How the work is made.
Every piece begins with a gouge and a block of wood. It ends with a needle and thread. Nothing in between is automated.
Drawing
Each print starts as a drawing. The image worked out directly on the block — proportion, weight, positive and negative space. This stage takes as long as it takes.
Carving
The drawing is carved by hand using a 1.5mm and 3mm v-gouge. Woodcutting is a reductive process — what is cut away becomes the white of the fabric, what remains holds the ink. Most blocks are maple, though any wood is considered. A single block can take days or weeks to carve. The hand is always present in the marks.
The fabric
Preparation
Fabric is sourced raw and prepared for dyeing or printing. Kirkbride Works prints primarily on PFD bull denim — a dense twill woven cotton that holds the oil-based ink without bleeding. This denim wears in rather than wearing out. Other natural fiber fabrics are used depending on the piece.
Printing
Hanco Lithography ink is the primary choice for printing. The ink is applied with a roller. The block is then run through one of two presses: a Charles brand etching press or a workshop built 4X10 foot relief press. The image transfers into the fabric under pressure.
Oil-based ink is used exclusively for its permanence and pigment strength. It is slower to dry, denser in color. Printed fabric hangs to air dry for up to two weeks before any cutting begins. This is not inefficiency, it is the ink finishing its work.
The garment
Pattern Drafting
Patterns are drafted by hand on paper — measured, corrected, graded. No digital files, no CAD. The pattern is a physical object integral to the process.
Blocks are developed over time and refined with each piece. A jacket pattern made for Lot 001 will be different than one made for Lot 004. Evolution.
Construction
The printed fabric is laid out, the pattern placed on top, cut, and assembled. Seams are stitched on industrial machines and finished by hand.
Each finished garment is inspected before it is tagged and released. If something is not right, it is corrected or the piece does not ship.
The edition
Work is released in numbered lots. A lot is a body of work made from a single print run — the same blocks, the same ink, the same fabric. Within a lot, each piece is individually numbered.
Edition sizes are small. They reflect what one person can make well, not what the market might absorb. When a lot is gone, it does not return. The blocks used may be retired, reworked or destroyed.
This is not a scarcity strategy. It is an honest account of how long things take.