This uber soft cotton shirt is a contemporary take on the traditional handblock printing techqniue of Dabu from Rajasthan. The fit is an anti-fit suitable for most body types and and is also gender-neutral. The fabric is uber soft and falls beautifully due to the handblock print technique used.
Dabu is an ancient mud resist hand block printing technique from Rajasthan. The process of DABU printing is quite complicated, involving many workers and multiple stages of printing, washing and dyeing. First, the plain fabric is carefully washed to remove any impurities which may interfere with the dyeing process. Then, designs are meticulously and painstakingly hand printed on to the fabric using blocks which are dipped into fast dyes. The next and crucial step involves the use of the mud resist which makes this print so unique. Ingredients like mud, gum, lime and waste wheat chaff are combined to make the ‘dabu’ or mud resist paste which is then patted over certain parts of the design. The paste is dried with sprinkled sawdust. This covering essentially protects these parts of the fabric from the dye used later on, creating a unique and colorful effect.
After this process of printing, the fabric is spread out in the sun where it completely dries out. It is then dipped into a vat of dye, dried again and finally given a thorough washing to remove the paste and any excess dye. The dyes used are typically natural vegetable dyes and pastes. Thus the unprotected parts of the fabric catch the color while the Dabu covered bits remain plain. The fabric may be dyed more than once in different colors to give each part of the design a different hue.
Please note that the colours of the physical product may vary a bit from the pic.
Any imperfections found in the print is natural to the process of Dabu and not a defect.
CARE INSTRUCTIONS
It is best to handwash them to retain the colours for long and dry them inside out in shade. Please note that the Indigo will run some colour for the first few washes.