NCERT Class 5 EVS Our Wondrous World Chapter 08 Clothes How Things are Made PDF Download

Chapter 8: Clothes - How Things are Made

Patterns with Threads

Look closely around you. Do you see birds building nests or spiders spinning webs? Nature is full of hidden artists - animals, birds and insects who weave, stitch, design, and even glue things together.

What do you see in the picture below?

[Figure: A weaver bird building a hanging nest, See in your textbook]

Did you know we have a hidden artist around us who has been weaving long before humans ever did?

The male baya weaver is a weaverbird, who builds beautiful hanging nests from grass. They weave the strands over and under to make the nest strong. The nest is shaped like a pouch and hangs from the branches of a tree. The expert weaverbird weaves very fine nests, while the young ones who are just learning make rather rough ones.

Weaving combines strips or threads of a material into a patterned fabric like cloth. One set of thread is placed vertically and the other goes horizontally. When these threads are carefully crossed over and under each other, they form a unified fabric such as a mat, a basket or many other things.

For a long time, people have been weaving many kinds of natural materials into mats, baskets or sheets from coconut fibre or palm reeds, bamboo, grass, jute and cotton or silk.

Discuss

Have you seen products woven out of natural material at home or elsewhere? What are they?

Activity 1

1. Take 5 - 6 strips of blue paper and tape them at the top of a surface.
2. Take another set of yellow paper strips and weave them through - over, under, over, under.
3. Keep repeating until you get a mat.
4. Can you use this method to make a basket?

Try using materials other than paper, such as strings, ropes, ribbons or reeds.

[Figure: Step-by-step weaving demonstration showing blue and yellow paper strips being woven together, See in your textbook]

[Figure: Examples of woven products including baskets and mats, See in your textbook]

Teacher's Note

In weaving, remember that one set of threads always goes in the same direction (vertical or warp), while the other set goes perpendicular to it (horizontal or weft). When you weave over and under in a pattern, you create a strong, interlocked fabric. Try the Activity 1 with actual materials like cloth strips or ribbons to feel how the weaving pattern holds things together.

Think

What can you find in your classroom that is woven? If we weave with threads instead of paper strips, it becomes cloth.

Activity 2

Look at a piece of cloth through a magnifying glass or by using zoom on a mobile phone camera. It could be a shirt or something you are wearing. Can you see the amazing criss-cross pattern?

Traditions of Weaving

People in India knew how to weave even 4,000 years ago! Traditional weaving is done by hand on an instrument called loom. The cloth made this way is called the handloom fabric. India has some of the best handloom weavers, who are experts at their craft.

[Figure: A traditional weaving loom with a weaver at work, See in your textbook]

Do you know?

There are many handloom traditions in India, each with its unique technique and pattern like Kanjeevaram from Tamil Nadu, Pashmina from Kashmir, and Ikat from Odisha and Gujarat.

Weaving is not just about making clothes. It also provides work to many families, and keeps our traditional skills and designs alive. That is why weaving is so special for India - both for its culture and for the people who depend on it for their livelihood.

Textile mills use modern machines to spin thread and weave cloth in large quantities.

The Indian handloom sector employs over 45 lakh people, especially women and rural artisans, making it one of the largest cottage industries in the world.

Thread

We have seen how threads can be woven together to form a cloth. But how are threads made?

Activity 3

• Take a ball of cotton and gently pull it out to make a strand.
• Now, try twisting the strand slowly with your fingers. Notice how it becomes stronger as you pull it in a spin.
• Take a pencil. Now, wind your cotton strand onto your pencil, by twisting and adding more cotton to your ball.

[Figure: Hand-spinning cotton into thread using a pencil, See in your textbook]

India was the first country to cultivate and use cotton to make clothes, revolutionising textiles worldwide.

Teacher's Note

When you twist cotton fibres together, they hold each other by friction and become much stronger. This is why thread made by twisting is stronger than loose cotton fibres. The more you twist and add more cotton as you wind, the thicker and stronger your thread becomes - this is the same principle that textile mills use on a large scale with machines.

Key Points

• Weaving is the process of combining strips or threads by crossing them over and under each other to make fabric like cloth, mats or baskets.
• In weaving, one set of threads is placed vertically and another horizontally, and when crossed carefully they form a strong, unified fabric.
• India has a long tradition of handloom weaving done by hand on looms, with famous styles like Kanjeevaram, Pashmina and Ikat from different regions.
• Thread is made by twisting fibres like cotton together; the more you twist, the stronger the thread becomes.
• Weaving provides work to many families and keeps traditional skills and cultural designs alive in India.

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