Fibres can be natural or man-made.
Natural fibres are mostly short
(staple) i.e. wool, cotton, linen. Silk is spun by the silk worm
into filament and so is much longer.
The natural fibres are too short
and would break easily and are not long enough to be used to make
fabric unless they have been through
the spinning process. Man-made fibres are produced as a filament
but need to be processed to make yarn suitable for making fabric.
Continuous filaments can be cut into short staple fibres or remain
as a filament according to the end use of the yarn that is to be
made. Continuous filaments are used for hosiery.
The process of making yarn is called spinning, but fibres are often
blended together before spinning. There are two spinning systems
and companies generally use one or other system. The Woollen System
used for short fibres. The Worsted System used for longer fibres,
makes a yarn which has a high twist and is thinner and stronger.
Although these terms woollen and worsted are linked to wool, man-made
fibres can be blended and spun on either system, but it is more common
for the worsted system to be used for man-made filaments.
Spinning is:-
