Six steps, centuries of tradition, one masterpiece at a time
The Jaipur Legacy
Handblock printing is one of India's oldest textile art forms, and Jaipur has been its beating heart for centuries. At Vanvastra Collections, we have spent decades immersed in this tradition — working side by side with master craftsmen to ensure that every quilt, bed sheet, table mat and napkin we create carries the spirit of this heritage.
Unlike machine-printed fabrics, every Vanvastra piece is printed entirely by hand. This means no two items are perfectly identical — each one carries the subtle, beautiful imperfections that are the hallmark of genuine artisan work.
Below, we walk you through each step of our process — from the first pencil sketch to the final wash — so you can appreciate the extraordinary skill and love that goes into everything we make.
Each stage demands precision, patience and years of practice
Sketching the Motif
Our journey begins with the artisan meticulously sketching the desired motifs onto paper. Drawing inspiration from the rich flora and fauna of Rajasthan, the geometric patterns of Mughal architecture, and generations of family tradition, each design is carefully refined until it is ready to be carved. This stage can take anywhere from a few hours to several days for complex, multi-element compositions.
Many of our motif archives date back over three generations, preserved in hand-drawn sketch books.
Hand-Chiselling the Block
Once the design is finalised, our master block carvers transfer it onto a piece of seasoned teak or sheesham wood. Using a set of fine chisels and gouges, they hand-carve each line, curve and dot of the motif with extraordinary precision. A single intricate block can take three to seven days to complete. The depth and angle of every cut determines how the ink will sit on the fabric, making this the most technically demanding stage of the entire process.
Our senior carvers can cut details as fine as 0.5 mm — visible only under a magnifying glass.
Readying the Masterpiece
After carving, the block is soaked in mustard oil for several days. This conditions the wood, prevents warping, and allows the fibres to expand so the carved edges remain crisp during printing. Each completed block is inspected under light, tested on scrap fabric, and adjusted until the impression is perfect. Our workshop holds hundreds of blocks — some decades old — each a unique, irreplaceable masterpiece.
A well-cared-for teak block can last 15–20 years and produce tens of thousands of impressions.
Preparing Natural Dyes
Natural and vibrant dyes are prepared with utmost care by our colour specialists. We use a palette of mineral and organic pigments — indigo extracted from the Indigofera plant, madder red from roots, turmeric yellow, and iron-based black. Each colour is mixed to a specific consistency, tested on swatches, and adjusted to ensure it will transfer crisply and set permanently on the fabric. Where AZO-free synthetic dyes are used, they are chosen for their low environmental impact and OEKO-TEX certification.
Natural indigo requires a special fermentation vat that our dyers maintain and "feed" daily.
The Artisan at Work
This is where the magic happens. The pre-washed fabric is stretched flat on a padded printing table and pinned taut. The artisan loads the block with colour by pressing it onto an ink-soaked pad, then positions it on the fabric with practiced precision and strikes it firmly with the heel of their palm — releasing a crisp impression. Working methodically across the cloth, they repeat this action hundreds of times to build up the repeat pattern, aligning each stamp by eye to within a millimetre. A skilled printer can complete a full bed-sheet length in a single working day.
There is no machine guide — alignment is done entirely by eye and muscle memory developed over years of practice.
Setting the Colours
After printing, the fabric is left to dry in the sun for several hours, allowing the colours to oxidise and begin setting into the fibres. It is then washed thoroughly in clean running water to remove excess dye and any surface pigment, before being washed again with a mild fixative agent that permanently bonds the colour to the cloth. The fabric is dried, steam-pressed, and inspected for quality before being cut and stitched into the final product. What emerges is a textile with rich, lasting colour that only grows more beautiful with each subsequent wash.
First-wash colour bleeding is normal for naturally dyed fabrics — always wash separately the first time.
Every Vanvastra piece you bring home is the result of this six-step journey — touched by human hands at every stage. By choosing our textiles, you are not just buying a product; you are supporting a living tradition and the livelihoods of over 100 artisan families in Jaipur.
