TIED AND DYED WORK
Hitherto, in this book, the student has been instructed in the
general art of dyeing and coloring the various fabrics, both in the
yarn and in piece, without any attention to the subject of coloring
them in patterns or designs. The remaining chapters will be devoted
to various methods, suitable for craftsmen, by which the dyestuffs
can be applied so as to give more or less definite patterns to the
objects to be colored.
This art, in its general principles, was worked out in various parts
of the world at very early periods in their civilization. In a great
many cases colored designs in textiles were formed, in the process
of weaving, by incorporating yarns of different colors in certain
portions of the fabric.
But along with this, at a very early stage in the textile industry,
there was developed the art of making patterns, regular or irregular,
by the action of dyestuffs upon previously woven goods. In general
there are three methods for doing this which, it is claimed, were
known to the ancient Egyptians just as well as they are to the modern
calico printer. These three methods are known as Direct Coloring,
Discharge, and Resist dyeing.
[Illustration: FIG. 2—TIED AND DYED HEADDRESS FROM AN INCA TOMB IN
PERU]
=Direct Coloring.=—This means the application of the dyestuff or
coloring matter to different special portions of the textile or
fabric, so as to give a colored design, upon a lighter background.
The dye may be applied by dipping special portions of the fabric into
it, in which case the pattern is apt to be a very loose and irregular
one. Or, if the material will take the dye readily enough, as for
instance in the staining of leather, it may be applied with a brush,
or a small pad.
More formal and intricate designs can be made by applying the color
in the form of a paste, through the help of stencils, as worked out
by the Japanese so beautifully, or by means of wooden or metallic
blocks, as in the block printing in the East, which in Europe and
America has developed into the art of calico printing, by rolls run
by machinery.
=Discharge.=—This process is the exact reverse of the preceding
one, in that the cloth or other material is dyed first, and later
the color is either entirely removed or, it may be, very decidedly
altered in shade, in certain special parts, by the application of
some chemical.
The earliest examples of this are where cloths stained with Iron
buff, have had patterns made in them by washing out certain portions
with acid. Just as some of the earliest forms of “direct coloring”
are shown in the dark patterns of leaves, formed by the same Iron
buff dye, upon cloth against which moist fresh leaves have been
crushed.
The discharge process is not as commonly used by craftsmen as the
other two methods, because it has not always been easy to find or to
use a chemical that will properly destroy or change any particular
color, without at the same time, if fast dyes are used, destroying
or at least injuring the fabric. The professional dyer, working in
conjunction with the chemist, carefully weighing the reagents, and
using steam chests and drying chambers with definite and carefully
regulated temperatures, can fully discharge even the fastest dyes
without danger. But this is difficult, if not impossible for the
craftsman, and while the process will be discussed and described
under the subject of stencilling, it will be found, comparatively, of
but little practical importance.
=Resist.=—The third and last method for getting colored patterns
is one which has been used in different ways, by the most widely
scattered nations, and which, to this day, furnishes one of the most
interesting and important processes at the disposal of the craftsman,
as opposed to the professional dyer.
It consists of applying to certain portions of the fabric, before
dyeing, some agent which, acting either chemically or mechanically,
will “resist” the action of the dyestuff at the places where it is
applied. These parts accordingly will remain in their original color,
or at any rate will be but slightly colored, while other portions,
not so protected, will be dyed full shades. This, in many respects,
is the most advantageous way of obtaining patterns for the craftsman,
because no action has taken place tending to injure the strength
or durability of either material or dyestuff, and as the color is
applied in a regular dye-bath there is generally an opportunity to
apply the dyestuffs in the most approved manner.
_Variations in Resist Work._—The resist method has been discovered in
many parts of the world, and has been carried out in many ways. In
Java, for instance, a beautiful art was developed known as Batik, to
be described later, in more detail. These people used, as a resisting
medium, molten beeswax, which could be poured or painted on to the
cloth wherever desired, and, according to whether it was applied hot
or only just warm enough to be liquid, would protect the material
covered, either wholly or partially, against the action of dyestuffs
in a cold bath.
Less elaborate, but still very interesting processes are reported
from many other quarters. As will be described in the next chapter
the Japanese have long used a resist paste, to make white patterns
against dark backgrounds with their stencils. In some of the Pacific
Islands natives have learnt to make patterns by pressing pieces
of cloth tightly between shells, as for instance the two halves
of a clam shell, and then dyeing or staining around them. Other
tribes learnt the trick of tying or sewing flat thin pieces of
wood together, tightly compressing the cloth between them and thus
preventing the dyestuff from reaching those parts of the goods when
dyed later.
But the most common process, and one which is not only the simplest
and easiest to carry out, but also offers to the skilful dyer an
almost unlimited range of interesting and effective results, in color
and design, is the so-called “Tied and Dyed Work.”
TIED AND DYED WORK
In this process, Tied and Dyed Work, the pattern is made by tying
string or cord, more or less tightly, around certain selected
portions of the material. When the goods, thus treated, are
subsequently dyed, these tied portions will be kept from the action
of the dyestuff, and after the operation is finished and the strings
cut or untied, they will be lighter in color than the adjacent parts
of the fabric.
This process has been known and widely used in many different parts
of the world. Some interesting examples of it are found among the
textiles from the so-called Inca graves, in Peru and Bolivia, dating
from before the Spanish conquest in the sixteenth century (see Fig.
2). Some extremely interesting specimens of tied work can be seen in
the Philippine collection in the New York Museum of Natural History,
brought from the Bagobo tribe in Mindanao (see Fig. 5). While
perhaps the most extraordinary development of this process can be
found in the so-called chundries or chunaries, imported from Central
Hindustan, and sold by traders in Eastern goods and textiles at very
moderate prices.
[Illustration: FIG. 3—SHIKAR CHUNDRI, FROM RAJPUTANA, WITH KNOTS
STILL UNTIED]
=Chundries.=—These are chiefly manufactured in the native State
of Kotah, in Rajputana, and have been produced there from time
immemorial, for use as clothing and hangings. Those that are imported
to this country (see Figs. 3 and 4) are generally made of extremely
thin, flimsy muslin, most elaborately decorated in three or four
colors, with patterns made up of an infinite number of small round
or rectangular rings of white or light colors, against a darker
background. They can be obtained in the same condition that they
left the dyer’s hands, folded tightly together, colored red or brown
or black from the final dye-bath, and covered over with hundreds of
little hard knots or lumps. These, on examination, prove to be the
tied places, each tied by hand, by winding round and round the base
of the projecting loop of cloth, a very fine thread, closely laid and
knotted extremely firm and tight.
When unwound, which must be done with much care on account of the
thin, fragile nature of the cloth, the knotted portions often show
most beautiful and interesting designs—done in different colors, put
on before tying, and protected from the final bath by the close tight
layer of thread. Among the most interesting of them are the so-called
“Shikar” chundries, where the design, repeated over and over again,
illustrates some hunting scene, as, for instance, a tiger hunt,
with the animal springing at a man armed with a sword, and a horse
or elephant with howdah. When fully opened one of these chundries
makes a strip of cloth some five or six yards long, and in Rajputana
is used as the full-dress costume of a young lady of fashion, being
folded round and round the body and over the head in most graceful
and charming lines.
On studying one of these chundries one is struck by the immense
amount of labor expended in the tying process. The knots which form
the pattern make, frequently, as many as twenty-five or thirty to
the running inch, and each one is tied so tightly around the cloth,
folded so as to form four thicknesses, and drawn or pressed out
into loops, that it completely protects the part it covers from the
dyestuff, only the tip of the loop remaining exposed. Hence, when
it is untied, there results a small circular or rectangular ring
not over three-quarters of an inch in diameter. To obtain a surface
around which the string can be thus tightly tied, the folded cloth
is evidently pressed out from the back by a thin pin or spike (the
effect can be produced by tying a thin piece of cloth tightly around
a wooden toothpick) around which the thread can be tightly drawn and
knotted, and which usually is left in during the dyeing process and
taken out afterwards.
The patterns are so elaborate, and yet are repeated over and over
again, on the same chundries, with such regularity, that it is
probable that some simple apparatus is used to press out the cloth
in exactly the proper places. This could be done by using a little
frame with holes in it, into which pins of wood or ivory could be
set, like the markers in a cribbage board, for instance, forming
definite figures on which piece after piece of cloth could be placed
and pressed out into shape.
[Illustration: FIG. 4—SAME CHUNDRI AS IN FIG. 3, UNTIED AND SHAKEN
OUT]
The most interesting thing, after all, about these extraordinarily
elaborate pieces of handicraft work is the fact that this vast amount
of time and labor is expended upon such poor materials. The muslin
of which they are made is so thin and poor that considerable pains
must be taken in opening them, to prevent their tearing from
the strain of pulling off the knots of fine thread. Then, too, the
colors as a rule not only are fugitive to sunlight, but are easily
affected by washing. Two minutes scrubbing in hot soapsuds will
almost completely efface the pattern and color from some of the
most elaborate and beautiful of them all. And this is not, as is
claimed frequently by modern writers upon Eastern handicrafts, due
to the introduction of cheap and fugitive “aniline” dyestuffs. The
dyes, used for generations by the Rajput craftsmen, for their most
elaborate chundries, were principally tumeric, safflower, and other
inferior vegetable colors, applied so loosely as to be merely stains
rather than dyes—and it would be hard to get modern dyestuffs which,
applied with any care, would be as fugitive as those commonly used
for the very best examples of these beautiful textiles.
=Tied Work in the Philippines.=—Of different quality is the work of
the Bagobo tribe in Mindanao, interesting specimens of which are
to be seen in the Philippine collection of the New York Museum of
Natural History. As shown in Fig. 5, a headdress belonging to Miss
Laura Benedict, the work is not unlike that done by the ancient
Peruvians, and the patterns, although often exceedingly complex, are
invariably geometrical, and do not approach in variety or in interest
those from India. The coloring, too, is far simpler—practically all
the examples showing light patterns on a dull purplish background.
But the dyeing is most carefully and thoroughly made—taking about
thirty days to complete, dyeing each night and washing thoroughly
each morning during all that time, until the final product is
exceedingly permanent to both light and washing.
Miss Benedict, who was the first white person to enter the Bagobo
country and study and report on their handicrafts, states that the
patterns are made in a curious manner. The pattern is first outlined
upon the cloth by a series of basting stitches, the intersection of
two stitches being the mark for the centre of one of the tied places.
Then the operator, seated, puts over her big toe a ring attached to
a line some three feet long, on the end of which is a simple hook
made from a bent and sharpened piece of copper or brass wire. Holding
the cloth in one hand, she then fastens the hook into one of the
marked places, pulls the part out with her foot, and ties up the loop
thus formed, rapidly and tightly, with waxed thread. This she winds
round and round the loop, beginning with the bottom first, and knots
it tight, using the free hand, assisted, except with very expert
workers, with the thumb and forefinger of the other.
Specimens of textiles thus tied, and not yet dyed or opened, and also
of the toe-ring, line, and hook used in the process, can be seen at
the Museum, along with a great variety of beautiful specimens of the
finished work.
[Illustration: FIG. 5—BAGOBO HEADDRESS FROM THE ISLAND OF MINDANAO]
It is rare that, in our present surroundings, any craftsman can spare
the time and patience to copy the elaborate patterns made in these
ways by the Eastern dyers. But equally beautiful and interesting
results can be produced with very little expenditure of time and
labor, by the skilful dyer, who knows something of the fundamental
principles of design and can use his dyes so as to get soft and
beautiful as well as permanent color effects. It is impossible, in
a work like this, to do more than suggest some of the many ways
in which this process can be used. The rest depends entirely upon
practice—and more can be learned about its possibilities in a couple
of hours’ work with muslin or cheesecloth, and a ball of twine or
tape, in connection with a dye-pot of a good Sulphur dye, than by
weeks of listening or reading about it.
VARIETIES OF TIED WORK
=Tied on Itself.=—Interesting effects may often be produced on long
pieces of cloth, scarfs, and the like, by folding them over and
tying them into knots at one or two selected places, before dyeing.
Fig. 6 shows an example of this, (a) Tied and ready for dyeing;
(b) Dyed and opened out. This when worked out in different colors,
dyeing first, with some light color, then tying and dyeing with
another color, or else coloring the tied and dyed piece with a second
light bath of another color, gives very pleasant results as applied
to draperies—as, for instance, simple costumes for pageants and
out-of-doors plays. It is, however, almost, if not quite, impossible
to obtain definite designs in this way, and it is hardly possible to
duplicate results. But occasionally the process is useful.
=Tied with String or Tape.=—Far more important is the process
generally meant by the term “tied and dyed work,” where the pattern
is made by tying either thread, string, cord, or even tape, more or
less tightly around special portions of the cloth. These portions are
usually drawn out, or pressed out, or folded, so as to form a sort of
loop around which the string can be tied. But occasionally the whole
cloth, laid flat and with but little folding, is tied tightly across,
so that the reserved part forms, when untied, a more or less straight
band.
_Tied in Bands._—It is often desirable to separate one part of a
design from another by means of a broad line or band of white or
light color. This can be readily done by tying a piece of strong
twine or tape, tightly, right across the goods at the desired place
before dyeing it. Quite elaborate and interesting effects can be
produced in this way by first folding the cloth lengthways, and then
tying a width of several inches with a broad piece of tape. If it is
not tied too tight some of the color will work up and down the folds,
under the tape, and give, when finished, curious wavy effects. (See
Fig. 7.)
_Tied in Small Loops._—This banding, though interesting and useful,
differs from the sharp little round or diamond-shaped rings forming
the patterns in the Rajput or Bagobo textiles. These are produced by
pressing or pulling out the cloth into loops or bunches which are
then tied tightly round and round with string or thread, the middle
of the loop being usually left exposed to the dyestuff, so as to form
a colored centre.
[Illustration: (_a_)—_Tied and Ready for Dyeing_
(_b_)—_Dyed, Untied and Shaken Out_
FIG. 6—SAMPLE OF TIED AND DYED WORK, “TIED ON ITSELF”]
Very small loops can be made, as mentioned above, by pressing out the
cloth with a wooden pin (or toothpick) and tying tightly around
this, leaving in the pin until after the dyeing is completed.
Skilful workers can tie quite small loops by placing a bead, or dried
pea, or piece of gravel in the cloth and tying the cloth tightly
around this. It is best, always, to have something of the sort, pin
or bead, to act as a centre, or else the knot, after tying, is very
apt to slip off, and spoil the pattern.
The design for this sort of work should be carefully planned
beforehand, and marked out on the cloth with pencil or chalk. For,
with small loops like this, the interest is more in the pattern
formed by them than in the changes and contrasts in color between the
different tied parts and the rest of the cloth.
A very interesting specimen of work done in this way by Miss Mary
Grey is shown in Fig. 7.
_Tied in Large Knots and Loops._—It is hard for a Western craftsman
to obtain sharp, well-defined knots by this method, of a diameter of
less than half an inch or so. Usually, indeed, it is too much of a
bother and nuisance to try any knots covering less than an inch and
a half. From this size, up to fifteen and twenty inches in diameter,
will be found the vast majority of all American work. The reason is
very simple. The trouble of tying a knot covering five inches is
very little more than that for a half-inch knot, indeed far less for
most people, while the large knot produces an immediate effect not
equalled by a dozen of the latter. Furthermore, with large knots, big
bold designs can be produced, which, with pleasant and skilfully
selected colors, give results far more striking and effective than
can be shown by the small knots, no matter how carefully carried out.
On the other hand, intricate and carefully planned designs can be
worked out with small knots, which cannot be attempted with the large
ones.
For designs with large knots, beside the cloth, which should be soft
and free from dressing, and a ball of soft thick twine or better,
of cheap cotton binding tape, half to three-quarters of an inch
wide, it is well to have a supply of large glass beads, of marbles
of different sizes, and, if these are not easy to get, of pebbles,
beans, hazelnuts, and the like. These are not always to be used, but
in most cases it makes a more interesting contrast to have the centre
of the tied spot come out dark, with the lighter parts, more or less
shaded, around it. That means that the centre must be exposed to
the dyestuff by being stretched out over a marble or pebble, while
the parts around it are tied up. And the tying, too, is greatly
facilitated by having a hard centre to work against.
By tying around one marble first, and then putting in another and
tying round that, a series of concentric rings will be formed, the
black rings showing where the cloth, covering the marble, has been
exposed, and the light-colored part showing where it has been covered
by the tape or string.
[Illustration:
FIG. 7—SAMPLE OF TIED AND DYED WORK, “TIED IN BANDS,” WITH
INCIDENTAL KNOTS. BY MISS MARY GREY]
As before, the design, if at all elaborate, should be marked out
beforehand on the open cloth, and the parts tied in accordingly.
Much experience is required to know just how tight to tie the tape
so as to get a desired effect with each particular kind of cloth,
and each class of dyestuffs. In general, with small knots the string
should be tied very tight, or otherwise no effect is produced at all.
The larger the tied parts, however, the more pains should be taken
to have the cloth folded before tying, so that some of the color may
work down through the folds past the tape, and thus produce shaded
effects, which may be of great beauty (see Plate IV, Fig. a). Of
course, in this, much depends on the cloth; a thick heavy calico
tying with difficulty, but not letting the dyestuff soak through;
while soft open materials like scrim or cheesecloth, for instance,
must be tied much tighter, or the color will work through so much as
to spoil the design.
The student is advised to practise, from the start, tying his tape
with a slip loop, or at any rate a bow knot, and not with a fast
square knot each time, so as to save trouble and bother when untying
later. A skilful craftsman will tie quite a large piece of cloth, in
an interesting and fairly complicated design, in a few minutes. But
after dyeing, while the cloth is still wet, and the tape or string
has shrunk, and the knots have tightened, it is often more trouble to
untie, or cut it open, than it was to make it, and there is always
the danger of cutting holes in it. A little pains in laying down one
end of the tape, before starting to tie, so that, when the whole loop
is tied up, the other end will come out alongside of the first so
that it can be joined to it by a bow knot, will save any amount of
time and vexation.
=Sewed and Dyed Work.=—Besides protecting the cloth from the action
of the dyestuff by tying string or tape around it, the same effect
can be produced by sewing up certain parts of it, before dyeing,
and then, after the rest has been colored, and the loose dye-liquor
washed off, the sewed-up parts can be opened and pressed into shape.
This modification of the process, so far as I can learn, is not
practised by the Rajputs with their chundries, but in the Benedict
collection can be seen some most extraordinary and elaborate pieces
of dyed work made just in this way. The Japanese, also, have been in
the habit of using this method, and sometimes they produce curious
zigzag lines by taking coarse stitches across the cloth, alternately,
first to one side and then to the other side of the centre line,
and then drawing the thread tight. The needle is often used for
borders—for straight lines can easily be made in soft materials (and
such only should be used for tied work) by hemming the cloth with
strong thread, and then drawing it up close and tight before putting
it in the dye-bath. The development of this branch of the process,
however, belongs properly to the fair sex.
[Illustration: FIG. 8—FOLDING THE CLOTH
FIG. 9—STARTING TO TIE
FIG. 10—CENTRE PORTION TIED
TIED AND DYED WORK]
=Dyeing Process.=—Now for the dyeing process. Of course, for
practise, the craftsman will use cotton as his raw material, in the
form of muslin, cheesecloth, scrim, or best of all, light grades of
mercerized cotton, and hence will use the various cotton dyestuffs.
The Salt colors are hardly advisable, because though fast to light
they are not all fast to washing unless well boiled on, and that
means that, unless tied extremely fast and tight, the color would
be bound to penetrate, and wipe out the design. The Sulphur colors
and the Vat colors are the best for the purpose—for they can be dyed
cold or lukewarm, without injuring the fastness of the dye, and give
colors fast both to light and to washing. In general, it is easier
to get even shades with the Sulphur colors, and their shades are
soft and pleasing, but while fast, they are not as fast as the Vat
dyes, and it is impossible to get a decent scarlet with them. The
skilful dyer will, of course, select his class to suit the shade he
is trying to get and also to meet the requirements about fastness.
But, in general, he will use the Salt colors for covering and shading
the patterns produced with either the Sulphur or the Vat dyes. When
using the oxidation dyes, like the Sulphur or Vat colors, plenty of
time must be given for the dyestuffs to oxidize and set before they
are untied. But, on the other hand, directly they are once untied
it is important to wash off the loose dye-liquor from the cloth,
and especially from the tied-in portions, as soon as possible after
untying, otherwise some dye-liquors that may have soaked in without
having had a chance to oxidize, will, when exposed to air, suddenly
fix themselves and obscure or ruin the pattern.
After attaining some skill in this process the craftsman is urged to
try it on more important materials like silk. Most beautiful effects
can be, and are being produced by this means, on soft delicate scarfs
made of Chinese or Indian silks. The Acid colors are, of course, used
for this, and as they take so readily on silk, the possibilities of
shading and over-shading different portions of the design, or of
adding a touch of color here and there where it seems desirable,
offer infinite possibilities to an artistic workman. The combinations
of color that can be produced are infinite, and the curious blending
of regularity and irregularity, in the designs and figures, renders
it a most attractive process to practise with.
One great attraction about it is the sense of suspense, and the
impossibility of telling just what effect is being produced, until
the knots are all untied, and the cloth washed off and opened out.
Another attraction is the feeling of working all the time in an
unexplored or very partially explored country. There is the constant
chance of obtaining at any moment effects never thought of before.
The experimenter is always trying some new little trick in tying, or
in folding, or in dyeing, the results of which can never be foreseen
accurately, and which are always interesting and often very beautiful.
=Tied and Discharged Work.=—One day, in our laboratory, some
experiments were made which resulted in a modification of this
process which, so far as we know, was entirely new, and which
presents very interesting possibilities, to say the least. We made
the experiment of dyeing the cloth first, and then tying it up,
and putting it in a bleaching solution, so as to discharge the
color everywhere excepting where it was protected by the tying.
The experiment was successful, resulting (see Plate IV, Fig. b),
in a series of dark patterns on a light background. All kinds of
modifications of this can be made. For instance, the cloth can
be dyed with a mixture of two or three dyes, some of which are fast
and the other or others can be discharged by the chemical used. The
pattern thus will be the full mixed color, say brown, against a
background of red or yellow or blue as the case may be.
[Illustration: FIG. 11—CENTRE AND CORNERS TIED
FIG. 12—DYED, UNTIED AND SHAKEN OUT
TIED AND DYED WORK-CONTINUED]
The important thing about this modification is to select the proper
bleaching agent to act on the particular colors, and the particular
kind of material, used. Our first experiments were with bleaching
powder (chloride of lime), dissolved in water, say two tablespoonfuls
to the gallon, with, if necessary, a few drops of acetic acid or weak
sulphuric acid stirred into it. This powerful bleaching agent is very
apt to attack the cloth, and only heavy materials, such as scrim or
heavy calico should be used with it. But although so strong, it does
not act at all readily on a large number of the dyestuffs, including
many of the Vat colors. Some of these, like the Indanthrene colors,
are not affected at all, Indigo is changed from blue to a brilliant
shade of yellow. And Thio Indigo Red B produces curious shades of
purple, settling, where exposed to the full action of the bleaching
agent, to orange.
Later we repeated the experiments, using hydrosulphite of soda, say
two tablespoonfuls to the gallon of warm water, as a discharge, with
much better success. The cloth was not injured, even when delicate
materials like silk and light poplins were used. And the great
majority of colors, including nearly all the best Salt, Sulphur, and
Acid dyes, reduced rapidly and well. The Vat dyes will reduce, and,
in the presence of caustic soda, will dissolve out of the exposed
cloth almost entirely, but it is hard to reduce them to white in this
way. In every case the color, after reduction, must be washed at once
in warm soap and water, or else, on exposure to the air, the color
may come back to some extent, owing to oxidation.
A weak bath of hydrosulphite of soda, also, should always be on
hand, in the former bleaching process; for, when bleaching powder
(chloride of lime) or other chlorine compounds, such as Javelle water
or Labarraque’s solution, are used for destroying the color, their
further action can be stopped, and also the offensive smell removed,
by dipping the bleached material into a so-called antichlor, like
this hydrosulphite.
This subject of discharge is dealt with more at length in a future
chapter.
[Illustration:
(a) EXAMPLE OF TIED AND DYED WORK
(b) EXAMPLE OF TIED AND DISCHARGED WORK
PLATE IV.]