Mudmee tie dye

The tie dye of the hippie era brought the world the screaming colors and spirals on chest and back. These patterns were easy to create and hordes of do-it-yourself dyers furthered these simple to create patterns.

But there exist a much older way to tie dye that only now is brought to the western world. Originating mostly in parts of South-East Asia, the techniques of mudmee tie dye can not be learned in an afternoon of playing with a kit from the local art supply store.

Even though mudmee tie dye predates the hippie tie dye, due to it's increased artistry and complexity it is sometimes called tie dye 2.0 by the current generation that has grown up with different versions of products.

A typical sample of mudmee tie dye is this tank top...

The most common reaction of a current DIY tie dyer is great curiosity on how to do this kind of tie dye. There are no courses or books available to teach this type of tie dye.

The reason for this is that the artists fluent in these techniques usually guard their expertize and don't necessarily share their knowledge with others.

It is only a small group of artists that today still practices this art form and it is in danger of becoming extinct. Work is currently in progress by the maintaines of this site to get trained in all aspects of mudmee tie dyeing and possibly publish it in book form to preserve this great art form.