The Tie-dye process is much the sme in India Today an it was in antiquity. Cloth has to be bleached before it is dyed. Then the pattern is marked onto the cloth, which is first folded up to eight times, both to achieve symmetry and to save time. The dampened cloth is pressed lightly onto a design board, the pattern marked out in nails. The design stands out on the cloth in raised bumps. Designers today often block print the outlines of their patterns onto cloth with a fugative dye. Each dot, bindi, is made by pinching a small area of cloth and wrapping cotton thread tighly around the raised part. the bound area resists the dye. Cloth that is dyed before it is tied gives a rich variety of coloured dots. A multi-coloured garment needs a carefully planned dye sequence, from the lightest to the darkest colours.

Return to Bandhani Odhani cloth microscope

Bosence Gallery
Inspiration Gallery
Susan Bosence
Resist Dyeing
Block Printing