Tie dye brings
things to life with brilliant designs and exhilarating colors. Children and
adults now use tie dye as a fun activity, and a colorful design on many items
of clothing. However tie dye dates back to a long time ago. As far back as
15000 BC. However the “technique” has changed quite a bit. Tie dye has
transformed over many years. What started with natural pigments has now changed
to chemical colors, and we no longer use it on skin, as some of the earlier
humans did. I have learned a lot that I didn’t know about tie dye and its history.
Tie dye has been used all over the world, for a variety of uses such as
cosmetics, ceremonial purposes, quilts design, body art, and many other things.
First let’s
establish the large range of places that tie dye is prevalent. First we see it
in Asia, people there use bright bold colors. They somewhat mirror the cultures
of other places in the world when it comes to tie dye. Another area that uses
tie dye is India. They used natural pigments to draw on the walls of caves. These
pictures ranged from simple designs to complex geometric patterns of people,
places, and animals. Africa also has Tie dye in is culture however it is present
in many different ways. “The variations of tie dye in Africa are as numerous
and diverse as the continent is vast” (Simon-Alexander 13).People there will
dye fabrics, they will use it for cosmetics and body art, and their most used
colors are bold and red. In Europe tie dye is used a bit differently as it is
largely used for trade and industrialization. People would make a trade fabrics
and they would be decorated and dye in a similar way to tie dye. Tie dye is all
over the world, and has been for quite a long time.
As stated before,
tie dye is a historically rich activity. Dating back to 15000 BC when it was
used for cosmetic purposes and for cave drawings. Now tie dye is main steam in
many parts of the world, and it is made from chemicals. In between these two
times tie dye has had quite an evolution. The next trace of tie dye was when
the trade of dyed silk fabric happened in 2000 BC. The next step was different
areas in the world starting to trade dyed fabrics. There wasn’t a big change until
the 17 and 18 hundreds when the Dutch begin a wax-resist textile industry. From
then on tie dye becomes synthesized and tie dye is chemical based. In the early
1900’s tie dye is known in the United States, and by the 50’s it is well known
in the United States.
I’ve learned a lot
about tie dye through this book and by my real life experiences with it. I had
no idea that tie dye dated back so far, I thought that it originated in the
1900’s and was always chemically based. I personally find it extremely
interesting to learn about the way that tie dye used to be; natural pigments. In
the future I think it would be nice to learn more about this topic. While doing
my tie dye projects in the future I will for sure consider all of the things
that people used to go through in order to get their pigments, and I will
appreciate being able to drive to the store and buy a kit a lot more. Over all
this book is very educational and I’m enjoying reading it a lot.
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