Our Fabrics
We endeavour to bring you the most delicious and unique fabrics we can find on our travels in India. It's a big country, with a huge variety of textiles, so if there's something you would like us to find, please get in contact and let us know.
Read more about the fabrics...
Block prints
Our block printed fabrics are sourced from artisans in Rajasthan and Gujarat who still pass down from generation to generation, the age-old technique of printing with intricately carved wooden blocks. Block printing is a family affair, often involving large extended family groups and sometimes, entire villages, each with their own distinctive style.
There are several different techniques associated with block printing. Colour can be directly applied as a pattern to the fabric, often as different coloured overlays to achieve the final design. It can also be printed with a mud resist paste, known as dabu, to block the dye from the fabric, resulting in a reverse design.
Though the end product may look quite simple, there is an enormous amount of work required to produce block printed fabric, particularly if they are dyed with natural dyes. Some fabrics undergo up to 14 processes before they are finally ready for sale. Because these fabrics often require repeated washing, boiling and drying they usually only produced in 5 - 10m lengths.
Screen prints
Though many people see screen-printed fabrics as inferior to block prints, they are still a handmade product requiring skill and precision by the artisan.
Designs are first rendered onto a giant silk screen, before ink is squeegeed through the screen mesh by a person on each end of the screen. Various parts of the design may be done in different colours requiring extreme accuracy in every part of the process.
Because this process is far less laborious than block printing, fabric can be produced much faster, designs crisper, and quantities larger than block-printed fabrics.
Khadi
True khadi is hand woven from hand-spun fibre. Khadi can be produced from any kind of fibre that can be spun, and varies in weight from gossamer-light jamdani to heavy wool fabric.
Most of khadi fabrics are sourced from a weavers cooperative in northern West Bengal where cotton and locally grown silk have been woven for generations.
In this small village, every family is involved in some part of the khadi production process - most homes dedicate their open front room to their looms, and the distinctive clacking sound of weavers working can be heard everywhere in the streets. These weavers use pit looms to weave the most magical fabrics, in checks, stripes and plains in a standard length of 11m.
Handloom
Handloom fabric is handwoven from commercially available thread and should not be confused with khadi.
Our handloomed fabric is sourced from a group of weavers in south eastern Rajasthan. What started a few years ago by two teachers who bought a loom to teach their pupils to weave, has blossomed into a sustainable cottage industry with 40 looms operated mostly by local women. This has brought income to families whose rural existence is difficult due to their vast distance from market.
The fabrics produced by these weavers in plain colours, shot colours and stripes in a variety of weights of cotton, are sturdier and more regular in appearance than khadi and can be used for everything from summer clothing to soft furnishings.
Ikat
This hand-weaving technique involves tie dyeing either the warp (single ikat) or the warp and weft (double ikat) to produce intricate, feathery patterns in one or more colours.
We have both double and single ikats in two weights of cotton, suitable for everything from shirting to soft furnishings. These are woven by family groups in Telangana and sourced through a cooperative responsible for the distribution of yarn and the collection of the finished fabric.
Shibori
While India has a long tradition of resist dyeing, known as bandhani and laharia, our custom made shibori has been done in the style of Japanese stitch resist by artisans in north Rajasthan. Three designs in three colourways each have been intricately stitched on chanderi silk/cotton, a fabric similar to silk organza.
Plain fabrics
While many of these fabrics will appear in other collections, we've grouped all the plain fabrics together to make things easier for you. Fabrics suitable for dyeing, printing or lining in cotton, silk/cotton and wool have all been included in this section, as well as our plain dyed khadi cottons.