Carved in wood, pressed by hand, loved for their artisanal quality—let’s explore prints that keep culture and traditions alive.
Did you know different types of motifs used in block prints fall in to different categories. Here’s our little guide to help you identify some of the patterns we’ve used at Artful House
Buttis
1) Buttis ( pronounced Boo Tees ) are small individual motifs that usually incorporate leaves or flowers but can also sometimes refer to geometrical motifs and animal motifs. Our Bali Tiered Midi in Caramel features Buttis. So Does the light blue portion of our Bali Tiered Midi in Ocean Blue. The darker blue is a different print (Bel) explained below.
Bali Tiered Midi - Caramel
https://artful-house.com/products/bali-tiered-midi-dress-caramel
Bels
Bels (pronounced Bales) are scrolling vines with flowers, leaves, fruits and other elements. These are featured in so many of our dresses including all the Lily Mini Dresses.
All our Lily Minis use Bels or Floral Scroll Motifs
https://artful-house.com/products/lily-mini-short-cotton-dress-cherry-blossom
https://artful-house.com/products/lily-mini-short-cotton-dress-lavender-blue
OOur Iris Top in Pink and Blue uses floral scrolls as well
h https://artful-house.com/products/pink-blue-block-printed-iris-womens-top
Bali Tiered Midi in Ocean Blue
Sometimes in one single print dress we can use a variety of block print styles as for example in our Bali Tiered Midi in Ocean Blue
Paisleys
Paisleys are a Mango shaped block print which have floral prints or other delicate details within the block. Interesting fact Paisley is actually the name of a town in Scotland where this motif was recreated to resemble traditional patterns in shawls from the east. Normally the larger size prints are referred to as paisleys while the smaller sized ones are paisley buttis. Our Lilac Tulip Midi features paisley buttis
Lilac Marigold Paisley Tulip Midi
1Jaals or Janglas
Mesh like geometric patterns are called Jaals which literally means net. The base of our bird in flight is like a jaal as it’s an overall print filled with pinstripes. The bird itself is a “Jangla” ( think jungle) print.
You can also see the Jaal & Jungla print combination in our Byron Bay Midi in Sakura colour palette below
https://artful-house.com/products/byron-bay-midi-dress-sakura
The print type classification can be fluid as for example our King Leopard Can be Classified as a Jangla or as a Butti As well.
https://artful-house.com/products/blue-king-leopard-brompton-block-print-shirt-copy
Note these print classifications are not unique to block prints, other textile traditions including hand screen printing, weaving, embroidery also have motifs falling into similar categories. If these prints caught your eyes drop us a line and tell us which style is your favourite. We love hearing from you and it helps us in developing new collections
https://artful-house.com/collections/all