LEHERIYA AND BHANDHANI

Embroidery

Zari work

EMBROIDERY

Aari kari work in Jaipur done on duppatas

EMBRIODERY

Rajasthan traditional work

Screen which is used in screen printing is also customized due to patterns  for a screen upto 2000 is the making cost.
Pure vegetable dyes are used for printing

SCREEN PRINTING

It is done on a cotton fabric. vegetable dyes are used for it.

MOJRI

• 
  With the use of vegetable tanned leather, the mojari of Rajasthan may be identified by their soft upper of cow, goat or buffalo leather; thick buffalo leather; thick buffalo leather sole and heel are constructed of layers of leather that are glued together and then stitched with cotton thread.
  
  The uppers are constructed with one leather piece and then embroidered and embellished with cotton textile embroidery, nails, cowries, mirrors and beads.

DABU MOTIFS

DABU PRINTING PROCESS

Dabu Printing Process:

Cotton fabric is used.

1. The fabric is pre-washed and soaked for 24 hours to remove all starch, oil, dust, or any other contaminants.
2. The fabric is block printed with dabu, which is a mud resist paste made from clay and gavar gum, and sprinkled with saw dust (so the fabric will not stick to inself), and laid to dry in the sun.  The dabu mud makes the printed area resistant to dyes, and therefore will remain unaffected when it is later dyed.
3. Once the mud is dry, the fabric is immersed in a dye, usually indigo, and again laid to dry in the sun.  The printers may repeat the dabu printing on top of the dyed fabric to create further layers of resist and again dye it in darker shades of the dye.
4. Finally the fabric is washed to remove all traces of the dabu mud, and revealing the resist area to be the original white (or other colors depending on how many times the fabric was dabu printed).  The fabric is again dried in the sun and is ready to be packaged and sold.

MOTIFS OF BAGRU BLOCK PRINTING

BAGRU BLOCK PRINTING

The Bagru Chhipa community migrated from Jaipur and settled in the Bagru area near the Sanjaria River because it provided the necessary water for printing and chhikni mitti, an important ingredient in Dabu mud.  

Bagru Printing Process:

 

1. Cotton fabric is used.
2. The fabric is pre-washed and soaked for 24 hours to remove all starch, oil, dust, or any other contaminants.
3. The fabric is “yellow” dyed in a harda solution, which allows the natural dyes to adhere to the fabric and become colorfast.  Harda is extracted from fruits of the myrobalan plant (terminlia chebula).  The yellow dyed fabric is dried in open fields under the bright Indian sun. The fabric is now a yellowish cream color (unique to the Bagru printing process) and is ready for printing.
4. The yellow dyed fabric is spread and smoothed on long padded printing tables.  The printing always moves from left to right.  The printer gently taps the wooden block in a tray of the proper colored dye.  He then applies the block to the fabric carefully lining up the corners correctly and gives one hard swift hit to the center of the block to ensure even distribution of the dye.  This is repeated over and over again, first with the gadh block (background), and again with the rehk (fine outlines) and daata (inside filling) blocks in different colors.
5. After all the printing is complete, the fabric is left to dry for 2-3 days before it is washed.  Once the fabric is thoroughly dried, it is boiled in a large copper pot with a mixture of natural ingredients, including alum and various flowers.  The fabric is constantly stirred as it is boiled to keep the fabric from burning on the bottom of the pot.  After boiling the fabric is once again washed to remove any excess dyes or dirt, and again dried in the sun.  The block printed fabric is finally ready to be packaged and sold.

SAGANER MOTIFS

Patronized by the rulers Sanganeri motifs are exclusive and intricate done over sun bleached white or cream fabric. The designs and styles of the Sanganeri block prints are mainly inspired by the nature and local sources. Taking inspiration from several resources artist used to develop buta, buti, jaal and borders. Sanganeri motifs are famous for its curves, fineness and delicacy. Generally curvature of floral motifs is towards the right side. A typical Sanganeri printed cloth has yellow, green or blue background. The motifs can be broadly classified as flowers, plants, fruits, animals, human figures and geometrical patterns. Each of these deigns, colors and motifs specify certain community, their occupation as well as the season.

Traditionally the printing was done for the royal families and motifs are highly stylized. Mainly, motifs are modeled after sunflowers, narcissuses, roses, rosettes, lotuses, lotus bud, lily, champa, canna, nargis, marigold, sosan, gulmehendi, javakusum, guldaudi, kachnar, kaner, etc. Fruits like, keri, dhatura, banana, dates, grapes and pomegranate are also developed. Apart from this bel, betel leaf, animals like parrot, fish, camel, elephant etc are also taken as models to create motifs. In some traditional prints katar (dagger) and other weapons are also seen as motifs. Sawai Ram Singhji of Jaipur was a huge devotee of lord Shiva and therefore during his regime a lot of motifs related to Shiva were made like, rudhraksha, bel patra, trishool etc.

BLOCK PRINTING PROCESS

The process of printing can be divided into following major parts:-
• Washing
• Marking
• Printing
• Drying
• Washing

Washing:
The fabric brought from the market contains starch, dust etc. Therefore it goes through a preprinting treatment in order to get good results while printing. The fabric is therefore dipped in a solution of water and bleach for 1-2 days. It is then boiled and washed with water. Finally the cloth is stretched and spread on ground and left for drying. This process known as Hari Sarana takes 3-5 days depending on the weather conditions.

Marking:
The cloth to be printed is spread on the printing table and fixed with the help of pins. With help of scale and chalk areas to be printed are marked and proper gaps are left for cutting and stitching.

Printing:
Printer dips the block in the color and stamps the design on the cloth. The blocks are then pressed hard with the fist on the back of the handle so that registration/imprint of the color is even. Printing starts from left to right. Number of colors used in the design defines the number of blocks to be used. Generally one printer handles one color and application is done simultaneously. In the case of sarees the pallu is printed first and then the border. First the outline color is applied and then the filling colors. Specific point in the block guides the printer for the repeat impression. The process of printing is called as Chapaai.

Drying:
After the printing is completed the fabric is dried out in sun for the colors to get fixed. This is done specially for the pigment dyes. The printed fabrics are handled with utmost care so that the colors are not transferred to other areas. Therefore they are wrapped in plastic or newspaper after dying. The process is called as Sukhaai.

Washing:
Fabric then goes through the process of steaming in the special boilers constructed for this purpose. After steaming, the material is washed thoroughly in large quantities of water and dried in the sun. Once the fabric is washed and dried ironing is done, which further fixes the color permanently. This final process of washing is called Dhulaai. 

RAW MATERIALS

• Raw Materials:
The process of block printing is widespread due to its intricate process, motifs and vibrant colors. The main raw material is the color used in the printing. Traditionally the artisans used natural colors but today it has been replaced by chemical and artificial colors.

The main raw materials are Colors/ Dyes. 
Different types of dyes are used for silk and cotton.
   • Vegetable/ Natural dyes
   • Discharge Dyes
   • Pigment dyes
   • Reactive dyes
   • Rapid fast Colors

Vegetable/ Natural dyes:
Since ages artisans are using vegetable dyes for printing and dying. As they are extracted from the nature, vegetables, fruits etc., they are beneficial for the environment along with having traditional importance. There are few major colors produced naturally which are known internationally too.

- Indigo Blue: 
   Extracted from the indigo plant found throughout India.

- Red: 
  This is obtained by mixing alizarin with alum. The color ranges from pink to deep red.

- Black: 
  This is acidic solution of iron which is obtained by processing rusted nails, horse shoes, iron 
   scrap etc. with jiggery and salt. The mixture is buried under the ground and allowed to rot
   for about 10-15 days.  It is then taken out and the color is prepared.

- Green: 
   The skin of pomegranate is processed by boiling.

Apart from this artisans also use bark of mango tree, vinegar, slaked lime etc.

Discharge Dyes:
These dyes are used to print on dark background. The printing colors have chemical which react with the dark ground fabric and bleaches out the dark color from that particular place and prints the desired color. In this process a range of white and other light colors can be printed on a dark background.

Pigment Dyes:
These colors are readily available in the market and are easy to use. The mixed colors can be stored in plastic buckets after use. Pigment colors, brought from the market are further mixed with kerosene and a binder. The mixing has to be done carefully as the thickness of the material can give raised effects on the cloth while printing. These colors follow the direct printing technique. Colors applied are visible and do not change after washing. A number of colors can be obtained by mixing two or more pigment colors.

Reactive Dyes:
These are the chemical dyes which when mixed with second chemical produces a third color. Artisans therefore dye the cloth, to be printed, in one chemical and then print it with another chemical. These two chemicals react with each other and hence produce a different color. There are only few chemical dyes available in the market.

Rapid fast Colors:
These colors are difficult to store and has to be used the same day. In rapid fast color process the color in the design and the ground color both are printed in one go. Generally white or light background is used. There are only few colors available in this process.

Cloth:
Traditionally the printing was done on white or pale background of cotton cloth. Today the craft is practiced on any material ranging from cotton, silk, organza, jute, kotadoriya, chiffon, paper etc.

TOOLS AND RAW MATERIALS OF SANGANER

Tools:

Wooden Block: 
These blocks are usually made on teak or seesham wood. Artisans make sure that the wood is seasoned and then carve the motifs on it. The design are first printed on paper and stuck on the block of wood. Artisan, then start carving the wood with steel chisels, of different widths and cutting surface. The motifs are carved on the base while the top has a handle. These handles are either carved out from the same wood or by a low cost wood attached to the surface with the help of nail. Blocks made are of rectangular, square, oval, semi-circular, circular etc. shape. Once the block is made it is soaked in oil for 10-15 days to soften the grains. The life of these block are approximately 600-800 meter of printing. The outline blocks are called as rekh and the filler blocks are called as datta.
Metal Block: 
For making intricate patterns and getting high level of clarity in prints metal blocks are used. These blocks are made by engraving thin sheets of evenly cut metal strips into the wooden blocks. The metal strips are beaten to make them thin and then strips are cut of even length. The design is drawn on the wooden block and the metal strips are pressed onto the design by gentle hammering. Filling of the designs is done from center to outside. Once made the blocks are checked to see the strips are of the same height from the wooden base. Metal blocks are costly, time consuming but long lasting.
Color Plates:
Colors used for printing are kept in a wooded tray called as saaj. Once the color is poured into the tray wire mesh is placed inside. This mesh is covered with a piece of felt. Felt soaks the color and finally a fine cotton/malmal cloth is placed on the felt. This preparation helps in proper application of color on the block.
Printing Table
Tray Trolley
Scale
Chalk

Brushes
Tambadi
Mogari
Kotan (Wooden mallet)

COTTON FABRIC IS USED

VEGETABLE DYES
Parts of Plants such as leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, barks, roots of dye yielding plants.
EG.
RED CHANGES TO BLACK, MAROON after wash
YELLOW CHANGES SEA GREEN

FABRIC AND VEGETABLE DYES

COTTON fabric is weaved by using finest quality strings & yarns and the development.

VEGETABLE DYES

Parts of Plants such as leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, barks, roots of dye yielding plants.

eg.

YELLOW CHANGES GREEN after wash

RED CHANGES MAROON, BLACK after wash

DIFFERENT BLOCKS

MAKING OF BLOCKS

BLOCK CARVING TOOLS

BLOCK CARVING

A block maker who specializes in block making is called “Bhatt-ghar“- in Rajasthan. Here Bhatt implies block and the ghar implies the carver.

RAJASTHAN - THE 'LAND OF KINGS'

Rajasthan this state retains the glory and richness of those times with its marvelous monuments, colourful traditions and customs . It has unending cycle of fairs and festivals throughout the year. It is known for its traditional and colourful art. The block prints, tie and dye, Bagaru prints, Sanganer prints, Zari embroidery. It is also famous for textile, semi precious stone stones and handicraft.

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