Fibre to fabric of class 6

It contains a brief description of the overall chapter

1. INTRODUCTION : If you will visit any cloth shop, you will observe that varieties of clothes are available there like bed sheet, blankets, curtains, tablecloths, towels and dusters. Now if you separately touch each of the cloth you will observe that the nature of the clothes are different i.e they are made of different kind of fabrics. Now you may wonder with the word ‘fabric’ because you know the term but probably you don’t know the details of fabric or the formation of it. So, throughout the chapter we will learn about this. HISTORY OF CLOTHING MATERIAL : The concept of clothing material has started from the ancient time when the people used the bark and big leaves of trees or animal skins and furs to cover themselves. As people have learned different things then the concept or way of clothing was also changed. The early Indians wore fabrics made out of cotton that grew in the regions near the river Ganga . In ancient Egypt, cotton as well as flax were cultivated near the river Nile and were used for making fabrics. With the invention of the sewing needle, people started stitching fabrics to make clothes. Stitched clothes have gone through many variations since this invention.

2. A fibre is a thin thread of a natural or artificial substance, especially one that is used to make cloth or rope. If you pull any cotton fabric you will find that it is made of some thin threads, called yarn which are further can be separated into thinner strands that are called fibre. What is fibre?

3. Classification of fibre

4. Natural fibre: The fibres which are obtained from plant and animals are called natural fibres. Example: Cotton Wool, Jute & Silk C o t t on Silk W o o l J u t e

5. Synthetic or man-made fibre : The fibres that are synthesized in laboratory are called Man-Made or Synthetic Fibres. Example : Nylon, Polyester, Makmal , Fur etc. Polyester Ma k ma l Fur

6. Natural Fibres COTTON: Cotton plants are usually grown at places having black soil and warm climate. The fruits of the cotton plant (cotton bolls) are about the size of a lemon. After maturing, the bolls burst open and the seeds covered with cotton fibres can be seen. From these bolls, cotton is usually picked by hand.

7. Process of Making Cotton: From field to fabric The process of making cotton transforms the raw fibers into threads, yarn and fabric in three steps: Preparation, Spinning, and Weaving.

8. Fibres are separated from the seeds by combing. This process is called ginning of cotton. Ginning was traditionally done by hand .These days, machines are also used for ginning.

9. JUTE Jute fibre is obtained from the stem of the jute plant. It is cultivated during the rainy season. In India, jute is mainly grown in West Bengal, Bihar and Assam. The stems of the harvested plants are immersed in water for a few days. The stems rot and fibres are separated by hand.

10. Spinning The process of making yarn from fibres is called spinning. In this process, fibres from a mass of cotton wool are drawn out and twisted. This brings the fibres together to form a yarn. A simple device used for spinning is a hand spindle, also called takli . Another hand operated device used for spinning is charkha.

11. Spinning of yarn on a large scale is done with the help of spinning machines. After spinning, yarns are used for making fabrics.

12. Weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling .

13. HOMEWORK ON FIBRE TO FABRIC Define natural fibres. Give example. Write down the main difference between weaving and knitting. Write down about the climate necessary for cotton production. What is retting ? What is spinning? What is ginning? Write down the name of Indian states that are famous for jute production.