Article of footwear incorporating wound element, and related methods of manufacture

A method of manufacturing at least a portion of an upper for an article of footwear, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a support structure;
• providing a fiber delivery system comprising at least one heating element adapted to heat a fiber to a temperature sufficient to at least partially melt the fiber;
• placing a fabric base material for at least the portion of the upper for the article of footwear over the support structure, the base material comprising at least one first region and at least one second region;
• tacking a first end of a first heat-fusible fiber onto the base material;
• moving at least one of the support structure or the fiber delivery system with respect to each other to wind the first heat-fusible fiber onto the at least one first region of the base material;
• cutting a second end of the first heat-fusible fiber upon positioning of the first heat-fusible fiber onto the first region of the base material;
• and
• heating at least a portion of the first heat-fusible fiber with the at least one heating element to fixedly hold it in a wound arrangement on the at least one first region of the base material to form an upper portion for incorporation into an article of footwear, wherein the first heat-fusible fiber is substantially absent from the second region of the base material.