The incredible time consuming art of Bhandani, derived from the word “Bhandan”, meaning “to tie up”, has been practiced in Gujarat for centuries.

Using finger nails, tiny sections of undyed fabric, in this case silk, are bound with thread in intricate patterns and then dyed by hand.

After the dying the threads are removed by pulling the fabric and the pattern emerges along with a fabulous texture caused by the tight binding of the threads.

This collection of tie dyed stoles was produced during lock-down earlier in the year. Maybe it is because the artisans had so much time on their hands that these pieces turned out to be particularly exquisite.

Hard to believe that human hands managed to tie such tiny knots.