In pictures: African tie-dye

1 of 12 The Fouta Djalon region of northern Guinea is famous across West Africa for its "Thioub" material, tie-dyed with indigo. It comes in a huge variety of patterns.

2 of 12 The village of Laba is known as the source of the best indigo, which grows everywhere.

3 of 12 Fresh leaves give the best colour. They are scrunched up by hand...

4 of 12 ... and then pounded into balls of dye...

5 of 12 ... which are laid out in the sun to dry, covered with branches to protect them from animals.

6 of 12 All the women in Laba, from the very young to the very old, make the indigo dye but they say they only earn 200 Guinean Francs (10 US cents) for a pile of 30 balls, so they just do it to earn pocket money.

7 of 12 Another group of people in the nearby town of Labe does the tie-dying. This man is tying cloth into intricate patterns, which will be reproduced in the cloth.

8 of 12 The women do the dyeing...

9 of 12 ... It's hard work and their hands are permanently stained indigo blue

10 of 12 The whole family is involved - these children are beating the cloth to straighten it out after it had been tied up so tightly.

11 of 12 Tailors then turn the "Thioub" into clothes. Two or three pieces are tied together so a whole suit or dress has the same pattern. When the clothes are new, the dye also stains your skin blue.

12 of 12 Thioub can be made it into anything you want - shirts, African gowns or this dress, as modelled by Fatoumata Ba in Laba village.