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Chapter 3

Fibre to Fabric

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Human beings' fundamental needs include food, shelter, and clothes. Let us talk about clothing and why it is significant. Clothes protect our bodies from the environment. They protect us from pest bites and enhance our appearance. People dress differently depending on where they are and what the weather is like. Clothes are created from a variety of materials. Cotton saris are made of cotton, leather jackets are made of leather, sweaters are made of wool, and so on.

People dressed in bark, leaves, and animal fur during the beginning of mankind. When humans first settled down as farmers, they wore garments made of braided vines and animal fleece. Flax and cotton were then woven into clothing in the next step. People just draped the cloth to cover themselves at the time. Only with the invention of the needle did people begin to wear sewn clothing. Even today, in ancient civilizations such as India, individuals wear unstitched clothes such as turbans, saris, and dhotis.

Fiber is a material that comes in the shape of a thin and continuous thread. Yarn is a drawn and twisted strand of fiber used to manufacture fiber. Fabrics are formed of yarns, while yarns are made of fibers. A loom is used to weave cloth out of yarn. A loom may be either a power loom or a handloom. Clothes are made from fibers. Two strands are used together, one lengthwise and the other across. Weft refers to the crosswise yarn.

In this chapter, students learn about fabrics like wool and silk – how they are made using animal fibers, the process of extraction of silk. Fibers are found in both plants and animals. Natural fibers account for more than half of all fibers produced. Cotton, hair, fur, silk, and wool are examples of natural fibers. Other fibers are produced. Manufactured fibers are classified into two types: regenerated fibers and synthetic fibers. Regenerated fibers are created by processing natural resources to build a fiber structure. Regenerated fibers, also known as cellulosics, are made from the cellulose found in cotton and wood pulp. Rayon and acetate are two of the most prevalent regenerated fibers.

Synthetic fibers are totally made of chemicals. Synthetic fibers are often more durable than natural or regenerated fibers. Thermoplastic fibers, such as synthetic fibers and regenerated acetate fibers, are softened by heat. As a result, producers may shape these fibers at high temperatures, including characteristics such as pleats and creases. If a hot iron is used on synthetic fibers, they will melt. Nylon (polyamide), polyester, acrylic, and olefin are the most common synthetic fibers.

The different types of fabrics are silk, which is a natural fiber that is created by insects as a material for nests and cocoons. Silkworms produce the most prevalent sort of silk. Silk is a material that is noted for its sheen and softness. It is formed mostly of a protein called fibroin.

Wool is a fabric made from the hair of animals such as sheep, goats, alpacas, llamas, and others. Wool materials include cashmere, angora, mohair, and others. Wool is a warm, absorbent, and long-lasting material. It is water-resistant because of the lanolin oils found in animals, and it is often used to manufacture outerwear and cold-weather clothing such as sweaters and jackets.

Cotton fabric is manufactured from plant fibers derived from the cotton plant. Cotton is a soft and fluffy substance made mostly of cellulose, an insoluble organic component essential to the plant structure. Cotton fabric is comfortable and long-lasting, and it is often used to produce t-shirts and underwear. Organic cotton, denim, and canvas are a few examples of cotton fabrics.

Linen is a durable, lightweight fabric derived from the flax plant. Linen is inherently hypoallergenic and breathable, making it an excellent fabric for summer clothing.

Jute is a coarse natural plant fiber derived from the jute plant that is used to weave garments such as burlap cloth. Jute is a popular fabric for carpets and burlap sacks.

In Chapter 3, Fiber To Fabric, Class 7 students learn about answers to questions like:

Do some of our clothes come from animal sources?

Which are these animals? 

Who rears them? 

Which parts of the animals yield the yarn? 

How is the yarn extracted? 

What kinds of clothes help us to keep warm? 

What is heat? 

What is the meaning of ‘cool’/‘cold’ and ‘warm’ ‘hot’?

Exercises of NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Fiber To Fabric Chapter 3

1. You must be familiar with the following nursery rhymes:

(i) ‘Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool.’

(ii) ‘Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece was white as snow.’

Answer the following:

(a) Which parts of the black sheep have wool?

(b) What is meant by the white fleece of the lamb?

2. The silkworm is (a) a caterpillar, (b) a larva. Choose the correct option.

(i) a (ii) b (iii) both a and b (iv) neither a nor b.

3. Which of the following does not yield wool?

(i) Yak (ii) Camel (iii) Goat (iv) Woolly dog

4. What is meant by the following terms?

(i) Rearing (ii) Shearing (iii) Sericulture

5. Given below is a sequence of steps in the processing of wool. Which are

the missing steps? Add them.

Shearing, __________, sorting, __________, __________, _________.

6. Make sketches of the two stages in the life history of the silk moth which are directly related to the production of silk.

7. Out of the following, which are the two terms related to silk production?

Sericulture, floriculture, moriculture, apiculture and silviculture.

Hints: 

(i) Silk production involves the cultivation of mulberry leaves and rearing silkworms.

(ii) Scientific name of mulberry is Morus alba

8. Match the words of Column I with those given in Column II:

Column I

Column II

1. Scouring

(a) Yields silk fibers

2. Mulberry leaves

(b) Wool yielding animal

3. Yak

(c) Food of silkworm

4. Cocoon

(d) Reeling

 

(e) Cleaning sheared skin


9. Given below is a crossword puzzle based on this lesson. Use hints to fill in the blank spaces with letters that complete the words.

Down 

(D) 1: Thorough washing 

2: Animal fiber 

3: Long thread-like structure 

Across

(A) 1: Keeps warm

2: Its leaves are eaten by silkworms

3: Hatches from the egg of a moth

 

1. (a) Wool is made from the hairy fibers (hair) of sheep.

(b) White fleece of the lamb refers to the lamb's white hair.

2. The silkworm is a caterpillar as well as a larva. Option (iii) is the right answer. The female silk moth lays eggs, from which caterpillars or silkworm larvae hatch.

3. Woolly dogs do not produce wool. The Salish Woolly dog was a tiny, long-haired dog with prick ears, a curled tail, a fox-like face, and a thick coat. The Salish Wool Dog breed is now extinct and has been for over 115 years.

4. (i) Rearing - Rearing is the process of caring, feeding, breeding, and medical care for valuable animals. These animals provide one or more products that are valuable to humans.

(ii) Shearing - Shearing is the process of removing the sheep's fleece as well as a thin layer of skin. It is done using hair removal machines similar to those used by barbers.

(iii) Sericulture - Sericulture is the cultivation of silkworms for the purpose of producing silk.

5. Shearing, Scouring, Sorting, Burr Picking, Dying of Fibers, Yarn Making

6. The two phases of the silk moth's life cycle that are directly relevant to the manufacturing of silk are:

1. The caterpillar wraps a cocoon of silk strands around itself, covering itself entirely.

2. The caterpillar then transforms into a pupa. This is the time when silk threads are acquired for the manufacture of silk garments.

7. Sericulture and Moriculture are connected to the manufacture of silk from Sericulture, Floriculture, Moriculture, Apiculture, and Silviculture. Sericulture is silk production, which involves the cultivation of mulberry leaves and rearing silkworms, and Moriculture is the cultivation of mulberry leaves.

8. 

Column I

Column II

1. Scouring

(e) Cleaning sheared skin

2. Mulberry leaves

(c) Food of silk worm

3. Yak

(b) Wool yielding animal

4. Cocoon

(a) Yields silk fibers

 

9. Down:

1D. Scour

2D. Silk

3D. Fibre

Across

1A. Wool

2A. Mulberry

3A. Caterpillar

In this chapter, we learned that fibers are thin and flexible threads of natural (obtained from plants and animals) or synthetic (created from chemicals) origin that is mostly utilized in the textile industry. Cotton, jute, coir, wool, silk, and other natural fibers are examples of fibers.

Synthetic fibers, on the other hand, include nylon, polystyrene, rayon, acrylic, and others. We can't take fibers straight from the source to produce garments for ourselves. Fibers must be weaved into cloth for this function. This procedure consists of many processes, which are as follows: Extraction of fibers from their source then Cleaning, Spinning and Weaving.

This is one of the most important chapters in Class 7 Science and the in-chapter exercises from the chapter are advised to be solved and practiced to get an in-depth understanding of the concepts and questions that will be asked in the examinations. Be exam-ready and understand concepts easily on the MSVgo app, download today!

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