Bandhani Tie-Dye

Preparing and bleaching the cloth

The greige cloth is washed to remove starch and sizing and lightly bleached so the ground is clean and the dyes will be true.

Marking the design

The pattern is printed onto the folded cloth with a washable geru or fugitive colour, using pierced wooden blocks or a pricked stencil so every dot is placed.

Tying the knots (bandhani)

Each marked point is pinched up and bound tightly with thread; the cloth is worked folded so a single knot resists dye on several layers at once.

First (lightest) dyeing

The tied cloth is dyed in the palest colour of the scheme, often yellow; the knots keep this colour out of the tied spots.

Re-tying between colours

Knots are added over areas to stay the first colour and some are opened where the next colour should reach, before the next darker bath.

Successive dye baths

The cloth passes through each darker colour in turn — red, green, black — with re-tying between every stage to build the full palette.

Opening the knots

The tying threads are pulled out, traditionally by snapping the cloth taut so the knots pop, revealing the dotted pattern.

Washing and finishing

The cloth is rinsed to remove loose dye and thread, dried, and often left with its characteristic crinkled texture rather than pressed flat.