Adire was dyed indigo (dark blue) and it is still the most popular color. Indigo dye is made from elu leaves or elu grains. The leaves are grounded with water and soda ash cooked together. 

Left soaked for days to create the color. Resist-dyeing which involves creating a pattern by treating certain parts of the fabric in some way to prevent them absorbing dye. 

This indigenous indigo resist-dyeing technique first originated in Abeokuta, a city that was historically the centre of cotton production in the nineteenth century.

Production of indigo-dyed adire involves the input of two female specialists-dyers (Alaro.) with control production and marketing of adire, and decorators (Aladire), who create the resist patterns. 

In the oldest forms of adire, two basic resist techniques are used to create soft blue or white designs to contrast with a deeply saturated indigo-blue background

Tie and dye process typically consists of folding, twisting, pleating, or crumpling fabric or a garment and binding with string or rubber bands, followed by application of dye(s).

The decorator works with a 1 x 2-yard fabric rectangle as a design field, making two identical pieces to sew together creating a square cloth most commonly used for a woman's wrapper. 

Most wrappers have repeated all-over patterns created with one or more resist techniques with no one focal point of interest. 

The motifs used in adire and the labels attached to them reflect the concerns of indigenous and contemporary Yoruba life: the world of nature, religion, philosophy, everyday life and notable events