Hand Block Printing October 28 2015

Hand block or woodblock printing is an art form that goes back hundreds of years. It originated in Asia and is still found in Indonesia and India today. As the name implies, it is printing using a carved piece of wood as a stamp. The wood is carved in an intricate design. You can use one wood block or several to make up a design. The fabric is laid on a large table and the woodblocks are dipped in dye and then place on the fabric. To obtain multiple colors, you need to have the multiple woodblocks whose designs make up the pattern. Each color needs to be stamped separately and the fabric allowed to dry between each color. 

Each woodblock that makes up a design needs to have a marker (like a period) that allows the artist to line up the pattern. Normally, this marker is at the bottom of the woodblock. The artist will dip the woodblock in the dye and then line the woodblock up with the dot/period from the first stamp so that the second, third etc. woodblock designs line up properly with the first.

As you can imagine, it is a very laborious process. The more colors, the longer it takes to make the fabric. The more intricate the design, the more skilled the artist needs to be to line up the various stamps.

Anokhi is a famous woodblock fabric printer based in Jaipur, India. They have a large number of unique designs that they apply to the softest cotton fabrics. We are please to be able to offer Anokhi bathrobes and Anokhi women's pajamas.