Amsamma Block Printing

We do our block printing work at House Number 1-169 in Puttapaka, Narayanapuram. It is a quiet place where we focus on the designs and the fabric. Block printing takes a lot of time and patience, and we have been doing it this way for a long while. You can usually find us surrounded by wooden blocks and different dyes. It is a messy job but the results are always worth it. The village atmosphere helps us concentrate. We don't have a big factory, just our workspace at the house. Each piece we work on is a bit different because it’s all done by hand. Sometimes the colors don't come out exactly as planned, so we have to try again. That is just the nature of handwork. People from around Narayanapuram know our work. We don't go out looking for big city contracts all the time, we just keep busy with the orders we have. It is a traditional way of working that we want to keep going. The rhythm of the blocks hitting the fabric is a sound we are very used to. It's not a fast process. We take our time to make sure things look right. My family helps out too. It’s a small operation but it keeps us going. If you come to Puttapaka, you can find us at the house. We are usually there from morning till sunset. We mostly use natural materials and the sun to dry the cloth outside in the yard.