Block Printing

A Printer is a Printer by caste and by trade. A Printer prints because it is his way of life. Many days are required to move a piece of cotton fabric through all the complicated steps of tanning and registering, curing and washing, resisting and dyeing. Hand block printing is a skilled and laborious process. The Printers at our manufacturers explain that they enjoy the challenge of doing high-quality work, as long as customers recognize the quality and are willing to pay for it. The designs often provide challenges for the printers. The technique involves a wooden block on which the required design is first carved. The carved block is then used for transferring the motif in the desired colour on the fabric. This process is most effective with ethnic floral patterns and for printing in vegetable dyes in traditional Bagru and Kalamkari prints. Each colour in a design is printed on to the fabric separately - one block for each colour.

The Hand-block printed fabric designs of northern India are some of the best known in India. Archeological remains from the Indus Valley civilizations in the 3rd millennium BC include cotton fragments dyed with 'madder', the same earthy red pigment which features in many of our hand block printed products. Dye vats, spindles & bronze needles found at sites like Mohenjo-daro indicate highly developed fabric work.

Far Pavilions' mission is to recreate the splendour of these fine traditions.