Textile manufacture is a major industry. It is based in the conversion of three types of fibre (fiber is an alternative spelling in the US but not in Britain and the Commonwealth) into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. These are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. Cotton remains the most important natural fibre, so is treated in depth. There are many sources of fibre, and variable processes available at the spinning and fabric-forming stages coupled with the complexities of the finishing and colouration processes to the production of a wide ranges of products. There remains a large industry that uses hand techniques to achieve the same results.