"Episode 10: About Hand-printed

Time flies and we are now at our 10th Dyeing and Weaving Club, and this time we will be introducing Hand-printed, the main dyeing technique used at SOU・SOU.
"Printing (Nasen)" is a technique of applying a pattern to fabric using dyed glue.
Because the dye itself plays a role of the contamination protection, it is possible to express fine patterns without bleeding of dyes.
■ Left:Higashiyama
■ Right:Kacho-fugetsu
For printing, plates are divided for each color, and colors are dyed one color at a time to express the pattern.
For example "Spring BudsWhen dying, two versions are necessary because it is two colors.
As the number of colors increases, the version also increases, so it takes time and labor to paint.
However, it is a feature that the coloring when colors overlap is beautiful.
■Oraka Multicolored
Since a new color is put on the hardened glue, the color of the lower color is not strongly left, but simply the color that mixed the two colors.
Hand-printed "hand printing", in which craftsmen manually dye each edition, and auto screens, which are automatically dyed by machines.
■ Left: Hand-printed
■ Right: State of the auto screen
Most SOU・SOU products are Hand-printed, but the Arakawa Furoshiki and Wacoal collaboration products are auto-screen dyed.
■Furoshiki (Large) / Temporary peacock (Peacock)
It is an advantage of the auto screen that you can produce a lot at once.
There are different types of auto screens, such Hand-printed and roller prints that are dyed with an uneven roll-shaped mold.
The advantage of the machine is advantageous in terms of mass production and cost.
On the other hand, in Hand-printed, the amount that can be produced is limited because the craftsmen manually rub the colors one by one.
As an aside, the environment of the workplace is very severe, as it is necessary to work in the extremely cold in winter in the hot weather in the summer.
Technically it is necessary to always put a color with uniform force and speed so that color unevenness does not appear.
Compared to auto-printing, Hand-printed has the characteristic that it can express deep colors because the dye is imprinted firmly on the fabric.
Hand-printed has a texture that can only be left by human hands.
Up and Down give this technology a try for yourself?