Dyeing and Blocking- The history behind Printed Fabrics by Debra E. Marvin

In the 18th Century, among the many fascinating items Europeans began to ‘need’ from the far east were printed fabrics. “Fast Printed” meant the colors were not supposed to run, not the speed of creation. By 1700 English, French, and Dutch craftsmen had figured out how to fix their dyes and create prints with the use of elaborate carved woodblocks, but they were slow to catch imports for their desirability.  

Here's a link to an incredible dress from 1780s made of Indian Chintz. Such colors and bold patterns!

Of course, the labor was backbreaking – cold, dark workrooms with boiling vats of dye. Bleak, monotonous work for very long days. Sadly, few samples of the earliest of prints survive. Cotton took dye best and natural fabrics deteriorate unless kept under the best of situations.

The Madder Plant. Roots were the source of red dye

Most dying centered around two major colors – red and blue and were created by the use of MADDER for red and INDIGO for blue.

THE PROCESS:
It’s incredible to see the intricate details carved on old woodblocks.  Dots worked into the patterns (or not) helped the worker line up the block from spot to spot. A block was colored (think of stamping –rolled on, or pressed onto the dye) and pressed against fabric, then imprinted with a tap from a mallet. The process continued, block by block down the yards and yards of fabric. Consider that in a yard and a half , the process on 45” material would have been done 91 times alone with a 4”  sq. block.  (note-45” wide material is the norm now, not then!)

If you are like me, you love TOILE. Here’s an excellent representation of detail but done in one color.

Imagine the work that went into this fabric!

Amazing printed fabric from 1775-1800

http://www.marquise.de/database/dbout.php?name=hindelopen1.jpg&lang=.

Block printing was not perfect and that’s the charm of it. A discerning seamstress might well pass on fabric that was not lined up properly, or had the occasional smear, but someone would use it.  It’s not surprising that prints were not found on the clothes of servants and the working class in the 18^th Century!

CREATING THE WOOD  PATTERN BLOCKS was a time-consuming enterprise, starting with a thick block of wood made from sycamore / planetree or pear wood (primarily  in England). They had to be of quality to resist warping when wet, and were backed with two or three other layers of wood, often pine. Grains ran in opposite directions in each layer to further prevent warping.

The block was sanded completely flat and smooth before accepting the sketched on design which was transferred on.  The design started on paper, as it had to be copied over to other blocks if the design had multiple colors. For each color the area of the design was left and the balance carved away. I understand the process from making printing blocks out of a linoleum type material, but the skill involved to make a multi-colored block amazes me.

At times, small details had to be made in metal and added to the block, as small cuts tend to wear away or chip off. The use of copper added a very intense amount of work in such cases.

The process to print continues with the choice of a good cloth, fast dyes, and steady hands. And patience!

For a multi-color print, the entire bolt of fabric had to be hand printed in one color and allowed to dry. A second, third or fourth color could be added with different blocks for the same pattern and additional stamping and drying time. In some cases, if a color was only used in a small part, it was hand painted on.

For many years in England, import of printed fabric was illegal. People loved it but it took away from the domestic fabric industry—until British craftsmen could compete with Indian craftsmen!  Textiles from India led the market for a long time. India muslin and calico remained in high demand even after British mills were rolling out cotton fabric.

Here are few more ways to create printed cloth:

Mordant Dyeing (chemical fixatives stamped to the cloth which was then put into a pot of dye)

Resist Dyeing (placing a resist material, like a wax, on the fabric where dye was not to attach)

Hand Painting!

Flower designs were popular, and still are. Fabric printing by mid 18^th century was done to mimic embroidery.  Later, bolder patterns of twisting stems and lines came along but so did small designs which were much easier and cheaper to produce! Now the working class could wear  simple prints.

The term Calico represents printed cotton and may have originated in America as the general term for cotton prints coming from the port of Calicut, India. Chintz, another popular cotton print (generally with a more polished cotton thread and therefore a shinier fabric) is believed to have come from the Hindi word Chint which meant variegated.

I won’t take for granted the classic look of printed cotton when I consider its not so humble beginnings.

For anyone creating period clothing, it is important to look at what materials were used at the time.

Francis Cabot Lowell: Businessman, capitalist, spy

After winning physical independence from England, economic independence was next. And that independence was tied to textiles.

In the 1760's, a British businessman, Richard Arkwright, committed industrial espionage to establish his waterframe spinning jenny and his power loom. These two machines revolutionized the textile industry in England and led to the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in order to keep up with demand for raw cotton. Before the gin cotton fabric cost as much as 60 cents a yard. After, 10 cents a yard.

In 1810, Francis Cabot Lowell (1775-1817)  from Massachusetts took a trip to Europe and ended up in Manchester, England. For his health he said. His real purpose was to tour the Manchester mills and bring the machinery schematics back to America. A successful venture capitalist and businessman from an old Boston mercantile family, he graduated from Harvard the same year Whitney invented the gin, in 1795.

At first Lowell tried to legally obtain the machinery plans. When that didn't work he drew on his fascination and aptitude with machines--and his photographic memory--to commit the intricate looms and spinning jennys to memory. There is some speculation he may have used secret compartments in his steamer trunks to hide notes from the very thorough British customs officials. If those notes did indeed exist, he destroyed them.

He returned to Boston in 1812 and began the task of recreating what he'd seen. And improving and speeding up the machinery. Both tasks were accomplished and left elite engineers and mathematicians of the day in awe of his mechanical genius. Two years later he presented the first working model. By 1815, over 27 million pounds of cotton had been spun and woven in the United States.

He built his first mill in Waltham, Massachusetts, on the Charles River. This picture is that building. It was the first mill to cover the entire production--from raw fiber to finished cloth--in one building. 

The town of Lowell, Massachusetts--the center of the 19th century cotton textile industry--was his vision, but he did not live to see it built. The filthy, dangerous, deadly conditions in Manchester appalled Lowell and he knew it would never work in America. Using the paternalistic mindset common in his social class he created an entirely different model for a mill town.

After his death in 1817 Lowell'ss brother-in-law, Patrick Tracy Jackson, moved the mill 30 miles north of Boston on the Merrimack River, to a place where the river fell 32 feet in less than a mile. This down slope provided the water power for the mills. Now known as the Merrimack Manufacturing Company, it dominated the textile industry here for close to 100 years.

Next time you wear your favorite cotton dress or shirt or even your favorite pair of jeans, thank Francis Cabot Lowell's photographic memory and skills as a spy.