Tsutsugaki

Tsutsugaki literally means 'tube drawing' as this resist dye method is a freehand style. An artisan draws directly onto taut cloth by squeezing rice paste from a paper cone, a tool not dissimilar from a Western pastry bag. Once the rice paste drawing is rendered onto cloth, a soy-based sizing is applied allover the textile to set the drawing.  The prepared cloth is then dipped into a vat of indigo dye any number of times until the desired tonal qualities of indigo are archeived.  Often a tsutsugaki textile shows some hand applied colored details, usually grey or red, which are painted on the cloth after the resist dyeing is complete.

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