How to Dye Yarn for Kotpad Weaving

Kotpad weavers dye their yarn between the winter months of November and March, when the monsoons are over and the sun’s rays are strong but not overwhelming.

Every part of the work involved in weaving in Indian textiles requires considerable care and effort.

In many crafts, ‘handwork’ involves the use of the legs, feet or toes as well. Here, the woman weaver sorts the yarn before dyeing.

Details of how the fine yarn is sorted before dyeing.

All the stages of yarn and dye preparation are done manually by the women.

The yarn is first washed in water. It is soaked for a day and then boiled in the dye solution.

The yarn is soaked and dipped.

It is then squeezed and taken out of the vessel.

Water has to be squeezed out from the yarn carefully so that it is not still damp when being dyed.

When put out to dry, the yarn has to be sorted again so that they do not dry in a tangled state.

Detail of washed yarn being put out to dry. Made of pure organic cotton, the natural cream colour is retained in much of the final fabric.

The yarn is then processed in castor oil.

It is dipped in the castor oil solution.

Adequate clean water is required to ensure the dyes are absorbed uniformly and with full strength.

Kotpad can be immediately recognised by its dramatic simplicity and use of unbleached yarn along with the deep range of reds obtained from the roots of the aal plant, or Indian madder.

Cow dung is used by many craftspeople across india as a bleaching or anti-bacterial agent, since the dyestuffs are natural.

Cow dung is used as a bleaching agent which ensures that the dye is absorbed well.

Any work involving treatment with cow dung is done outside.

The yarn treated with it is also left out in the open to dry.

The woman from the community hangs the dung-treated yarn on a thick wooden rod to dry.

Woman holding wood ash to be mixed with the water.

Wood ash which serves as a sizing agent in dyeing, is mixed with the water with which the yarn is washed.

Hanks of yarn are washed with ash water after it is dried.

A woman from the weavers’ community carries dyed yarn to the common water body for the final washing process.

The treated yarn is being washed in a local pond where children enjoy a swim.

The yarn has to be swished around in the water until it is clear of all extraneous materials.

It is clearly a tedious process to clean yarn, as a considerable amount of labour is required.

Here are some leaves of the aal plant (Morinda citrifolia). The roots of the aal tree are dried, crushed and ground into powder to make the deep red madder red colour.

The dried ground powder made into a colouring agent.

The dye solution is made by mixing the aal root powder with castor oil and boiled together in water.

Once the solution of powder and castor oil is suitably boiled, the dye is ready.

The dye is well mixed by hand when it cools.

The yarn is ready to be dipped in the dye solution.

The dyed yarn is squeezed before being hung out to dry again.

The yarn will turn red as it dries.

Roots of the aal tree (Morinda citrifolia) are used for the dye to obtain the deep red madder colour.

Harda, or Hirala (Terminalia chebula), commonly known as myrobalan, is a dried fruit which is used to dye the fabric in a coffee brown colour.

Iron sulphate, kumar patthar as it is locally known, is ground and used to dye the yarn black.

Locally called as hira kashi, this is ferrous sulphate ore used by Kotpad dyers to enhance the strength of the dye.

The end result is the different shades of red, maroon and brown produced on the yarn.

Read more about Kotpad textiles here:

- Environment
- Weaving Process