Designing the Scarves

I worked on the designs for the scarves while we were in India, sketching out patterns along the way. I wanted to work from existing designs that I already had for sale (or in the works) so that the scarves would fit in with the rest of my prints. So I drew up some repeating patterns on paper, and worked with the printers to create the printing blocks from the sketches.

 

The scarves are printed with wood blocks rather than linoleum, since linoleum would never hold up to the natural dyes and repetitive printing they are used for. I had my blocks carved from a hard wood that would last much longer for textile printing (I learned to do this the first time I studied block printing but a block like this would have taken me about two weeks to carve, so it made a lot more sense to have a professional do it).

Then, each scarf was printed by hand, rinsed multiple times and laid out in the sun to dry next to a water buffalo.

 

(You can find them online right here.)

Heading to Fall

It's starting to really cool off in Vermont, and fall is definitely moving in. I think I'll be wearing this outfit constantly until I need to switch sweaters for huge parkas:

Scarf - Top - Cardigan - Bracelet - Jeans - Boots

The Scarves

The scarves are finally here. Three brand new, hand printed, 100% cotton, natural dyed scarves, block printed with my designs.

This is a project I was working on the whole time we were in India: I spent a long time searching for a block printer to work with and finally, in Kutch, we visited a printer who ended up becoming a good friend. He works exclusively with natural dyes, and who I knew could do good things with my designs.

The three designs were printed by hand using the ajrakh method, where the design is printed with a resist paste rather than a colored ink. This creates a darker background with a lighter design where the dye resisted the image.

The three natural dyes I worked with were madder (red), indigo (blue), and logwood (purple). The block printing studio is surrounded by huge vats and cauldrons of dye that have been fermenting for years (or decades in the case of the indigo) to give just the right color.

 

The block printing is done on long, padded tables, and each textile can take anywhere from several minutes to several weeks to print, depending on the complexity of the design and the number of colors used.

 

 

The fabric goes through several rinses to get all the dyes out, and is then laid in the sun to dry:

Then packed, shipped and sent to me in the US. I've been keeping this project under wraps since I started working on it, but it feels so good to wear something I designed myself (I'm wearing the logwood scarf as I type). I'm beyond thrilled with how they came out. You can find them in the shop right here.

Handwoven Scarves by PidgePidge

One of my favorite vendors at Handmade Mart last month was PidgePidge, which offers an amazing line of colorful scarves that are all woven by hand. I loved the way she used all the different textures and patterns in one scarf, and I have spent plenty of time since the show looking at the huge range of color combinations they come in. She makes scarves in two weights: one for winter and one for summer, so you can keep wearing them all year round (especially when buildings are so air-conditioned in the summer you need to wear a sweater when it's 100 degrees outside).

I have never woven on a loom before, but it is something I have been wanting to do for years. After seeing these scarves, and all the amazing patterns she combines into one piece, I have been looking up classes again. You can see the full line of scarves right here.