Craft Haven: Printing in Sanganer

The process of Screen Printing is carried on wooden beds. laid to print yards of fabric at the same time under make shiift sheds in a small workshop which allows artists to work in natural light.

Buckets of dyes are prepared to create a thick fluid in several colour combinations to use for both Screens and blocks. These colours could be organic and natural, but sometimes synthetic.

Screens are made of designs that are mostly made digitally and printed before they are framed on wooden screens. The process is followed by punching these to create holes that would allow printing.

Artisans fix the design on a screen frame after punching. This process involves a few steps as it can be very technical to fix this accurately with the measurements of the frame and fabric.

Block Printing is widely used for smaller motifs. Blocks are a traditional way of printing and sometimes a variety of combinations and both Screen and block printing are used to get the result.

Blocks are both machine cut for more intricate designs as well as handcut for simpler motifs. Designers can be innovative to create floral and geometric patterns of repeats in various sizes with these

The workshop consists of an outside area for drying, mixing, washing which is also covered by handmade sheds as most artisans have to work in warms temperatures and these are good for ventilation.

Every workshop has stacks of White Fabric, bought in various weights and qualities, which serves as base before dyeing. These fabrics are bought in bulk to save costs and supplied by local vendors.

Machines are used to roll white fabric on these electronic washers. Treatment is required to sometimes soften the fabric and get rid of starch and dirt before dying or printing.

White Fabric is then dried in outside sheds in natural sunlight before it is used for printing. This process also loosens the fabric giving it the fluidity it needs.

Fabric is stretched , measured and cut after washing and drying on wooden frames before it is laid to print. This process needs skill and strength.

Finally the process of printing starts when the Artisans choose the screens they will use in repetition and lay the washed and stretched fabric on wooden beds, sealing them from all sides for accuracy

Here, Artisans are working on the first layer of the printing buy forming single colour repeat patterns. Before the next layer of colour, these are dried so two colours do not leak into each other.

A closer look at the first print. One can see that this is incomplete as another layer and more colours will be added with other screens on top of this.

After all the layers of printing, the final design is ready. You can notice, that the first layer of blue pattern is still visible beneath the indigo layer and white flowers that are block printed.

After several times of printing, the beds have layers of vat dye on them and are left open to dry. Most of these rooms are dark as the screen should not be over exposed to light.

A cemented washing area is used to wash used screens to un-colour them. This has high pressure water with detergents that clean the dye of the screens that are then ready for next round of printing.

The dyed fabric also needs washing several times after printing so the extra colour can bleed and the true colours of the fabric can be seen. This fabric is also sometimes starched.

Cold water dipping is also a technique used for certain kind of fabrics to allow the extra vat to discharge and colour bleeding. Fabrics are then ironed, starched and cut for markets.

A variation can be seen in colours using the same blocks in different repeat patterns. Usually 3-4 blocks are created to make different parts of the same design. Here one can see 3 layers on the base.

The most common motifs are floral repeats in traditional bright colours. These can be played around with different sizes, patterns and composition. Sometimes the same block can create so many results.

Here one colour screen has been used on the base fabric dyed using indigo. These geometric repeats are also floral in style. Only two layers are used, making it more cost and labour affective.