Ginning

Spinning

Fabric finishing

T-shirts are made from cotton fabric that is knitted rather than woven. The yarn spun for the project T-shirt was also knitted into fabric at Chenniappa Yarn Spinning. To create the fabric, several bobbins of yarn, weighing about 2.5 kg per cone, were used. This yarn was knitted into a soft, thin but stretchable fabric without using synthetic materials such as elastane. Chenniappa Yarn Spinning’s machines can knit fabric in different diameters and with different loop and gauge settings. The knitting machine produced the fabric in a tubular form, which was later cut open.

Knitting machines automatically knit cotton thread into cloth. Video: Erik de Maaker.