Marimekko Fabric Printing

Have you seen this video of the Marimekko factory? I loved this glimpse into how their fabrics are made. While I don’t think all their fabrics are silkscreened in that way (you might notice some digitally printed fabrics mid-way into the video) (edit: apparently, that is a form of screenprinting called rotary printing! I learned something new from a cool commenter!) , I enjoyed seeing printers working diligently to produce those iconic Marimekko patterns.


While only the first half of the video deals with the fabric printing and production (the rest is sort of an infomercial for Marimekko’s retail shops, and maybe Finland as a whole…), I love that Marimekko offers some transparency about how and where their goods are made, and the processes behind their creation. While the difference between production at Marimekko and production here at Cotton & Flax is astounding (it’s a one woman operation around here!), I’d still like to follow their lead in the coming weeks by sharing more about how my work is made. Keep an eye out for that soon!

About Erin Dollar

Owner, maker, and designer behind Cotton & Flax. Since 2010, she has been creating modern screenprinted home goods, as well as fine art prints on paper, from her home studio in Los Angeles, California.
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2 Responses to Marimekko Fabric Printing

  1. Kaisa says:

    Hi Erin! What a lovely blog you have! I love your style and use of colours :)
    It was fun to find a video of Marimekko among your posts. Great that it inspired you to show your work methods, it´s so interesting to see how things are made!

    I work at Marimekko Artwork Studio, and am proud to say that all of the fabrics in the video are silkscreened or rotary printed (which is sort of the same thing on a different shaped screen).
    We use digital printing for clothing fabrics every now and then, but silk screen printing is our thing. It makes colours pop out so much better!
    You can find more stories, videos and introductions of people here: http://www.marimekko.com/village/

  2. Pingback: What does ‘Printed by Hand’ really mean? | Cotton & Flax

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