Joy Drop: Indigo

Rajasthan, India is renowned for artisan textile production. From hand-carved block printing at the highest level, to mud-resist indigo vats for which the process hasn’t changed in hundreds of years, the heritage of this region will blow your mind.

I’ve now traveled to Jaipur, Rajasthan, twice to experience their artisan textile trade, and I’m finally able to bring this treasured tradition back to all of you.

On one of my trips to Jaipur, I took a block printing workshop. This scarf is my own hand- drawn design translated by Rajasthani artisans into wood blocks and printed then dipped in indigo dye.

This process is called dabu resist. Dabu printing is a traditional, mud-resist hand-block
printing technique of Rajasthan, India. A mud paste is applied to fabric section by section with a hand-carved wooden block. The hand carving is just unbelievable.

Below are just a few of the thousands of hand-carved blocks they have used over the years to create garments and home textiles.

First, the dabu mud is made using all manner of natural ingredients--including "insect-eaten wheat flour" which I think means...poop? The mud is hand (foot) made in a large concrete pit.

Then comes the fun part: hand-stamping the design. After the mud resist paste is stamped on, you sprinkle it with sawdust which soaks up extra moisture and give extra resist to the indigo ink.

After the mud-stamped design has dried, the fabric is dipped in a vat of indigo dye. For multiple shades of blue, additional rounds of stamping are applied, and subsequently dipped back into the dye vat.

The scarves are dried in the hot Rajasthani sun before being rinsed thoroughly.

I came home and have been thinking about the magic of those indigo dye vats combined with the blocks and the mud, and just couldn't keep it out of my mind. It took me about a year to come up with the designs that would work best in block form.

You might say I have a soft spot for generational craft tradition, especially with fabric. I come from a long line of quilters, people who made their own cloths, and women who simply love to have a small needlework project for cold winter nights in the Midwest.

The Indigo Joy Drop is a marriage of my family's traditions with those from the artisans in Jaipur. It's what I love best about travel: meeting people who have lived completely different lives than me, but celebrating the thing we have in common. Textile work is such a connector for women around the world.

These designs are classic Handker, from my sketchbooks, and inspired by the world through my eyes. The fabric used is super fine and soft cotton, and the scarves are LARGE at 40" x 70". Much more like a traditional scarf/wrap. You can wear it like a sarong, or as a head covering while you duck into a sacred temple on your travels. Or pair it with our brass rope slide for a quick look.