Development of Screen Printing Designs for Saree Using Chinese Motifs

Colour and designs have been used to enhance the intrinsic beauty of textiles from ancient time. It is believed that ornamentation by dyeing and printing developed earlier than the use of clothing itself. Design is the knowledgeable selection and application of the basic art elements i.e., line, shape, colour and texture to produce a unified expressive visual statement. Screen printing is a versatile process for design applications on textiles. The present study was conducted to develop designs for saree suitable for screen printing. Thirty one Chinese motifs were identified for application in textiles comprising of 11 geometrical, 12 floral and 8 animal/birds motifs and created on computer using software Corel DRAW 9. Created motifs were got evaluated from 30 experts and 5 top ranked motifs were selected from each category. Selected motifs were used for development of 22 designs suitable for application on saree-blouse through screen printing. Out of 22 designs, 6 designs were finally selected for application on saree which were placed with all possible variations. These design arrangements were again shown to the experts to seek their preferences. Placement of saree border with scattered motifs (4.60) was preferred most followed by overall placement (3.96) and border placement (3.94).