Inside the Story · No. 11 · Thursday 8 October 2026 · Craft · South Asia and Western

The Invisible Net

This wavy stripe was cut into paper stiffened with persimmon juice, and hidden inside it is a net of silk threads.

The inside story of a design inspired by a Japanese katagami, a dyer's paper stencil.

Reed Brushes and Bamboo Leaves, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

The source

Reed Brushes and Bamboo LeavesMulberry paper (kozo washi) treated with fermented persimmon tannin (kakishibu), and silk threads (itoire) · Japan, mid 18th to early 19th centuryCooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum · Reed Brushes and Bamboo Leaves, katagami, Japan, mid 18th to early 19th century. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Gift of Helen Snyder, 1976-103-101. CC0. · object 1976-103-101 · CC0View at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum ↗

A katagami is a dyer's stencil. Paper is stiffened with persimmon tannin and cut; rice paste is pushed through the cuts onto cloth, and when the cloth is dyed, the pasted areas stay undyed. Where the cuts are long and fine, the stencil is held together by silk threads laid inside the paper: the itoire.

What we saw

Five parts, traced from the photograph

1The bristle linesFirst, the bristles. Every wavy line is a strip of paper left standing between two cuts.

2The bamboo-leaf sprigsScattered on top, six bamboo sprigs. Five leaves each, every leaf with a slit cut down its middle.

3The binding bandThen the binding. A dark band with round cut-outs, edged top and bottom with cord.

4The itoire netAnd the part you are not meant to see. A net of silk threads, laid inside the paper to hold the fine cuts.

5Two tonesOnly two tones: persimmon paper and the open cut.

5 prints, each from a different part

Each print starts from a part of the source

From this partThe bristle lines

Print 1 · Stripe

Bristle Stripe

What if we kept only the bristles?

Seven real lines, each stood upright, grouped five and two. A shirting stripe that still wobbles like a cut.

Repeat: Stripe repeat · tile 2328 × 2250 px · 39.4 × 38.1 cm
Made for: Menswear shirting mills and casual-shirt brands
Why it sells: Hairline 2-colour lines on a 10 cm stripe repeat read as a quiet shirting stripe up close and as a plain from across a room.

Men's shirting147 cm width2 coloursrotary or digital print on cotton poplin or oxfordTwo colours

From this partThe bamboo-leaf sprigs

Print 2 · All-over

Bamboo Leaf Scatter

Then the sprigs, lifted off the bristles.

Four real sprigs, turned and tossed. Every slit in every leaf is the cutter's.

Repeat: Half drop repeat · tile 2400 × 2240 px · 40.6 × 37.9 cm
Made for: Export womenswear buyers and contemporary Western-wear labels; resort and kimono-jacket capsule brands
Why it sells: A spaced 7 to 9 cm two-colour toss with open ground has no up or down, so it cuts economically for dresses and loose jackets.

Women's Western dress and kimono-style jacket140 cm width2 coloursdigital or rotary print on viscose crepe or cotton lawnTwo colours

From this partThe binding band

Print 3 · Border

Cord Band Border

And the binding that ties the brushes.

Band, roundels and both cords, as cut. Mirrored so it can run the length of a border.

Repeat: Border repeat · tile 3090 × 852 px · 52.3 × 14.4 cm
Made for: Surat saree process houses for printed crepe and cotton-silk sarees; belt and trim makers
Why it sells: A dense, dark 2-colour band with a clear 17 cm mirror repeat and hard edges holds a saree border on its own and prints cleanly on narrow trim.

Saree border (11 to 14 cm) and printed belt or waist trim2 coloursscreen or digital print on crepe or cotton silkTwo colours

From this partThe itoire net

Print 4 · All-over

Itoire Net

Last, the thing nobody was meant to see.

Thirty-seven silk threads, traced one by one, enlarged until the net becomes the print.

Repeat: Mirror repeat · tile 2400 × 3840 px · 40.6 × 65 cm
Made for: Dupatta and stole makers; tailoring and outerwear brands buying printed linings
Why it sells: An irregular hairline net in 2 close colours gives texture without a motif, which suits a drape or a lining.

Dupatta and jacket lining2 coloursdigital print on georgettechiffon or lining satinTwo colours

From this partTwo tones

Print 5 · All-over

Stencil Two-Tone

And the stencil itself, both ways round.

Paper and cut, then cut and paper. The whole stencil as a checker for the home.

Repeat: Straight repeat · tile 2492 × 4516 px · 42.2 × 76.5 cm
Made for: Home-textile brands (bedding and curtains)
Why it sells: Large 21 x 38 cm two-colour blocks that swap tone read as graphic at bed and curtain scale.

Duvet coverscurtains and cushion panels2 coloursrotary or digital print on cotton sateen or linen blendTwo colours

The palette

Every colour here was already in the source.

#583E37Persimmon brown · from the source

#4C302BDeep persimmon · from the source

#FAF1DCPaper cream · from the source

#E4DBC8Cream in shadow · from the source

#D5C7B7Silk thread · from the source

Why now

Every print here needs only two colours, from shirting stripes to saree borders and bedding.

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Source: Reed Brushes and Bamboo Leaves, Japan, mid 18th to early 19th century, Mulberry paper (kozo washi) treated with fermented persimmon tannin (kakishibu), and silk threads (itoire). Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Reed Brushes and Bamboo Leaves, katagami, Japan, mid 18th to early 19th century. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Gift of Helen Snyder, 1976-103-101. CC0., object 1976-103-101. CC0. View the object.

Facts from: collection.cooperhewitt.org, en.wikipedia.org.