PRAGNYA MONTESSORI SCHOOL BIOLOGY FIBRE TO FABRIC

FIBRE TO FABRIC
Table of contents
FIBRE TO FABRIC
FIBRES
History of clothing 3
Fibre and fabric 3
Types of fibres 3
Natural fibres 3
Synthetic fibres 3
Types of natural fibres 3
Some plant fibres
Cotton Fibre 4
Ginning 4
Jute Fibre 5
The story of jute 5
Making yarn from fibres 5
Spinning 5
Conversion of Yarn to Fabric 6
Weaving 6
Knitting 7
Other useful plant fibres 7
Coir 7
Silk cotton 7
Hemp 7
SOME ANIMAL Fibres
Wool 8
Animals that yield Wool 8
From fibres to wool 9
Rearing of Sheep 9
Selective Breeding 9
Processing Fibres into Wool 9
Step I: Shearing 10

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Step II: Scouring 10

Step III: Sorting 10
Step IV: Cleaning of burrs 11
Step V: Dyeing 11
Step VI: Straightening, Combing and Rolling 11
Silk 12
Discovery of silk 12
Types of Silk 13
Properties of Silk 13
Life Cycle of Silk Moth 13
From Cocoon to Silk 14
Rearing Silkworms 15
Processing Silk 16

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FIBRES
The basic necessities for human beings are food, shelter and clothing. Let us discuss
about clothes and why they are important.
Clothes guard our body from external environment. They protect us from insect bite
and they make us look good.
Depending on the climate of the place people wear different clothes. Clothes are
made of different types of materials.
For example: Cotton sari is made of cotton, Leather jacket is made of leather,
Sweater is made of wool, etc.
History of clothing
In the beginning of civilization, people used bark, leaves and animal fur as clothes.
When people settled down as farmers, they used woven vines and animal fleece as
clothes. In the next stage, flax and cotton were woven into clothes. In those times,
people just draped the fabric to cover themselves. People started wearing stitched
clothes only after the needle was invented.
Even today, in older cultures like India, you see people wearing unstitched garments
like turbans, saris and dhotis.
Fibre and fabric
Fabrics are made up of strands called yarns, which are made from even thinner
strands, called fibres.
Types of fibres
Fibres can be classified as natural fibres and synthetic fibres.
Natural fibres
The fibres obtained from natural sources, i.e. plants and animals are called Natural
fibres.
Example: Cotton, jute, silk, wool, etc.
Synthetic fibres
These are man-made fibres. The fibres which are synthesized in industry from simple
chemicals obtained from petroleum are called synthetic fibres.
Example: Nylon, Polyester, Acrylic, etc.
Types of natural fibres
Natural fibres can be classified into two types – Plant fibres and Animal fibres.
Plant fibres
Fibres obtained from plant sources are called plant fibres.
Example: Cotton, Jute, coir, and linen.

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Animal fibres
Fibres obtained from animal sources are called animal fibres.
Example: Wool and Silk.

SOME PLANT FIBRES

Cotton Fibre
Cotton fibre is obtained from cotton plants that grow in black soil in a warm climate.
In India, cotton is grown in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,
Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.
The cotton plant bears fruits about the size of a lemon, called cotton bolls. The bolls
are full of seeds and cotton fibre. They burst open when they are ripe. The cotton
fibres are collected by hand from the ripe cotton bolls. This process is called picking.
Next, the cotton fibres are separated from the seeds by combing them.
Ginning
The process of removing seeds from cotton is known as ginning. Earlier, ginning was
done by hand, but nowadays, a machine is used.

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Jute Fibre
The story of jute
There is an interesting story about jute.
Long long ago a man was grazing his cattle in the forest near his village. Suddenly it
started raining. It did not stop for days. He saved himself by climbing on to a tree.
Almost all the forest got submerged in floods. After a couple of weeks he got down
from the tree and walked through soaked plants in the mud. He observed that peels
of plants stuck to his legs. He went home and removed those peelings from his body.
One day his wife saw the dried peels and noticed that they were so strong and spun
a thread out of it. Thus evolved the jute fibre.
In our state in the districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vijayanagaram jute is
widely grown.
Jute fibre comes from jute plants, which are mainly grown in places that have high
temperatures and plenty of rainfall. Jute is cultivated during the rainy season. In
India, jute is cultivated in West Bengal, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam,
Chhattisgarh and Tripura.
The jute plant is generally harvested when it is in the flowering stage. The stems of
jute plants are soaked in water for a few days until they start rotting. Then the fibres
are separated by hand from the rotting stems.

Making yarn from fibres

To make fabrics, all these fibres are first converted into yarns through a process
called spinning.
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.

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Use of charkha was popularized by Mahatma Gandhi as part of the Independence

movement. He encouraged people to wear clothes made of homespun yarn and
reject imported cloth made in the mills of Britain.
Spinning of yarn on a large scale is done with the help of spinning machines. After
spinning, yarns are used for making fabrics.

Conversion of Yarn to Fabric

There are many ways by which fabrics are made from yarns. The two main processes
that are mostly used are weaving and knitting.
Weaving
The process of arranging two sets of yarns together perpendicular to each other to
make a fabric is called weaving. Fabrics are woven on looms. These looms may be
operated by hand or by power. The looms that are operated by hand are called
handlooms and that run by machines are called powerlooms.

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Knitting
Knitting is a process that makes use of a single yarn to make a piece of fabric. That is
why, if you pull a single yarn from a torn woolen garment, it keeps unraveling.
Knitting can be done by hand or on machines.

Other useful plant fibres

Coir
Coconut fibre can be woven into fabric called coir. Coir is too rough to be made into
garments. It is mostly used to make doormats, carpets and other flooring material.
Silk cotton
Silk cotton is obtained from kapok tree. The fruits of this tree contain fibres. These
fibres are light and fluffy. Silk cotton is commonly used as stuffing in pillows, sleeping
bags and life jackets.
Hemp
Another important plant fibre is hemp. Hemp fibre is obtained from the stems of
hemp plant. It is mostly used to make ropes, carpets, clothes and papers and nets.

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SOME ANIMAL FIBRES

Fibres obtained from animals are - wool and silk.
Wool
Wool is the animal fibre. Wool is obtained from the fleece (hair) of sheep, yak, goat
and some other animals. These animals bear a thick coat of hair on their body. Such
animals generally live in cold climates. Hair traps lot of air and keeps them warm as
air is a bad conductor of heat. It prevents the warmth of the body from escaping and
also prevents the coldness of the surroundings from entering.
Feel the hair on your body and arms and those on your head. Do you find any
difference? Which one seems coarse and which one is soft?
The hairy skin of the sheep has two types of fibres that form its fleece: (i) the coarse
beard hair, and (ii) the fine soft under-hair close to the skin. The fine hair provide the
fibres for making wool. Some breeds of sheep possess only fine under-hair.
Animals that yield Wool

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Several breeds of sheep are found in different parts of our country. However, the
fleece of sheep is not the only source of wool. Apart from sheep, wool also comes
from the Angora goat, yak, llama, alpaca, and camels. Sheep wool is more commonly
available in India. In Tibet and Ladakh, yak wool is more common, whereas in Jammu
and Kashmir, it is the angora wool. The famous Pashmina shawls come from the soft
under fur of the Kashmiri goat. The fur (hair) on the body of camels is also used as
wool. Llama and Alpaca, found in South America, also yield wool.
From fibres to wool
For obtaining wool, sheep are reared. Their hair is cut and processed into wool.
Rearing of Sheep
Rearing of Sheep is a branch of animal husbandry. Sheep are reared mainly for their
meat, wool, and milk. Sheep are herbivores and prefer grass and leaves. However,
shepherds also feed them mixtures of pulses, corn, Jowar, oil cakes and minerals. In
winter, sheep are kept indoors and fed on leaves, grain and dry fodder. In India
sheep are reared in the hills of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal
Pradesh and Sikkim, and in the plains of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Selective Breeding
The process of selecting parents for obtaining special characters in their offspring is
called Selective breeding.
For example, some breeds of sheep possess only fine under-hair which provides the
fibres for making wool. Their parents are specially chosen to give birth to sheep
which have only soft under-hair.
Sheep are reared in many parts of our country for wool. The following table gives the
names of some breeds of sheep reared in our country for producing wool. The
quality and texture of the fibres obtained from them is also indicated in the table.
Certain breeds of sheep have thick coat of hair on their body which yields good
quality wool in large quantities. These sheep are “selectively bred” with one parent
being a sheep of good breed. Once the reared sheep have developed a thick growth
of hair, hair is shaved off for getting wool.
Some Indian breeds of sheep
S. No. Name of breed Quality of wool State where found
1. Lohi Good quality wool Rajasthan, Punjab
2. Rampur bushair Brown fleece Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh

3. Nali Carpet wool Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab

4. Bakharwal For woollen shawls Jammu and Kashmir

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5. Marwari Coarse wool Gujarat

6. Patanwadi For hosiery Gujarat
Processing Fibres into Wool
The process of making fibre into wool involves the following steps:
Step I: Shearing
The fleece of the sheep along with a thin layer of the skin is removed from its body.
This process is called Shearing. In olden days this was done using a pair of metal
blades called shear. But now-a-days machine is used to cut off the fleece. Generally
sheep are sheared in warm weather, usually spring, as they don’t require their
woolly coats to keep them warm. Shearing doesn’t hurt the sheep as the uppermost
layer of the skin is dead (This is similar to shaving of hair or beards).

Step II: Scouring

The sheared skin with hair is thoroughly washed in tanks to remove grease, dust and
dirt. This is called scouring. Now-a-days scouring is done by machines.

Step III: Sorting

Sorting is done after scouring to separate hair of different textures and types. Some
parts of the sheep’s coat have better hair than others. The good quality wool from
the shoulders and sides of the sheep is used for clothing, while the more inferior
quality comes from the lower legs, and is used to make rugs.

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Step IV: Cleaning of burrs

After sorting, the small fluffy fibres, called burrs, are picked out from the hair. The
fibres are scoured again and dried. This is the wool ready to be drawn into fibres.

Step V: Dyeing
Since the natural fibres are mostly black, brown or white in color they can be dyed in
various colours. Woollen fibres are first bleached and then dyed with different
colours.

Step VI: Straightening, Combing and Rolling

Once the dyeing process is complete, the fibres are straightened, combed and rolled
into yarn. Longer fibres are made into wool for sweaters, while the shorter fibres are
spun and woven into woollen cloth.

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Knitting
Knitting of woolen fabrics is done by using needles. Wool can be knit easily because it
has a natural bend or crimp on it. By making knots and loops and rings of long
threads of yarn, woolen fabrics are knitted.
Weaving
Weaving is done on looms. Woolen threads are stretched from the top of loom to
the bottom. These are called warp threads. The threads that go side to side are weft
threads. A shuttle like a big needle takes the weft threads over and under warp
threads. One more important part of the loom is the harness. The harness lifts every
other warp thread so that the weft threads go over one and under the next. All types
of yarn whether cotton or silk or wool etc. are woven in this manner.

Occupational Hazards

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Workers in wool industry face occupational hazards. Risks that can be life
threatening to workers due to their occupation are called occupational hazards. They
get infected by a bacterium called anthrax, which causes a fatal blood disease called
sorter’s disease.
Silk
Discovery of silk
Silk is known to mankind since 27th century B.C., the discovery of silk is credited to a
Chinese Queen Xi Ling Shi, at the age of 14 when she was already married to the
Emperor Huang Ti, also known as “Yellow Emperor”. As stated by Confucius, the
queen was once sitting under the Mulberry tree, sipping a warm cup of tea. One of
the cocoons fell right into her cup, the young queen was familiar with the object
because of remarkable growth of silkworms in the area, but she had never touched
or examined it. As the tea was hot, the fibres of cocoon began to separate in the tea
solution. The empress thought of weaving the thread thus leading to the discovery of
silk. Hence a new fabric was discovered and became a token of wealth for Chinese
empire.
The Chinese traded silk in return for gold, silver and wool. Technique of obtaining silk
was closely guarded in the Chinese kingdom for almost 30 centuries. The Great Silk
Road, mentions of which can be found in 300 BC literature, was a result of Chinese
silk trade with Roman Empire. All the pilgrims and travelers were checked at the
Chinese borders, a tough punishment was declared if they were found in possession
of silk cocoons, eggs or silkworms. The monopoly of China over silk came to an end
when a Chinese princess married the King of Khotan, the princess brought silkworm
eggs and mulberry tree seeds in her traditional headdress. Soon the knowledge of
procuring silk penetrated to India and Persia.
However, the discussion of Silk fabrics in Vedic literature and the newly found silk
pieces in the areas around Indus Valley Civilization prove the silk production was also
done in the areas around Sind since significantly ancient times.
Types of Silk
Different types of silk moths which look very different from one another yield
different types of silk yarn which are different in texture (coarse, smooth, shiny, etc.),
such as mulberry silk, tassar silk, eri silk and mooga silk. The most common silk moth
is the mulberry silk moth. Its scientific name is Bombyx mori.
Properties of Silk
Silk obtained from mulberry silk moth is soft, lustrous, and elastic and can be dyed in
beautiful colours. This soft silk thread is as strong as comparable to a steel thread.
Let us discuss about the life cycle of mulberry silk moth.

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Life Cycle of Silk Moth

The female silk moth lays eggs, from
which the larvae are hatched which are
called caterpillars or silkworms. These
silkworms feed on fresh mulberry leaves
and grow in size. When the caterpillar is
ready to enter the next stage of its life
history called pupa, it first weaves a net
to hold itself. Then it swings its head
from side to side in the form of eight
(8). During these movements of the
head, the caterpillar secretes fibre
made of a protein which hardens on Pupa
exposure to air and becomes silk fibre.
Soon the caterpillar completely covers
itself by silk fibres and turns into pupa.
This covering is known as cocoon. The further development of the pupa into moth
continues inside the cocoon. The silk yarn (thread) is obtained from the cocoon of
the silk moth.

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From Cocoon to Silk

For obtaining silk, moths are reared and their cocoons are collected to get silk
threads. The rearing of silk worms for obtaining silk is called Sericulture.
Rearing Silkworms
Silkworms are reared under suitable conditions of temperature and humidity to
obtain silk threads from their cocoons.

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Moth to egg
When the silk moth emerges from the cocoon it is ready to mate. It will not eat
during this stage, it doesn't have any mouth parts. Its only purpose at this stage is to
mate. The male silkworm is smaller than the female and is very active. The female
barely moves, her energy is kept for laying eggs. Once copulated, the pair can stay
together for 12 to 24 hours. The male will seek another mate. The female silk moth
lays hundreds of eggs (seeds) at a time (around 500 eggs and dies). These are stored
on strips of cloth or paper and sold to silkworm farmers. The farmers keep eggs
under hygienic conditions and under suitable conditions of temperature and
humidity.

Egg to cocoon
Mulberry leaves are the staple diet of silkworms. When the mulberry tree bears a
fresh crop of leaves, the eggs are warmed suitably so that the larvae hatch from
them. The larvae, caterpillars or silkworms are then stored in clean bamboo trays
(Chandrikalu) and are fed freshly chopped mulberry leaves. They eat day and night,
and grow enormously in size.

After 25 to 30 days, the caterpillars stop eating and move to a tiny chamber of
bamboo in the tray to spin cocoons. Small racks or twigs may be provided in the trays
to which cocoons get attached. The caterpillar or silkworm spins the cocoon
(Pattukayalu) inside which develops the silk moth. After 2-3 weeks, young moths
(Chilakalu) come out from the cocoons and fly away. So, within 2-3 days of formation
of cocoon, one should remove the cocoons from the tray.

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Processing Silk
Cocoon to silk fibre
Extracting silk from the cocoon is called processing silk.
The first step is to separate the silk fibre from the cocoon. For this, they need to be
exposed to warmth. Piles of cocoons are kept under the sun, boiled or exposed to
steam (stiffling). The warmth causes the silk fibre to separate from the rest of the
cocoon.
The next step is called reeling the silk, which is the process of delicately unwinding
the fibre from the cocoon. Reeling is done in special machines, which unwind the
threads or fibres of silk from the cocoon. The silk fibres are bleached and dyed into
many shades.

Reeling to weaving
The silk fibres are then spun into silk threads, which are woven into silk cloth by
weavers.

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