NCERT Solutions for Class 5th The World Around Us Chapter 8 Clothes—How Things are Made
Updated on 2026-09-19
About this chapter
Weaving means crossing two sets of threads over and under each other. One set is placed one way. The other set goes across it. Each strip goes over, then under, then over, then under. When you keep doing this, the strips lock together and become one sheet. That sheet may be a mat, a basket or a piece of cloth. Look at the picture on page 133 — five blue paper strips and some yellow strips make a mat in exactly this way. A bird was weaving before people were. The male baya, a weaverbird, builds a hanging nest out of grass. He weaves the strands over and under so the nest is strong. The nest hangs from a branch and is shaped like a pouch. An expert baya makes a very fine nest. A young bird, still learning, makes a rough one. So even for a bird, weaving is a skill that has to be practised. Pe
- Patterns with Threads
- Thread
- Natural and Synthetic Fibres
- Crafting with Needle and Thread
- Stitching Clothes Together
- Exhibition
- Closing questions
Quick revision
| Word | What it means | Where it appears | An everyday example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weaving | Crossing two sets of strips or threads over and under each other to make one sheet | Patterns with Threads, page 132 | A chatai (mat), a cane basket, your shirt |
| Fabric / cloth | The sheet you get when threads are woven together | Patterns with Threads, page 132 | A saree, a bedsheet, a school uniform |
| Loom | The frame that holds the threads while the weaver crosses them | Traditions of Weaving, page 134 | A weaver's loom in a village workshop |
| Handloom | Cloth woven by hand on a loom, not by machine | Traditions of Weaving, page 134 | A khadi kurta, a Kanjeevaram saree |
| Textile mill | A factory that spins thread and weaves cloth with big machines | Page 135 | Mill-made cloth sold by the metre in a shop |
| Thread or yarn | A long strong strand made by twisting fibres together | Thread, page 135 | The reel of thread in a tailor's shop |
| Fibre | The thin, hair-like thread you get on untwisting a strand | Page 136 | A single hair pulled off a piece of cotton wool |
| Spinning | Twisting fibres together to make thread | Page 136 | Grandmother twisting cotton on a charkha |
| Charkha | The spinning wheel that spins thread from cotton | Page 136 | The charkha in the picture on page 131 |
| Khadi | Hand-spun, hand-woven cloth; a symbol of the freedom struggle | Do you know?, page 136 | A khadi jhola or kurta |
| Natural fibre | A fibre that comes from a plant or an animal | Natural fibres, page 136 | Cotton, wool, silk, linen, bamboo, jute |
| Synthetic fibre | A fibre made by people from artificial materials | Synthetic fibres, page 137 | Nylon rope, a polyester shirt, a rayon dupatta |
| Cocoon | The silk case a caterpillar spins around itself | Page 136 | Silk cocoons boiled to draw out the thread |
| Life cycle | The pattern of growth and change every living thing goes through | Life Cycle of Silkworm, page 137 | Egg → caterpillar → cocoon → moth |
| Running stitch | A simple stitch that goes up, down, up, down in a straight line | Activity 7, page 140 | Tacking two pieces of cloth together |
| Embroidery | Stitches used to decorate cloth, not just to join it | Stitch and Decorate, page 141 | Phulkari on a dupatta, Chikankari on a kurta |
| Bandhani | Tie-and-dye — small parts of cloth are tied with thread and dyed | Page 141 margin | A red-and-white bandhani odhni from Gujarat |
| Recycle | Using an old thing again by making something new from it | Recycle, page 142 | A quilt made from small pieces of old cloth |
Exercises
- Patterns with Threads — In-text Questions Page 131
- Patterns with Threads — Discuss Page 133
- Patterns with Threads — Activity 1 Page 133
- Patterns with Threads — Think Page 134
- Patterns with Threads — Activity 2 Page 134
- Thread — Activity 3 Page 135
- Natural and Synthetic Fibres — Activity 4 Page 138
- Crafting with Needle and Thread — Activity 5 Page 139
- Crafting with Needle and Thread — Activity 6 Page 139
- Crafting with Needle and Thread — Think Page 139
- Crafting with Needle and Thread — Activity 7 Page 140
- Stitching Clothes Together — Activity 8 Page 140 – 141
- Stitching Clothes Together — In-text Questions Page 141
- Exhibition — Exhibition Page 143
- Closing questions — Let us reflect Page 143 – 144