This post moves away from the peaceful, rural villages of previous craft profiles, onto the bustling, polluted and noisy city of Ahmedabad. This city has been named the ‘Manchester of the East’ because of its rich and ancient history of textile production. The city is well-known for its block printing, and was the home of the trade of saudigiri printed textiles for the Thai market which began about two hundred years ago, reached its peak at the turn of the century, but declined during the Second World War. The saudigiri motifs share more similarities to those of the malir, jimhardi and haidharo block prints for the skirts of women in…
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A beginner’s guide to block printing… at home or in the studio
I said at the end of my post about the process of Ajrakh block printing that I would write a post on a more accessible process of block printing that you can follow in your own home, on a smaller scale and when you don’t need endless hours of sun or litres of water. I’m sorry it has taken so long, but here is my guide to simple fabric block printing using wooden blocks and silk or cotton, using both natural dyes and chemical fabric paints. Materials needed: A few bowls or trays Sponges (washing up sponges or ones used for car washing will do) Table for printing Carpet underlay…
