Tie-dye

What it is

Tie-dye is a resist technique worked on woven cloth. Tiny portions are pinched and bound with thread, or cloth is rolled and tied in folds, and the tied areas resist the dye. When the thread is removed, the cloth shows a pattern of dots, waves or small circles against the dyed ground. In India the craft is mainly called bandhani, from the Sanskrit word for tying, and the same idea is used for leheriya and sungudi. It differs from ikat because the cloth is already woven, and it differs from printing because no block or screen is involved. The result is slightly irregular and always handmade.

How it is made, step by step

A length of cotton, silk or georgette is washed and stretched. The outline of the design is stamped with a wooden block or drawn in washable ink. Women of the tying households pinch a tiny piece of cloth with the fingernail, often the thumbnail grown long for the purpose, and wrap thread around it, sometimes thousands of times across a single saree. The cloth is dipped in the lightest colour first, tied again, and dyed in darker colours. In Leheriya, the cloth is rolled diagonally and tied in bands, then dyed. After dyeing the ties are opened by stretching the cloth, leaving the crinkled dotted texture.

The motifs and looks it is known for

Bandhani is known for dots grouped into shapes such as the leaf, flower, fan, peacock and the bandhej of small ring shapes called chandrakhani. Named types include the ekdali, with single dots, the trikunti, with three dots, and the chaubasi, with four. Gujarati Gharchola is a bridal saree with a grid of squares in red and green. Leheriya shows diagonal wave stripes in bright colours, often in turquoise, pink and yellow on a lighter ground. Sungudi, from Tamil Nadu, has small dots in a regular scatter on cotton, usually in earth tones with a woven border. The overall look is dotted, bright and slightly crinkled.

Where it is made

Kutch in Gujarat, especially Bhuj, Mandvi and Anjar, and Jamnagar are leading bandhani centres, often worked by the Khatri community. Saurashtra, Ahmedabad and Rajkot also have bandhani workers. In Rajasthan, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner and Udaipur practise bandhani and Leheriya, with Jaipur being the best known home of leheriya. In Tamil Nadu, Madurai and its surrounding towns are the home of sungudi, historically made by the Saurashtra community who settled there. Related tie-dye work is found in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, and Sindh in Pakistan has its own bandhani tradition. Much of the tying is done by women in homes, while dyeing is done by men in workshops.

History in brief

Tie-dye is very old in the Indian subcontinent. Evidence of tied-and-dyed cloth is often traced to ancient murals, such as the Ajanta paintings, though scholars debate details. Bandhani has been associated with the Khatri community for centuries and with weddings, in which a red bandhani saree is worn by Gujarati brides. Leheriya developed in Rajasthan and was worn at the Teej festival and in the monsoon. Sungudi has a long history in Madurai, with the weavers said to have come from Gujarat in earlier centuries. Kutch bandhani, Jamnagar bandhani and Sungudi have been recognised with Geographical Indication status in recent years, though the exact details are better checked with the registry.

Buying and caring for it

Real bandhani has dots made by actual tying. On the back and the front, each dot looks like a tiny raised bump with a slightly different shape. A print has flat dots that are identical in size and spacing, and the cloth does not carry the crinkled texture. Check that the dots have a small dot at the centre where the thread was tied, and look at the edges, which should be slightly soft. Hand-tied sarees are priced by the number of dots. Wash separately in cold water with mild soap because bright dyes may bleed, avoid wringing, dry in shade, and do not iron hard, which flattens the texture.

Where to look

• Kutch bandhani: Fine tie-dye from Bhuj, Mandvi and Anjar in Gujarat.
• Jamnagar bandhani: Gujarat tie-dye with bright dyes, known as a main centre of the craft.
• Gharchola: Gujarati bridal bandhani with a grid of squares and a red ground.
• Leheriya of Jaipur: Rajasthani wave-stripe tie-dye, often worn in the monsoon season.
• Mothra: Rajasthani checked pattern made by tying a cross grid, related to leheriya.
• Sungudi of Madurai: Tamil Nadu cotton with regular small dots and a woven border.
• Patolu style bandhani: Bandhani saree with patola-like designs, made in Gujarat.

Care

• Wash separately in cold water with mild soap, since bright dyes bleed.
• Dry in the shade and avoid wringing the cloth.
• Iron lightly on the reverse to keep the crinkled texture.

Sources and further reading

• Bandhani on Wikipedia
• Tie-dye, Wikipedia