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Follow the Thread: How Your Clothes Are Made

  • 7-9 min read
  • 12 pages

T-shirts, sweaters, dresses — we pull them on every single day, but have you ever wondered where they come from? This bright, friendly adventure follows a single thread on its journey, from a fuzzy little plant all the way to the shelf in a store. Farmers, factories, designers, and busy needle-machines all lend a hand, because behind every single thing you wear there's a whole wide world worth knowing.

Did you know that every T-shirt, every soft sweater, and every twirly dress you wear has a story all its own?

Did you know that every T-shirt, every soft sweater, and every twirly dress you wear has a story all its own? Clothes don't just appear out of thin air. They travel a long and wonderful road before they ever land in your closet.

It all begins… with a thread. But before there can be a thread, someone has to grow cotton — a fuzzy little plant with soft,…

It all begins… with a thread. But before there can be a thread, someone has to grow cotton — a fuzzy little plant with soft, white, cloud-like fibers.

Or flax — a different plant altogether, with slender stems and delicate blue flowers.

Or flax — a different plant altogether, with slender stems and delicate blue flowers. Hidden inside those stems are fibers too, and they become a strong, breezy cloth called linen, which everyone loves to wear on hot summer days.

And sometimes cloth is made from materials people invent, like polyester, which is made from oil in big, humming factories.

And sometimes cloth is made from materials people invent, like polyester, which is made from oil in big, humming factories.

Next, the fibers are combed out smooth and twisted into long, long threads.

Next, the fibers are combed out smooth and twisted into long, long threads. Then the threads travel to the looms — enormous machines that weave them together, some threads going this way, some going that way, over and under, back and forth.

And just like that, cloth is born.

And just like that, cloth is born. It can be woven thick and sturdy for jeans, thin and light for a blouse, or soft and fluffy for a warm winter sweater.

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