Kalamkari printing

How things are produced ....

Vegetable and Natural dyes used in Kalamkari printing.

Most natural dyes use mordants to fix color onto fabric

Fabric is washed in a natural bleach and milk to whiten and help stop the dyes from spreading

Hand-carved wood blocks are used to print an outline of the pattern on the fabric with iron acetate

Mordant applied with the help of a block to fill in the pattern

Printed fabric with mordant before boiling

Fabric boiled in red- coloring materials brings out the red color only in the area where mordant is applied. The use of a cooper container brightens the red color.

Fabric is washed and dried. For each color this process must be repeated.

Gold paint is sometimes applied to the finished product. This is done using a wooden pen ( kalam).