Keystage 2 - Textiles - Block printing

Indian textiles are often beautifully decorated. Here you learn about some of the techniques used.
  

Hands on activity

The English designer William Morris was influenced by Indian patterns when he designed this block printed cotton fabric in 1883. Other British designers used Indian patterns, such as 'Paisley'. Using factories, British cloth makers were able to make cheaper fabrics and sell it in India in Victorian times. Indian weavers spun, wove and decorated their cloth in their own homes and this made it more expensive, so many of them went out of business. Have a look at the images below. They show some designs, cloth printing and the blocks used to print cloths.
Block printed cotton Block printed cotton William Morris paisley print
Mechanised block printing in Britain in the 1800s A printing block being carved out of wood A man block printing cloth
Block printing is a very typical way of decorating fabrics in India. It is a long process. First the blocks have to be designed and carved out of wood, then they are brushed with dye and printed onto the fabric. If more than one colour is to be used, you need a separate block for each colour.

You would need to print with your block thousands of time to decorate a large piece of cloth by hand. You can make a printing block using a potato - it's much easier to carve than wood!

You will need:
a big potato
paper for your pattern
a small knife with a pointed end or a scalpel
white fabric
fabric paints or dyes - use indigo, turmeric or henna if you want to make authentic Indian colours
paper plates for mixing colours

The activity
1. Cut your potato in half and leave it to dry for a few hours. If you want, you can slice off the edges to make a square, which will be easier to line up when you print. You can also use a polystyrene ceiling tile, with the pattern drawn into it. You can buy real wood printing blocks in some Indian shops if you want to print from wood.
2. Design your printing block pattern on thin white paper, filling in the areas to be cut out. Remember to make the pattern no larger than the potato. Cut the paper 1 centimetre bigger than the design.
3. Tape your paper design onto the dry potato.
4. Get an adult to help with this part. Using the sharp knife or scalpel, cut out your design.
5. Mix your dyes or fabric paints on the paper plate. If you are using an Indian dye such as turmeric make it into quite a thick paste.
6. Paint the dye onto your potato block, or press the block into the dye on the plate.
7. Practice printing the block on some scrap paper before you try it on the fabric.
8. Print the pattern onto the fabric. It looks best when you print repeated patterns, or try different colours next to each other. Keep the patterns in line using a long ruler.
9. Leave the fabric to dry.

Need some inspiration?
Have a look at the some Victorian paisley patterns.
You can have a go at a block printing activity in this Museum Open Learning Initiative activity.
Wooden blocks are available ready made from Parrotfish.
Have a look at some William Morris designs and download some wallpaper.