HOME

In India I had some initial ideas of making a bodice top with a peplum and a long skirt with my lengths of fabric. 

I completely overlooked the placement of my pattern pieces so that the print would line up. 

I was disappointed that the overall effect to the block printing was lost in the final product. 

With this in mind, I decided not to complete the skirt. Leaving it as a fabric length. 

REFLECTION

It’s easy to say that this trip was life changing. It will more difficult to put in practice what I have learnt and seen. Im sure everyone on the trip will have a clearer vision for sustainability. And if we return to India, it will to be to collaborate and support India crafts not to exploit its resources. 

There are two sides to this sword. India depends on industry and overseas investment for the economy, but in the rush to gain first world status many cultural practices (particularly in textiles) are being lost.

Organisations like Happy Hands and people like Rajeet Sethi and Fiona Wright are doing inspirational things and taking great lengths to preserve the these practices. It is through awareness and ethical practices that will sustainability will be achieved. 

But is a losing battle if big companies like Zara and H&M have zero transparency and still continue to use unethical practices. 

The question is: what type of designer do I want to be?

Whilst movies like the Darjeeling Limited and the Best Exotic Marigold offer a very romanticized/ western view of India and do it little justice, through halcyon eyes I feel like that is exactly how our whirlwind adventure was. 

When the pangs of nostalgia hit, I just have to remind myself that’ll I will definitely be back soon. 

FINAL WORK

Creating straight lines as a guide. A length of string is covered in indigo powder and then held very taught on either side of the fabric. Flicking the string a few times the powder transfers a straight line on the fabric. 

The ingenuity of this simple trick was very funny to me. Back home, I would have tried to find the longest ruler possible and struggle for hours to create what we completed in less than five minutes. 

I decided to create two lengths. First using the diamond print block in vertical stripes. And the second piece to was feature the geometric block and the floral block in alternating vertical stripes.

Trying to replicate the sporadic brushed effect on a much larger piece of fabric proved to be difficult. But I was able to replicate the slight transfer effect that happened by accident during experimentation by printing the table cloth, and pressing my fabric on top.

On the second piece of fabric, it was a last minute miscommunication with Akib who was helping my apply the black paint that spurred me to create a horizontal stripe across the fabric, resulting in a check pattern. 

After printing Akib washed my fabric in Alizarin five times. The colour was still not a match to my experimentation sample.

We said our sad good byes, as the boys were leaving. We hoped we inspired them a fraction of how much they inspired us. 

The following day, still determined to achieve the same result as my sample I washed my fabric three more times. But the attempts were futile. I was quite disappointed that the final length was not the same as my sample. We’ll chalk this one up to design limitations.

Block update: Arrived on the last day. Very exciting to have my own wood block. See Hannah’s blog for an interesting/ funny story, chalk that one up to lost in translation. 

BACK TO BUSINESS

After our weekend trip away we returned to Happy Hands with lots of work to do. Akib, Hanif and Sikander were leaving in a week for Ramadan. Hannah, Jo and I worked individually on our experimentation with Akib, offering aid and advice to each other.

There was still no update on our blocks. We decided to start experimenting and not wait on the blocks (just in case). 

Hannah, Jo and I all decided to use sheer fabrics, and experimented mainly with the resist paste and black paint. 

Hannah had some great ideas, and did of a lot of testing that really raised Akib’s eyebrows. 

I still wanted to pursue the layered fabric idea. But after testing the fabrics, Akib and I weren’t able to get the resisted sections white enough. 

This is the result after five washes in alizarin to draw the colour out of the resisted sections. 

Black brushed only on the resist print.

Black print on sheer grey fabric.

Accidental transfer effect.

The entire process, step by step. 

Our experiments

Hannah's innovative experiments

Waiting for the fabric to dry. Our first completed collaboration with Akib.

Akib wasn’t quite sure where we were going with the experimentation. We like to think he had fun. 

This effect was achieved by accident. Jo had printed on the beforehand, and because her fabric was very sheer, the resist seeped through onto the tablecloth. The residual resist paste transferred very lightly onto my fabric, and it was only visible after brushing the black paint on. 

Even though our works were individual, it was evident that there was trend throughout our works. We had all decided to created distorted prints with the resist and black paint and use the less traditional, more geometric blocks. And both Jo and Hannah’s works featured an ombre effect.

I think this was our way of making our block printing contemporary. The three of us struggled initially with block printing looking too traditional for our projects. 

We were later showed a fashion show that Akib had collaborated with a designer, a great showcase of how traditional block printing patterns can be used in contemporary fashion. 

DILLIHAAT MARKETS

Enclosed markets. A great range of textiles and craft pieces. Really enjoyed the intricate line work and colour of Mudhabani paintings. 

PUSHKAR

Our first class train trip wasn’t quite like the Darjeeling Limited, but then Wes Andersen has a flair for the dramatics. Pop culture reference aside, the train was a great glimpse into Delhi’s country side. 

No sooner were we 10 minutes outside Delhi, it was apparent that the poverty was much more concentrated on the outskirts. I think we had been sheltered living in a nice part of the city, and not really experiencing how a large majority of Delhites live. 

We were greeted by a friendly face, Fiona Wright on the platform in Rajasthan. 

Fiona Wright’s workshop. The HQ for The Stitching Project - her business with her husband Praveen. Fiona’s set up here is amazing. She is boosting the local economy, and creating employment. Her home and workshop have a great sense of community. What stood out to me is that Fiona knows exactly where her fabric comes from and who manufactures it. She works closely with her mill and knows exactly how it is made; she has full transparency. 

Fiona had some great pieces at her house. She asked for us to comment on what is in trend right now. She finds it difficult to stay current as she only travels to Australia twice a year. 

She had a great jumper/ hoodie that was block printed with a design based off her son’s artwork. It had great market potential to sell in Australia. 

To sum up, we were spoiled in Pushkar. Fantastic food, great entertainment and a casual camel ride. 

bovine contentment

with Fiona at her workshop