A fibre is a hair like strand from which all fabrics are made.

1. A fibre is a hair like strand from which all fabrics are made.

2. Fibres can also be classifed on the basis of their origin. Natural Fibres: Some fibres are obtained from natural sources, that is, from plants and animals. Fibres from such sources are called natural fibres. Some examples of fibres from natural sources are cotton, Jute, silk, wool, coir etc. Man-made Fibres: The other type of fibres are obtained from chemical substance. These are called manmade fibres. They are rayon, polyester, nylon, acrylic (cashmilon) etc. New Zealand China, Australia , India

3. 1. Natural Fibres (i) Vegetable Fibres These fibres are obtained from different plants. Some are well known and useful to man. Cotton , Flax ,jute and coir. Cotton is obtained from seed of the plant, jute is obtained from the stem of a plant and coir is the outer covering of coconut. (i) Animal Fibres These fibres are obtained from different animal sources. Wool – Sheep , Goat , Rabbit, Camel , Llama , Alpaca ,Yak Another animal fibre you all are familiar with is silk. It is the secretion of an insect called the silk worm. Wool is soft and Wavy ( curly) .It is a modified form of hair and grows with waviness. Because of it’s waviness has more bulk than cotton. Hence it traps air. Air is a bad conductor . Wool does not allow the heat of our body to escape during winter .

4. Toosh-Sahtoosh Wool – From Tibetan Antelope (chiru)- Wild Vicuna

5. Shearing- Cutting of wool . Once a year . In beginning of summer . The animals do not need to keep warm is summer, will have hair when winter arrives.

6. Pashmina - Best quality –Under fur of Goat- J &K –Soft wool- Shawls Yak- Laddakh- J& K – Long Thick The fleece taken from an Angora goat is called mohair. A singlegoat produces between four and five kilograms of hair per year.Angoras are shorn twice a year. Angoras, despite their coats, are not directly related to sheep.

7. Some breeds have only under hair . Parent sheep are chosen to have offspring to have only good quality under hair or any special characteristic – Selective Breeding Normal Sheep wool- Creamy white , yellow , Brown- Black too Marwari Sheep: Fleece is white and not very dense and coarse- suitable for carpet making.- Gujarat Nali Sheep: March clip is yellow and September clip is golden brown in colour. Carpet- Rajasthan , Haryana , Punjab Chokla is perhaps the finest carpet-wool breed-Rajasthan Lohi – Good quality Wool – Rajasthan , Punjab Bakharwal – Shawls- J &K Patawadi – Hosiery – Gujarat

8. REARING– To look after and give food, shelter. Health care Rearer , Shepherds – Grazing grass- Mixture of Pulses, Corn , Jowar (Sorghum) ,Oil Cakes and Vitamins/Minerals

9. Shearing This is the first step of processing fiber into wool. In this method, the fleece of the sheep along with a thin layer of skin is removed. The upper layer of Sheep skin is dead , so no pain is felt by them . This process is done in spring weather as sheep do not require the outer skin to keep them warm. Shearing is mostly done by machines or sometimes by hands. In Hot climate – Twice a year- march and September

10. Scouring After the shearing process, the sheared hair is washed in big tanks to remove grease, dust, sweat , and dirt by automatic machines. This process of washing sheared hair is known as scouring. Soaps and detergents are used . Sorting In sorting, hairs of different textures and types are sorted. Now we can differentiate between low and good quality fibers. The good quality fibers are used for clothes and the lower quality is used for making rugs. The fleece is sorted according to type and texture . The long fibers are separated . Now uniform quality of different types is obtained . Hazard- Bacteria- Anthrax- Disease –Sorter disease -Fatal Dyeing This process involves coloring of fibers in different colors as the natural fiber is generally white, black or brown in color.

11. Combing is done prior to spinning. Straightens the Fibers and removes Burrs ( Fluffy fibres) Combing plays very important role in increasing the yarn strength. Because of the straightened condition of fiberscombing makes possible spinning smoother and more lustrous yarn. In combing process length of fiber are strong so it needs less twist produced then carded yarn. Long Fibers are spun (twisted) into thick yarn- wool- Long Yarn Short Fibres are spun in fine yarn and woven on a loom to make cloth/Fabric

13. SILK MOTH- SILK – REARING FOR OBTAINING SILK SERICULTURE OLD PROFESSION IN INDIA - Silk is a soft , strong , shiny produced by silkworm in producing their cocoons .

16. Silk Moth looks like Butterfly. From Eggs – Larva/Caterpillar/Silk Worm -feeds on Mulberry leaves- Grows Bigger – Secretes Liquid from Two Glands in Head . It becomes ready to enter next life stage- Pupa- The liquid from it’s two glands in head solidifies when in contact with air.  , it first weaves a net to hold itself, which is made of a protein that hardens on exposure to air and becomes silk fibre. Inside this cocoon the silkworm develops and changes to pupa stage. This covering is known as cocoon. The silkworm spins cocoon for protection, to permit the development of the pupa or chrysalis. During this process it moves head in 8 patterns as it spins the cocoon. After sleeping in Cocoon for many days , Pupa turns into Silk Moth and Cocoon bursts. Once the worms start pupating in their cocoons, these are dissolved in boiling water in order extract individual long fibres which fed into the spinning reel. This strand of silk that forms the cocoon is about one mile long. Silk Thread – as strong as Steel

17. A caterpillar grows really fast. This is because they eat a lot. A caterpillar is really small when it is born. It starts to grow fast. This is because it eats all the time. It grows so fast that it becomes too big for its skin. So the caterpillar has to shed its old skin. It then gets new skin. Caterpillars shed their skin four or more times while they are growing. A caterpillar shedding its outgrown skin is called molting. Itchy

18. When a pupa grows into moth- Eggs sold on strips of cloth /paper- Silk Farmer keeps eggs in Hygienic at prescribed Temperature. Timing of Birth of larva matches with Mulberry leaves. Bamboo tray with leaves/Small twigs for cocoon Some Cocoons are left to grow into Silkworm . Why ?

19. Extracting silk from the cocoon is known as the processing of silk. Silk is separated from cocoon by exposing it to sunlight/boiling . After that reeling of silk is done, the process of unwinding silk from a cocoon. Silk thread is then bleached. Silk fiber is then spun into silk threads(threading) and then Weaving