Handicraft Love: How Block-Printing is Done

Wondered how your cotton scarf or summer dress got its cute block print? On our visit to Udaipur, we had a brush with the handicraft at the factory of local block-printing brand, Aavaran. Having signed up with an Udaipur-based tour company, Walk & Pedal, we got all the dirt, or rather, mud, on the matter.

To make the ‘ink’ for block-printing, a combination of lime, gum, water and very smooth mud (specifically chosen from river beds around Akola, Rajasthan) are dunked together in a large container. The next day, this 60kg mixture is made into a paste after three rounds of stomping, mixing and kneading with one’s feet. This is called the daboo or mud-resist style of block printing.

It’s kind of like the process of grape-stomping to make wine, but admittedly less glamorous. 

Print:

A nine-yard fabric is pinned to a long table, over a layer of sawdust to ensure that it stays in place and absorbs the excess ink (mud). The artist then dips the wooden block in the stamp pad and prints it repeatedly and carefully all over the cloth.

The mud is used to keep the pattern in place (be it a flower or a parrot) while it goes through the next step: dyeing.

Dye: 

The colour of the cloth dries under the sun, and is then taken through the printing and dyeing steps again. Finally, when different blocks are used to complete the pattern on the cloth, dyed again and dried one last time, the cloth is soaked in water overnight.