1. Cultivation of Cotton
Cotton begins its journey as seeds planted in fertile soil.
- The plants require warm temperatures and ample sunlight.
- Farmers monitor growth, ensuring proper irrigation and pest control.
2. Harvesting
Once the cotton bolls open, they are ready for harvest.
- Cotton is picked either by hand or using mechanical harvesters.
- The cotton fibers are separated from the seeds during this process.
3. Ginning
After harvesting, the cotton undergoes ginning.
- Ginning removes seeds and debris from the cotton fibers.
- This process results in clean cotton lint ready for spinning.
4. Spinning
The clean cotton lint is then spun into yarn.
- Cotton fibers are twisted together to form long strands.
- The spinning process can vary, including ring spinning or open-end spinning.
5. Weaving or Knitting
Yarn is transformed into fabric through weaving or knitting.
- Weaving involves interlacing vertical and horizontal yarns on a loom.
- Knitting consists of looping yarn together to create fabric.
6. Finishing
The fabric undergoes finishing processes to enhance quality.
- Treatments may include bleaching, dyeing, and softening.
- Finishing improves the fabric's appearance and feel.
7. Cutting and Sewing
Finally, the finished fabric is cut and sewn into garments.
- Patterns are marked on the fabric for cutting.
- Skilled workers sew pieces together to create clothing items.
8. Quality Control and Packaging
The final products are inspected for quality.
- Any defects are addressed before packaging.
- The garments are then prepared for distribution and sale.

Cultivation of cotton

Cotton is cultivated in black clayey soil. It needs warm climate. The sowing of cotton crop is done in early spring. Cotton plants are bushy and about 1-2 meters tall. The plants start flowering in about 60 days and give whitish - yellow flowers. The flowers turn reddish in a few days. Flowers slowly grow into spherical walnut-like structures. These are called cotton ball. Fibres of cotton grow on these seeds. After some time green cotton balls turn brown. At maturity, the cotton bolls burst open and the white cotton fibre can be seen.
Ginning: The cotton picked up from the plants has seeds in it. The process of removing cotton seeds from pods is called ginning. Ginning was traditionally done by hand. Now-a-days, machines are used in ginning.
Spinning: The process of making yarn from fibre is called spinning. The raw cotton is supplied to industry in the form of bales.

Steps in making cotton yarn

The raw cotton is loosened and cleaned; to remove straw and dried leaves.

The cleaned cotton is then fed into a machine. The cotton fibre are combed, straightened and converted into a rope like structure called sliver.

The sliver of cotton fibre is converted into yarn by spinning using machines.

Weaving: The process of arranging two sets of yarn together to make a fabric is called weaving. The big reels of yarn are called bobbins. These bobbins are used for weaving the cloth. Cloth is woven on looms. After that they bleached and dyed to give a finish.
Knitting: Knitting can be done by hand and machine. Just two yarns are used in knitting, while more than two yarns are used in weaving. Sweater, socks, scarf and caps are knitted from the wool.
Uses of cotton: Cotton is mostly used for making clothes of various kinds. Examples: towels, bed-sheet, curtains, saris.