Tie & Dye-The Evergreen Art

Tie and Dye is an easy way to add a variety of colorful designs and vibrant style to your wardrobe. Brilliant effects are created by binding, folding, or simply scrunching fabric before dyeing it.

"Tie and dye" is the process of creating patterns on clothes or fabrics. It is dying natural fabrics that result in interesting and colorful patterns. The technique of tying cloth with thread and then dying it is the simplest and perhaps the oldest form of creating patterns on a plain piece of cloth known as tie and dye.

Tie and dyeing need not be limited to clothes - stunning effects can also be achieved on household items such as pillowcases, napkins, and tablecloths. The technique involves spirals, marbling, diamonds, ovals, squares, knotting, crumpling, pleating, or folding the fabric into various patterns, then tying it with a string.

History

However, the art of dyeing fabrics and specifically tie-dying goes far back in time. The earliest surviving examples of pre-Colombian tie-dye in Peru date from 500 to 800 A.D. Their designs include small circles and lines, with bright colors including red, yellow, blue, and green.

Along with beads, shells, and other ornamentation, our ancestors tie-dyed. China and Japan had fully developed the art of tie-dye as early as the sixth century AD, about one and a half millennia ago. It has been practiced there since at least the eighth century. The availability of silk and hemp, which are very receptive to the resist technique, made these countries' art outstanding. Some early tribes in Western China, Southeast Asia, and Central America tied and dyed the threads before weaving their cloth. Technically this was not tie and dye, but the beauty of the designs that appeared was striking, as were the patterns done with tie-dying.

Early dyes were extracted from roots, flowers, leaves, and berries. These include blackberries, lichen, safflower, marigold, onion, red cabbage, sage, and indigo. Although these dyes are still used today, synthetic dyes have been developed that are permanent, quick-setting, safe, easy to use, and are ensured by accurate formulas.

Other forms of tie and dye can be found in other countries around the world. Varied styles of tie-dye have emerged to distinguish the different nations of Africa, the Indian tie & dye technique called Bandhani, also known as Bandhni and Bandhej, is the oldest tie and dye tradition we know that is still practiced. The Malay-Indonesian name for this technique is Plangi. The technique involves a design made of dots, in which many small points are tied with thread before immersion dyeing.