Printing Tea Towels

I went over to the Torpedo Factory yesterday to work on some tea towels for Arts on Foot, which is coming up in two weeks. I print my cards and coin purses in my studio by hand, but for a large quantity of big pieces, it is much easier to just crank them out on the press. I took a few pictures of the process so you can see how they are made.

I start by ironing all the towels so there are no creases, otherwise the print won't go on smoothly.

I use a rented etching press to make the prints. I would love to have one of my own, and recently saw an ad for one that was in my price range, but getting a five-ton press into my sixth floor apartment would be a huge challenge. Plus, it would take up the remaining five square feet that isn't already filled with prints, so I'll wait until a more appropriate time to buy.

When I'm working at home I use Speedball brand inks because they are easy to work with and relatively odorless. On the press though, I use Graphic Chemical inks which are much thicker and messier but have much richer colors. They also smell really strong and you will get a headache after working with them for a few hours in an unventilated space. The results are great, but if you are working at home I would suggest using something else, your lungs will thank you.

Mixing the right shades of magenta:

The presses are covered in "felts," which are several layers of felt in varying thicknesses. This pads the block while it's going through the press, and you need a layer of paper between the block and the felt to stop the ink from transferring everywhere. The paper gets this fuzzy multiple-exposure print on it after a few runs.

Laying the block down on the tea towel:

Cranking the press:

And a finished tea towel, fresh off the press!

Clean-up is a lot messier with these inks, and you use a special razor blade to get all the ink off the glass. It is one of the most satisfying things in the world.

And that is how the tea towels are made! Much more complicated than printing by hand, but much faster when you are working on large pieces.

Fair Trade Tea Towels

A few weeks ago, a very interesting looking package arrived at my doorstep (actually at the front desk of our apartment building, but same thing). It was wrapped in cotton, stitched together with twine, and weighed about thirty pounds. It could only be one thing: a shipment of organic fair-trade tea towels from Chennai.

Last year, I was buying my tea towels from a company that mass-produced cotton products in China. Very cheap, but not exactly environmentally or ethically sound. So when that company closed at the beginning of this year, I decided it was time for a change. I wanted something higher quality and organic, and during this search I stumbled upon a company that sold tea towels that were not only organic cotton, but also woven at a fair trade co-op in India.

After several months of testing sample fabrics and negotiating shipping times, my neatly bundled package arrived. Below are a few pictures of the actual weavers and cotton pickers who make the tea towels I am now using, and which you can have in your very own home.

The price of the tea towels has gone up slightly, but in my opinion it is worth it to know where the cotton comes from, how it is produced, and that it is improving the livelihood of an entire village (Kilvayattanan Kuppam in Tamil Nadu, to be precise). You can even go and watch them weaving the tea towels, next time you find yourself in Tamil Nadu.

Photos via Bishopston Trading Company

So, now when you buy a tea towel you are not only supporting an artist and small-business owner in the US, but an entire village of weavers in India. And that is a purchase you can feel good about!

You can find the organic fair trade tea towels in the shop, right here.