Ambacht In Beeld Festival plaatst cookies (lees meer) uitsluitend om de site beter te laten functioneren en bezoek te monitoren.   
Save the date: Ambacht in Beeld Festival
27 & 28 September 2025, NDSM Loods Amsterdam

| Blueprints

De Katoendrukkerij - Saturday 23 september & Sunday 24 september
Duration:
3 hours
Price:
€ 55
Minimum age:
14 years
STARTING TIME(S):
 
Saturday 23 september
10:30
14:00
Sunday 24 september
10:30
14:00

Blueprinting is one of the possibilities of (wood) block printing, also known as cotton printing—an ancient craft to decorate fabrics. In Europe, people traditionally used woad and, from the 16th and 17th centuries onwards, India’s indigo potentiates to dye fabrics blue. You could dye whole fabrics with that and apply patterns by covering parts of your fabric before dyeing. Back then, the patterns explained more about your identity and the group you belonged to.

 

You will try out different techniques in this masterclass. On three test pieces of cotton you will paint with a brush, stencil and print with wooden printing blocks from India using printing paste. Then you choose one of those three techniques to design and paint a slightly larger piece. Dye your samples and final piece in the indigo dye bath. After oxidizing, we rinse the cotton. At the end of the masterclass or at the end of the day, when the material is dry, you take it home to further process it in your own project.

 

Nathalie Cassee owns her specialised cotton printing workshop in Amersfoort, de Katoendrukkerij. She learned the craft of cotton printing in India, England and France. Besides direct printing with textile dyes, she also deepened her knowledge of printing with cut-out techniques and natural dyes. In India, she worked in different regions to get acquainted with various styles and block printers from whom she learnt the tricks of the trade. In her workshop, she has a collection of about 1,000 printing blocks.

 

Share this via