The Craft

Hand block printing — an ancient art, practiced daily

In the villages of Bagru and Sanganer, outside Jaipur, families have been printing fabric by hand for generations. Not as a heritage project or a tourist attraction — but as their daily work, their livelihood, their craft.

This is where every Mulmul Earth piece begins.

The block

Every design starts with a block carver. Working with seasoned teak wood, the carver draws the pattern freehand and then chisels it away — leaving a raised surface that will carry the dye. A complex design can take several days to carve. Each block is a work of art before it ever touches fabric.

The dye

Our artisans work with natural dyes wherever possible — indigo from plants, iron from water, turmeric from the kitchen. The dyes are mixed fresh each morning in small batches. The colour you see on your Mulmul Earth piece was mixed by hand on the day it was printed.

The print

The fabric is stretched across a long padded table. The artisan dips the block into the dye tray, positions it carefully on the fabric, and presses down with firm, even pressure — using the heel of the hand and sometimes the body weight. The block is lifted, repositioned, and pressed again. And again. And again.

A single bedsheet can require hundreds of individual stamps.

The irregularity

No two hand block printed pieces are identical. The pressure varies slightly. The dye absorbs differently. The block wears over time. These are not flaws — they are the signature of human craft, the proof that your piece was made by a person, not a machine.

When you find a slight variation in your Mulmul Earth piece, that is the artisan's hand you are seeing. Hold it with that knowledge.

The sun

After printing, the fabric is laid in the open sun to set the colours naturally. Then washed in clean water. Then folded by hand. Then it comes to you.

From the carver's chisel to your home — every step is human.