October is all about Tie Dyes.
The absolute BEST part about Everywear Activewear Tie Dyes is that they are all hand tie dyed. The artisan work is slow and takes time and patience. Each garment is hand tied and then goes through a 3-step dye immersion process. They're done in color batches of about a dozen at a time.
Maybe you caught some of the Second Quality Tie Dyes that I decided to start selling this summer. There's nothing wrong with garment quality at all. The reason I consider them to be seconds is that I wasn't satisfied with how the tie dye pattern emerged on the fabric. If you can live with that you'll get an amazing deal.
You'll see lots of active wear and yoga wear that is says it is tie dyed. They are usually print patterns on fabric, just like a stripe, dot, geometric, floral or any other pattern. Everywear Tie Dyes are garment Tie Dyes and that means that the pattern is made on the shorts or leggings or top. Each and every piece is unique because of this age old process.
Archaeologists found the earliest known tie-dye in Peru. Its indigo dye proves that blue coloring dates back over 6,000 years.
Resist dyeing is a traditional method of dyeing patterns into fabrics by preventing dyes from staining the entire cloth. It was used in Egypt in the fourth century and in China, India, Japan, Nigeria, and Senegal in the earlier periods. Early dyes consisted of all-natural colors taken from berries, leaves, and flowers. Indian history traces tie-dye methods as early as the sixth century. Filipino tie dye is similar to Malaysia and Indonesia’s practice of Ikat, tying yarn before dyeing and weaving fabric.
Vibrant colors of West African tie dye features such as symbols which trace back to nature and the symbols their culture attaches to animals and plants. The symbols were limited to certain locations and you could tell where a person was from based on the symbols used in their pottery and clothing.
Japanese and Indonesians practiced tie-dye as early as the eight century. The Japanese Shibori technique used the same resist dyeing technique used in tie-dye to this day where thread is used to bind sections of the cloth together, and the tightness of the bind affects the pattern achieved.
I recommend that you wash your Tie Dye pieces in cold water and hang them to dry. The dye has been set, so it will react like any other fabric if you use bleach or bleach alternative. Keep 'em bright and wear 'em proud!
