Yarn is made up of thinner strands called fibres. The process by which yarn is formed is called spinning. In this process, fibres from a mass of cotton wool are drawn out and twisted. This brings the fibres together to form a yarn.

A simple device used for spinning is a hand spindle, also called takli. Another device called charkha is also used for spinning. On large scale, spinning of yarn is done with the help of big spinning machines.