Heritage Craft
All our textiles are block printed, an age–old tradition, often run by an entire village, in which each family performs a single task in the manufacturing cycle. Amazing to see in today’s world.
The Master Carver cleverly traces the print pattern onto the block of extremely hard and durable sheesham wood, using up to twenty chisels to create very intricate patterns.
Mostly it’s fathers and sons who conduct this highly skilled work which takes years of practice, before passing the skill on to the next generation.
The Chhipas, are the printers who mix the dyes using natural and organic colours, like indigo, tumeric, madder root.
They then dip the block prints into the dye and, on long tables, stamp meters and meters of cotton using a ‘thud’ technique. (I can personally vouch for the use of this term!) It’s hard, skilled work that combines the right amount of dye and pressure to create the uniform patterns we see on our textiles.
The skilled Master Printer can mix the colours by sight from a Pantone colour.
Dabu printers in contrast, use a mud-resist printing method, where black clay is mixed with soiled wheat flour and calcium. This is then applied to the fabric using the wooden blocks.
Sawdust is added to help fix the design, and then the fabric is dyed, and subsequently washed, removing the clay and sawdust to find the resist pattern remaining underneath.
Block printing is a lengthy process which takes great technique, artistry, skill and patience. Once you appreciate the intricacies of the craft, you can truly admire all the work and love that goes into making each and every piece.
The Dhobi washers play an important role in the process. Every length of fabric starts and finishes in the water where it is washed by hand and foot in waist high baths.
The Rangrez then oversee the drying of the fabric in the hot Rajasthan sun, laid out across the fields and on rooftops. Then the fabric is sewn into the beautiful pieces we have curated for your home.
It is this heritage, age-old craft that is the foundation of our Collections at Pink City Living and we hope that a piece of our refined handicraft will be furnishing your home very soon.