Fibre to FabricChapter 3

What are Fibres & Fabrics ?Fibres are long , fine, continuous threads obtained from plants and animals.

Fabrics refers to material that is woven from fibres and is used for making dresses, curtains , etc.

Plant FibresCotton and Jute fibres are obtained from plants. Cotton is obtained from the boll or seed of the plant. Jute is obtained from the stem of the plant.

Animal FibresWool and silk fibres are obtained from animals. Wool is obtained from the fleece (hair) of the sheep or yak. Silk fibres come from the cocoon of the silk moth.

WoolWool comes from sheep, goat, yak and some other animals. These wool yielding animals bear hair on their bodies. Hair traps a lot of air so it keeps these animals warm as air is a poor conductor of heat. Wool is derived from these hairy fibres.

Animals that Yield Wool

Two types of fleece from sheepThe hairy skin of the sheep has two types of fibres that form its fleece

The coarse beard hairThe fine soft under-hair close to the skin

Selective BreedingThe process of selecting parents for obtaining special characters in their offspring, such as soft under-hair in sheep is called Selective Breeding.

From Fibres to Wool

Processing Fibres into WoolThe wool which is used for knitting sweaters or for weaving shawls is a finished product of a long process, which involves the following steps.

Step One = ShearingThe fleece of the sheep along with a thin layer of skin is removed from its body. This process is called Shearing. The hair is removed during the hot weather which allows the sheep to survive without their protective coat of hair.

Step Two = ScouringThe sheared skin with hair is thoroughly washed in tanks to remove grease, dust & dirt. This is called Scouring. Nowadays scouring is done by machines.

Step Three = SortingAfter scouring, sorting is done. The hairy skin is sent to a factory where hair of different textures are separated or sorted.

Step Four = Removing BurrsThe small fluffy fibres, called burrs, are picked out from the hair. These are the same burrs which sometimes appear on the sweaters. The fibres are scoured again and dried. This is the wool ready to be drawn into fibres.

Step Five = DyeingThe fibres can be dyed in various colours, as the natural fleece of sheep and goats is black, brown or white.

Step Six = Rolling into YarnThe fibres are straightened, combed and rolled into yarn. The longer fibres are made into wool for sweaters and the shorter fibres are spun and woven into woollen cloth.

SILK

Silk FibresSilk fibres are also animal fibres. Silkworms spin silk fibres. The rearing of silkworms for obtaining silk is called Sericulture.

Life History of Silk MothThe cycle

Larvae Caterpillars or SilkwormsThe female Silk Moth lays eggs, from which hatch larvae which are called caterpillars or silkworms. They grow in size and when the caterpillar ready to enter the next stage of is life history called pupa.

Pupa & CocoonThe next stage of its life history is called Pupa. It weaves a net by swinging its head from side to side in the form of figure 8. During these movements, it secretes a fibre made of protein which hardens on exposure to air and becomes silk fibre. The caterpillar is covered by the cocoon & turns into pupa.

From Cocoon to Silk

Rearing SilkwormsA female silk moth lays hundreds of eggs at a time. These eggs are stored carefully on strips of cloth or paper and sold to silkworm farmers. The farmers keep eggs under hygienic conditions. The eggs are warmed to suitable temperature for the larvae to hatch from eggs. The larvae eat day & night and increase in size. After 25-30 days, the caterpillars move to a tiny chamber of bamboo in which they spin the cocoon inside which develops the silk moth.

The steps involved in SericultureIncubation The eggs are warmed for the larvae to hatch.Rearing after hatching , the silkworms are fed on mulberry leaves.Spinning the larvae are placed in a clean bamboo tray with mulberry leaves. after 25 to 30 days , the caterpillar stops eating and starts to spin the cocoons.Reeling the silk.Silk fibres are spun into silk thread which are woven into silk cloth.

Processing SilkA pile of cocoons is used for obtaining silk fibres. The cocoons are exposed to steam, so the silk fibres separate out. The process of taking out threads from cocoon for use as silk is called reeling the silk. Reeling is done with special machines. Silk fibres are then spun into silk threads, which are woven into silk cloth by weavers.

Did you know ?

Scientific name of Mulberry tree is

Morus Alba

Did you know ?In terms of number of sheep, India ranks third in the world, behind China & Australia.However, the New Zealand sheep are known to yield the best wool.

Thank you, Made by , Nitya KapoorVII - A