Tie-dyeing A method for dyeing fabric by hand that involves putting small pieces of material together and stringing them. This is The Color It fails to penetrate the tie sections. Once dried, the fabric can be untied to expose irregular patterns, dots and stripes. You can create varicolored patterns by repeatedly tying and dipping the fabric in other colors. This hand method is very common in India. Machines have been adapted for Indonesia and other countries. Also, see Refrain from printing.