Did you ever carve the smooth-cut face of a raw potato, ink it up and stamp prints with it? Same idea as block printing, only in my experience, the potato is a sorry mess before you can say French Fry. Block printing, using durable stamp surfaces, still must take incredible patience and skill.
Block printing
Hand-printing method, using carved wooden or linoleum blocks.
From Fabric Sewing Guide by Claire Schaeffer. Krause Publications, Cincinnati, 2008. Used by permission.
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| Hand block printing in process, courtesy of Rubina Magazine |
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| Block printed cotton gauze from India ©Vintage Fashion Guild, photo by Margaret Wilds/denisebrain |
Right now in my Etsy shop you can see the fabric from which I shot the close up, in its finished form.
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| 1970s dress by Anokhi - Jaipur India |
This Treacy Lowe - London dress was also made in India in the 1970s, this time in block-printed silk.
