Awesome Dabu printed salwar suits

Dabu printing is a unique art form. This mud-resist hand-block printing is practiced mostly in the state of Rajasthan, India. The process involves hand block printing to be done on the fabric with Dabu paste. Dabu paste is made from clay and Guar gum and sprinkled with saw dust. This makes the Dabu printed area resistant to dyes. Each fabric is pre-washed and soaked for about 24 hours. Then the fabric is block printed with dabu, and laid to dry in the sun. Once the mud is dry, the fabric is immersed in a dye, and again laid to dry in the sun. Repeated dabu printing is done to create further layers of resist and in darker shades of the dye. The fabric is finally washed to remove all traces of the dabu mud, revealing the resist area to be the original colour.

Dabu printed fabrics like the salwar kameez and sarees undergo a rigorous process that involves a lot of not so easily available and costly natural dyes and vegetable pastes. Printed motifs like boota (corn stalk), surajmukhi or sunflower, animals and geometrical patterns are popular subjects. Pure cotton, pure silk, chiffon, crepe, georgette and super net saris are the different fabrics that have good results with Dabu prints.

The mehandi green colour pure soft cotton Dabu Bagru printed salwar kameez has multi-colour Dabu and bagru prints all over the kameez with black printed border. The mehandi green colour cotton salwar with cream and brown bagru prints is a beautiful match. The pure soft cotton printed chunni has Dabu and bagru prints on a mehandi green backdrop. This salwar kameez would do well for office, parties, functions, festivals and social events.

The maroon and deep peach Rajasthani pure Kota salwar kameez has white Dabu block prints on a bright maroon Kameez. The salwar is a deep peach one with light floral self-colour prints. The pure chiffon bright maroon dupatta with white Dabu prints completes the striking red picture. This salwar suit would do very well for any occasion, be it parties, functions, social visits, festivals, or even daily casual wear.

The beautiful Mayfair maroon colour rajasthani cotton dabu prints Salwar Kameez has multi-colour Bandhini printed designer dotted lines with plain dyed cotton maroon colour salwar. The dupatta is a matching maroon colour dabu print rajasthani cotton Dupatta with attach border. This extremely chic salwar suit would do well for parties, social functions and traditional occasions.

The black rajasthani dabu printed Punjabi suit has self weaving and salmon orange block prints on the Kameez. The salwar is a block printed contrasting earthy yellow brown colour. The chunni is an exquisite earthy yellow brown and black mix pure chiffon. This smashing combination would be an instant hit in parties, weddings, social gatherings, festivals and other such occasions.

The cream and brown colour rajasthani cotton dabu prints salwar kameez has multi-colour embroidery floral buttis with a brown and black daman patch border. The salwar is brown cotton silk and the dupatta is a multi-colour embroidery with brown patch border net adorned affair. A strikingly stylish salwar kameez fit for parties, weddings, social events and traditional functions.

Prachi.L She is a freelancer long associated with ethnic fabrics, known for her special leaning towards ethnic sarees. She enjoys the privilege of being a part-time consultant to Unnati Silks. S.E-mail her at unnatikaro@gmail.com.