment in a direction from the bottom to the top;

making leg opening cut-outs across wales; and

knitting run prevention stitches in predetermined courses downstream from the cut-outs.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein knitting run prevention stitches further comprises knitting float stitches or tuck stitches.

19. The method of claim 13 , further comprising making leg opening cut-outs along an angle substantially parallel to knitted wales, wherein runs are prevented downstream from the cut-outs.