In Spring 2022 I sent some of my drawings to our studio in Sanganeer, just outside of the city of Jaipur - to develop into blocks, so that we could play around with print ideas for an autumnal homeware collection.
Block printing is an ancient craft used to create motifs. Each design is drawn and then carved into a wooden block by hand. The block is then dipped into trays of different dyes, that are mixed to pantone colours by sight - and then carefully applied to fabric by hand. The fabric is stamped one block at a time, often layering colours and patterns on top of each other to create beautifully patterned fabric.
In July when the blocks were ready, we travelled to the studio for a day of sampling with colours and patterns, aligning the pantones, looks and feel to existing products (like ceramics, cushions from other vendors) in our collection.
You can see the sampling process in the photos captured on my phone - and then the finished pieces which we received in October 2022. We are so happy with both the collection and the response to our designs and cannot wait to get back into design mode in the new year.