A day at the printers: How our tea towels are made
There’s something very special about seeing an idea go from a sketchbook page to a finished tea towel hanging in someone’s kitchen. Recently, we visited the local printers we work with here in Cornwall to see exactly how our tea towels are brought to life - and to watch the screen-printing process in action.
Every tea towel begins with an embroidered design done on my sewing machine, which is then scanned in, cleaned up and digitally coloured in layers.
A printing screen is made for each colour, then are each printed in turn to create the final image. - Sam, from Lorna Wiles
Once all the colours have been printed in sequence, the full design finally appears like magic. It’s a surprisingly physical process too - with the printers carefully lining everything up by hand, replenishing the ink across the screens, and checking every print as it comes off the press.
Why We Print Locally
One of the things we love most about our tea towels is that they’re printed locally here in Cornwall. Keeping production close to home means we can work directly with skilled local makers while keeping our environmental impact as low as possible.
It’s very important to us to keep our impact on the environment to an absolute minimum. That’s why we offer Organic cotton and all our inks are water based. - Sam
It also means there’s a real connection between the designs and the landscape that inspires them. Many of our designs are rooted in Cornish life - just like the lighthouse you can see in this design.
Seeing the entire process in person - from the first screen setup to the final printed fabric - reminded us just how much care, craftsmanship and teamwork goes into every single tea towel.
So, the next time you dry the dishes (or frame one on the wall instead!), you’ll know the story behind it too.
