Block printing was another one of the interesting crafts we
saw being made in India. Block printed fabrics were on sale in many outlets in
varying colours and degrees of complexity. Some places also had the blocks for
sale and they made a lovely display. We saw several demonstrations of printing
and in the Amber Fort we also watched a craftsman making blocks using a thread
operated drill.
The same exhibition also included a printer making a small printed
square. We saw him using three blocks with different colours, first a blue to
outline the border and the central motifs, then a turquoise to fill in some of
the areas and finally a block with a red dye to add flower shapes.
Later on in our tour we visited a workshop near Bhuj where
we printed our own fabric. It was interesting to choose complementary blocks to
print on to the cotton and try to envisage what they would look like in the
final version.
We first used a brown resist paste with one large block for our
main design motif, then used a smaller block to print highlights in black dye
that roughly fitted into the main design. There is a definite knack to block
printing! It’s important to make sure you have a thin, yet even, spread of
resist or dye on the block and then you have to apply it to the fabric with a sharp tap.
Once the printing was dry the fabric was dyed in indigo and
the resist removed. I have to say that the final result ended up looking far
better than I hoped and I’ve now hemmed my piece of fabric and will use it as a
scarf.
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