Linocut printing on fabric: tote bags, tees and tea towels

I print on fabric by hand, from linoleum blocks I cut myself for each order. We always start with the drawing and an honest talk about how it will survive being carved. Lino likes bold shapes, a clear silhouette and a confident mark; hairline webs, tiny lettering and soft shading clog up on cloth by the twentieth pull. If the artwork is overloaded I suggest simplifying it: drop the halftones, keep the contrast, enlarge the smallest elements until they can take ink and burnishing. The image goes onto the block mirrored, because otherwise every word and every asymmetric shape prints backwards, and you only see that on the first proof, when recutting is too late.

Then come the proofs. First on paper: it shows where the gouge left a shoulder and where the background smears, and the block goes back under the tool. Then on a scrap of the very fabric the run will be printed on, because heavy cotton canvas, t-shirt jersey and loose waffle towelling all take ink differently. I print by hand, burnishing the back of the cloth, or on a press when the item can take the pressure; a rigid board always goes inside the bag or shirt, or the ink strikes through and glues the front of a tote to its back. Two-colour work means a separate block per colour, registration marks and drying between runs. Normal runs are ten to a hundred pieces: tote bags, t-shirts, kitchen towels and drawstring pouches.

Things I say up front so nobody is disappointed. Hand printing gives slight differences between pieces — pressure, ink load, the tension of the cloth; there will be no perfectly identical impressions, and that is how the method works, not a defect. Fabric ink has to be heat-set with an iron or a press, and skipping that step means the image washes out the first time. Light ink on dark cloth behaves differently from dark on light and almost always needs a proof and a second pass. And separately: I print my own drawings and artwork you send only when the rights to it are confirmed — I do not reproduce someone else's illustrations, characters or logos without permission.

What the work includes:
— reviewing your artwork and adapting it for carving, at the size of the item;
— cutting the lino block, mirrored, with the background cleared properly;
— proofs on paper and on a scrap of your fabric, approved before the run;
— printing 10 to 100 items by hand burnishing or on a press;
— a second colour with registration marks if the design needs one;
— heat-setting the ink plus care notes: wash inside out, no bleach;
— the block stays with me and can print a repeat run without recutting;
— timing: 3–4 days for the block and proofs, 4–5 more for a run of a hundred.