Block Printing
Hand block printing is at the heart of our brand. Every single one of our products is made using this ancient textile printing technique. Skilled artisans carve out our original designs on to teak blocks. The number of blocks varies depending on the design and colours of the print. The blocks are then dipped in dye and repeatedly stamped on the fabric until the pattern is complete. It is amazing to watch the precision with which the printers place the blocks on the blank fabric - without any measurements! They eyeball it and just get it so right!
What we love best about this craft are the slight imperfections you see in the fabric - a tiny pinprick of colour where it shouldn't have been or the colour not quite sitting in the outline! That is the beauty of handcrafted textiles!
For our signature print (Rose birds and Aqua birds ) which also forms a part of our logo - we started with a sketch of the birds (what you see below are the colours we were originally planning for the print). These were then carved on to teak. In step '3' you see the outline block printed in coral, next the wing and beak details are filled in, followed by the wing colour in grey. The last block is the light pink of the body of the bird.
The weather plays a pivotal role in the saturation of the colour. Depending on the season in which the printing is done (summer, monsoons or winter) the colours can turn out quite different. So each piece that you take home with you is truly unique!
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