1. Carving the Block

The wooden blocks made by craftspeople called blocks. They are not using any electrical machinery, but relying on their traditional tools; compass, saw, routers, rulers, chisels, and wooden mallet. Each design usually requires a set of several different blocks, including an outline (rekh), a background (gad), and a filler (datta).

2. Preparing the cloth

The printing process begins with raw, grey cotton cloth which is either hand-woven or mill-made. The cloth is treated with several different auxiliaries (for example: bleaching) to make it softer and more absorbent. The swelling of fibers and opening the pores in order to absorb the printing paste uniformly, ensures that the dyes will be colorfast and bright. After this, the fabric is given a primary creamish- yellow color (pila karma) by applying HARDA SOLUTION. This solution is invariably a solution of harda power in water without any addition of oil. The cloth is then dried in the sun and is ready to start printing.

3. Mixing the dyestuffs

The dyestuffs are mixed in a printing tray which has fixed size 25cms/35cms. First a bamboo frame known as TATI is put inside the tray. On top of that we place a layer of KAMALI, which is a woolen cloth. The dye solution, is prepared by mixing the color into the Binder, and is then poured into the tray, where in gets soaked by the woolen cloth. After these preparations, printing of the fabric starts.

4. Printing the Fabric

There are two main types of printing used commonly in Bagru: direct dye printing and resisting printing. In both procedures, first the blocks are soaked overnight in mustard oil or refined oil and then washed. Printing is done on wooden table, the size of which depends on the length of to be printed (18 foot approx.). These tables have a layer of ply on which there are 20 layers of tart and a sheet of cloth on which comes the final fabric.

a. Direct Dye Printing

In the first process, the dye solutions are poured in the tray. The printer presses the block into the dye tray and then onto the cloth until the pattern is complete. For every imprint the block is pressed into the tray to get a fresh smear of paste. The outline pattern is done in blocks for the background and highlights in different colors. Once each pattern is complete, the cloth is ready for the dye vat. This printing is primarily done by male printers.

b. Resist Printing

The second technique, known locally as DABU printing, involves the applying thick black mud paste onto the fabric with the wood blocks. This dabu paste when printed on the cloth, often given a light dusting of a material resembling fine wood dust. To speed the drying process and add strength to the resist paste, the dabu method is generally used to fill in smaller, highlighted spots of the pattern. Although, women have traditionally done the dabu printing, men are also involving themselves in it.

5. Dyeing

a. Direct Dyeing

Once the cloth has been printed, it is dried in the sun and finally ready for dyeing. The cloth is dyed either in a hot dye bath in a copper vessel or a cool dye vat dug in the ground. For the hot dye, the copper vessel or TAMDA, is filled with various combinations of Alizarin (a red dye traditionally made from madder root) mixed with Dabudiya flowers, and other vegetable and mineral dyestuffs and fixations.

b. Indigo Dyeing

The cool sunken vat, called MATH, is reserved for Indigo Dyeing which imparts shades of blue. The vat is dug about 2 meters deep into the ground and is filled with indigo, lime, molasses and water. The dyer may dip the cloth several times for a deeper shade of blue or dry it for further Dabu printing to retain light blue and then later re dye it.