Class 5 EVS Chapter 8 – “Clothes—How Things Are Made” CBSE Notes
Comprehensive Chapter Notes & Concept-Wise Summary — in clear, paragraph-wise and concept-based format.
Chapter 8: Clothes — How Things Are Made
Complete Chapter Summary Notes – Clothes — How Things Are Made
1. Patterns with Threads
Nature itself is full of hidden artists! Birds, animals, and insects weave, stitch, design, and glue things together in beautiful ways.
For example, spiders spin webs, and birds build nests.
One such expert artist is the male baya weaver bird.
It builds hanging nests from grass, weaving the strands over and under to make them strong.
The nest looks like a pouch hanging from a tree branch.
Experienced weaverbirds make fine nests, while younger ones make rougher ones.
This process of crossing threads over and under each other to make a design or fabric is called weaving.
Weaving combines vertical and horizontal threads to create a unified pattern, forming mats, baskets, and cloth.
For centuries, people have woven natural materials like coconut fibre, palm leaves, bamboo, grass, jute, cotton, and silk into useful products.
Do You Know?
- The Indian handloom sector employs over 45 lakh people, mostly women and rural artisans.
- Indian muslin was once so fine it was called “woven air”—a whole saree could pass through a ring!
2. Weaving Activity
Students can understand weaving by using paper strips — weaving blue and yellow strips over and under each other to form a mat.
This simple activity shows how weaving makes patterns.
If threads are used instead of paper, cloth is formed.
Think:
Look around your classroom — the mats, bags, and clothes are all examples of woven materials.
3. Traditions of Weaving
India has been weaving for over 4,000 years.
Traditional weaving is done on a loom, and the fabric made this way is called handloom fabric.
Indian handloom weavers are highly skilled and produce some of the world’s finest cloths.
Do You Know?
- Famous handloom varieties include Kanjeevaram (Tamil Nadu), Pashmina (Kashmir), and Ikat (Odisha & Gujarat).
- India was the first country to cultivate and use cotton for making clothes, transforming the textile industry globally.
Weaving not only makes clothes but also provides employment and preserves traditional art and culture.
Today, textile mills use machines to produce cloth on a large scale.
4. Thread and Spinning
To weave cloth, we first need threads.
Threads are made by twisting fibres together—a process called spinning.
You can make a simple thread from a ball of cotton by twisting it with your fingers or wrapping it around a pencil.
Do You Know?
- Spinning is done using a charkha (spinning wheel).
- Mahatma Gandhi promoted spinning as a symbol of self-reliance and freedom during India’s independence movement.
The hand-spun, handwoven cloth made this way is called Khadi.
5. Natural Fibres
Natural fibres come from plants and animals.
Some common examples include:
- Bamboo
- Cotton
- Linen (from flax plant)
- Wool (from sheep)
- Silk (from silkworms)
The silk moth spins a cocoon, which is boiled in hot water to extract the silk thread.
These silk threads are used to make soft and shiny silk fabrics.
Life Cycle of a Silk Moth:
- Silkworm lays eggs
- Eggs hatch into caterpillars
- Caterpillars eat mulberry leaves and grow
- They spin cocoons
- Adult moth emerges
- The cycle repeats
Do You Know?
- India is the largest producer of jute in the world.
6. Synthetic Fibres
Synthetic fibres are man-made fibres created using chemical materials.
They are durable, easy to wash, and less expensive than natural fibres.
Examples include:
- Rayon
- Nylon
- Polyester
- Terylene
Most of the items we use daily—like school bags, raincoats, or curtains—are made of a mix of natural and synthetic fibres.
7. Crafting with Needle and Thread
Nature continues to inspire us.
The tailorbird, for instance, uses its beak to sew the edges of leaves with plant fibres or spider silk to build its nest.
It is like a natural tailor, making a soft home for its babies.
Do You Know?
- Pashmina wool comes from the Changthangi goat in Ladakh and is handwoven into soft shawls.
Activities encourage students to use leaves or paper and toothpicks to make plates or spoons — showing how things can be crafted using simple materials.
8. Stitching
Stitching is another way of joining materials using needle and thread.
It is used to fix clothes, attach buttons, or make new garments.
Running Stitch Steps:
- Thread a needle and tie a knot at the end.
- Bring the needle up through the cloth (Point A).
- Push it down (Point B).
- Bring it up again (Point C), then down (Point D).
- Continue this up-down movement in a straight line.
This simple running stitch helps join two pieces of cloth and is used to make mats, tablecloths, and many other items.
Do You Know?
- Bandhani, a type of tie-and-dye art, is made by tying small portions of cloth and dyeing them to create beautiful dotted patterns.
9. Stitch and Decorate
Stitches are not just for joining but also for decorating cloth.
Different regions of India have their own traditional embroidery styles, each representing local art and culture.
| Embroidery Type | State of Origin |
|---|---|
| Chikankari | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh |
| Banjara | Rajasthan |
| Kantha | West Bengal, Odisha, Tripura |
| Gota | Rajasthan |
| Phulkari | Punjab |
| Toda | Tamil Nadu |
| Kashmiri | Jammu & Kashmir |
| Khneng | Meghalaya |
Do You Know?
- Kala cotton from Gujarat grows without chemicals and is eco-friendly.
- Handloom weaving uses no electricity, making it sustainable and environment-friendly.
10. Recycle and Reuse
In India, people rarely waste old clothes.
Old garments are often given to others or repurposed into new items like quilts, mats, or cleaning cloths.
This practice promotes recycling and reduces waste.
Do You Know?
- Handloom weaving supports thousands of families and is eco-friendly.
- The Patola saree from Gujarat is so intricate that it takes 6 months to 1 year to weave a single saree!
11. Exhibition
Students can display their handmade items—woven mats, stitched cloth pieces, or leaf cutlery—with short notes explaining their process.
It helps build creativity, teamwork, and respect for traditional crafts.
Let Us Reflect (Key Ideas)
- Reusing and recycling old clothes saves resources and promotes sustainability.
- If one thread breaks in a woven fabric, the entire weave can loosen — every thread is important.
- Visiting a tailor’s shop helps us see tools like scissors, needles, threads, sewing machines, measuring tapes, etc.
- Famous weaving traditions vary by region (e.g., Bandhani in Rajasthan, Pashmina in Kashmir).
- We should not throw old clothes because they can be reused, recycled, or given to others in need.
- The life cycle of the silk moth shows how natural fibres are formed.
- Observing different fabrics helps us learn their textures, thickness, and materials (cotton, wool, silk, polyester, nylon, etc.).
Summary of the Chapter
- Nature teaches us weaving and stitching through birds and insects.
- Humans weave materials into useful products and clothes.
- Threads are made through spinning fibres like cotton or silk.
- Natural fibres come from plants and animals, while synthetic fibres are man-made.
- India has a rich handloom and embroidery tradition, preserving culture and providing livelihoods.
- Recycling and reusing clothes helps the environment.
- Weaving, spinning, and stitching represent creativity, sustainability, and India’s proud textile heritage.
Other Important Notes Related to This Chapter
NCERT Question Answer Solution Class 5 chapter 8 – Clothes—How Things Are Made
CBSE Summary Notes Chapter 8 – Clothes—How Things Are Made
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Practice Worksheet Chapter 8 – Energy: How Things Work