“The Madonna.” A Batik Wall Hanging, by Helen R. Reed, Van Dyck Studios, New York
CHAPTER VII
“TIED AND DYED” WORK
Another new-old process that has been revived recently is “Tie-Dyeing.” Its artistic possibilities are as yet hardly realized in this country. This is partly due to the difficulty that has been experienced in dyeing with a cold process and at the same time securing a strong fast color. This difficulty has now been met. The new “Bateeko Dyes” prepared for Batik work can be used on wool and silk in cold or tepid water. The dyes will wash so that permanent effects can now be secured. If the tying is firmly done, the goods can be dyed by boiling, so that ordinary dyes, that require boiling to set them, can be also used successfully.
This Tied and Dyed work is found among many primitive conditions and peoples. In old colonial days our grandmothers made their shaded wool by this method. They wrapped their skeins of woolen thread with corn husks and wound these around tightly with cord to give the necessary pressure. The portions covered with the husks retained the original color of the wool, while those exposed became the color of the dye bath into which they were dipped. Legend says that the ancient Greeks tied the borders of their robes to produce waving lines.
Two main variations in method of Tie-Dyeing are: First, the pattern is developed by tying the threads of warp or woof or both before weaving.
Second, parts of the goods are tied before dyeing in such a way as to protect spots of the cloth from the action of the dyes.
The first method is found in ancient Peruvian work, in central India, and in parts of the Philippines. It is a complicated process and requires a high degree of skill on the part of the weaver.