NCERT Summary: Fibre to Fabric | NCERT Video Summary: Class 6 to Class 12 (English) - UPSC PDF Download

Fibres

• Fibre is a fine thread-like filament.
• Fabric is made up of threads of yarns arranged together.

There are two types of fibre:

1. Natural fibre
2. Synthetic fibre

Natural fibres

• The fibre which are obtained from plants and animals is known as Natural fibre. Examples: cotton, jute, silk and wool.
• Cotton and jute are obtained from plants while wool and silk are obtained from animals.
• Silk fibre is drawn from the cocoon of silkworm and wool is obtained from the fleece of sheep or goat, it is also obtained from the hair of rabbits, yak and camels.

Synthetic fibres

• Fibres which is made by man from chemical substance is called synthetic fibres.
  Examples: rayon, nylon, polyester etc.

Variety of Natural Fibre

• Natural fibres are obtained from two sources. They are Plant fibre and Animal fibre.

• The fibre which are obtained from plant are known as Plant fibre.
  Examples: Cotton, Jute etc.

Cotton

• The plants of cotton are usually grown at the places having black soil and warm climate.
• Cotton grows in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Odisha etc.
• The fruit of cotton is known as cotton bolls.
• From the bolls, cotton is usually picked by hand.
• Ginning is the process of separating cotton fibres from the seeds by combing. It was traditionally done by hands, now machines are available for ginning.

Jute

• Jute is used for making of bags and ropes mats etc.
• Jute fibre is obtained from stem of the jute plant.
• The cultivation of jute is in rainy season.
• The cultivation of jute is in west Bengal, Bihar and Assam.
• When the jute plant is in flowering stage the harvesting is take place.
• The stems of the jute plant are immersed in water for a few days which then rot and fibres are separated by hand and this process is called stripping.
• Then the stripped fibres are washed and dried in sun.

2. Animal fibre

Wool

• Wool cloth is spun from yarn made from the fibres of the thick fleece of sheep.

Processing of wool

• The first step is shearing in which the fleece of the sheep along with thin layer of skin is removed from its body.
• Then the damaged wool is separate from fleece this process is known as grading.
• Then these wools are passes through a roller after washing and drying this process is called as carding.
• In last step spinning is takes place in which fibres are gathered together and drawn into a long rope and then twisted to make yarn.

Silk: Silk thread is obtained from the saliva of an insect called silkworm.

Spinning cotton yarn

• Fabrics are made from yarns, which in turn are made from fibres.
• The process of making yarn from raw fibrous materials is called spinning.
• In this process, the fibres are twisted to make yarn.
• Making fabric from yarn is done by two processes:
  (i) Weaving: It is a process in which the two sets of yarn arranged together to make a fabric is called weaving. It is done by looms.
  (ii) Knitting:  The process by which a single yarn is used to make fabric. It is done by hand or by help of machines.

History of clothing material

• Ancient people used the bark and big leaves of tree or animals skins or furs to cover themselves.
• After settling in agriculture communities, they learnt to weave twigs and grass into mats and baskets.
• Early Indians wore fabrics made out of cotton.
• In ancient Egypt, cotton as well as flax was used for making fabrics.
• After the invention of the sewing needle, people started stitching fabrics to make cloth.