A passion for fabric and love of India led to The Block Hut

Having worked in the fabric industry and fallen in love with India, Perthshire’s Amy McPhail has managed to combine the two for her new business venutre.

She recently started her own business The Block Hut, selling contemporary block printed textiles designed by Amy and made in India.

A former pupil of St Leonard’s in St Andrews, Amy went on to study Textile Design at Leeds University. After graduating at the age of 21, she visited India for the first time and fell in love with the country and its craftsmanship.

After having lived in London for the last few years, and now about to move to Edinburgh with her boyfriend, Amy has designed a small collection of block printed loungewear and stationery.

Amy told Scottish Field: ‘After school I went to Leeds University and got a first, then went backpacking round India with a really good friend of mine.

‘My mother used to work for British Airways and as a result, we had lots of concessions and free trips, so I spend a lot of time in India. I completely fell in love with it. The more I went, the more obsessed with India that I became.

‘I kept using mum’s free tickets and going back until I couldn’t use them any more!

One of Amy’s designs, printed on a napkin

‘I first moved to London about nine years ago and started working for Zimmer and Rohde, the UK branch of the German fabric firm, and was there for four years. I left there to join Andrew Martin, but I had a couple of months in between jobs.

‘I went back to India, and also went to Nepal, before I started at Andrew Martin, who do lots of fabrics. I was fortunate to work for two companies that produce really cool fabrics.

‘I was at Andrew Martin for two years, working as a rep, so I was touring around the UK, selling to interior designers, including Scotland.’

A sad event prompted Amy to reconsider her working career, as the death of her father made her re-evaluate what was important in her life.

Another of Amy’s designs

This led to Amy using her knowledge and skills to launch her own products, and so The Block Hut was born.

She said: ‘My dad passed away last year, and as a family, it wasn’t a good year with other events too, so I made the decision that I would start up my own business this year. I felt life’s too short, so I left Andrew Martin at the end of January, and the next day, I went to India and stayed there for a month.

‘I’d had my plans in place for a while before I left, and had met a lady who’s worked with me on the project. I had seen her work on Instagram, so got in touch with her, as she had done some work for American companies. They take a block and carve it out by hand, a process which takes them about a day to create. It’s a bit like potato painting, to give you an example of how it works.

‘These are then dipped into paint to create my fabrics.’

Amy McPhail fell in love with India after backpacking around the country

Using some simple geometric patterns, which were extracted from her work at university, Amy took the leap and sent them over to block carvers in Jaipur.

She wanted to use the traditional technique of block printing but the designs were to have a contemporary look.

Block printing is an ancient form of textile printing which originates in Jaipur and The Block Hut takes pride in supporting these highly skilled craftsmen and their impressive processes, rather than relying on mass-producing machinery. The Block Hut operates together with an experienced and inspiring printer whose family have been in the industry for generations.

Amy continued: ‘The original line we’ve produced are pyjamas, so to work out what style I wanted, last year when I was at Andrew Martin, I tried on about 100 different pairs before I worked out the style I liked!

Pyjamas designed by Amy McPhail for The Block Hut

‘Once I started work, I thought the designs would work well for homeware, and now we are working on that side of the business, with a range of napkins.

‘It’s been a bit of a whirlwind as I came back from India at the end of February, the stock has arrived, and the website launched in June.

‘I’m working with some publications in London and hope to get my products featured in them, in Homes and Gardens magazine, and House and Garden magazine.

‘I’ve also done a fair in London, and hope to have a shop at some point in the future, but I’ll be doing Christmas fayres over the next few months.’

Click HERE to learn more about The Block Hut.