As Robert Plant hums the song, it is easy to say that tieand dyeing has been a tradition world over. 'Tie-n-dyeing' literally meansdying a fabric after tying parts of the fabric so that they will not absorbdye, giving the fabric a streaked or mottled look.

Tie-dyeing, method used by hand-loom weavers of ancienttimes, became popular during the craft revival of the 1960s. The fabric to becolored is tied or knotted at intervals before being placed in the dye; theknotted areas remain untouched by the dye and create random patterns frequentlyresulting in a sunburst effect. Also known as Bandhej, Tie & Dye is one ofthe most widely accepted and traditional method of textile printing in India as well. Most of the Bandhani produced in India is made in Kutch, Saurastra and inother neighboring districts. Perhaps, the most important traditional handiworkof Kutchi people, 'Bandhanis' are very closely associated with deep rootedsocial customs. Discovery of dyed cotton fabric dating back to the Indus valley civilization shows that the art of dyeing using penetrating was well known tothe dyers about 5000 years ago.

Production Process

Though simple, tie & die is quite time consuming and tedious process. Asingle piece of cloth, with intricate bandhej design, takes more than a week toprepare. In this process, each section is carefully dipped in paint and tiedagain to bring yet another contrast in color. Usually the women are assigned tothe fine craft of tying while the men prepare the dye.

The material to be used is folded more than a few timesuntil reduced to a square or rectangular piece. It is spread on wooden tableand desired designs are marked on it with a wooden block using 'Gheru' or Redoxide mixed with water. Then, it is taken off the table given to a Bandhanicrafts person, who purposely allows the thumb and the finger nail to grow longso as to use them as a pair of tongs for trying the marked portions into tinyknots. The decorative designs indicated by the block are sized and skillfullytied with thread thus retaining the original color of the material in thatportion. Then, it is dyed in a light color. The area requiring the light coloris again tied and later dyed in red or another required dark color. Thus, thedifferent colors required are introduced into the materials. After the processof tying and dyeing, the cloth is washed with soft water to remove the colorimpurities. Then, to remove the color knots, the process of hitching is done.Two ends of the cloth material are caught by two persons. It is a littlehitched in the open air or in the sunlight so that the knots are automaticallyremoved and the tied parts are free. The colors that are traditionally used inthe process are vibrant with yellow, black, red and green being the predominantones. This technique is used on lighter shades of browns, turquoise, blue andpink giving a stunning effect.

Source: goarticles.com