Cambric or Dhabhu: Choosing the Base Cloth

No amount of finishing rescues a poor base cloth. We have said that elsewhere and we mean it, which is why the choice of base is the first decision in any fabric we make, long before the print is even discussed. For most of our range that choice comes down to two 100% cotton grounds: cambric and dhabhu. Both are honest cottons. They are not interchangeable.

Cambric is the lighter, finer of the two. It takes a fine print crisply, carries a foil well, and sits close and easy on the body, which is why so much of our cambric Procion and our brighter co-ords are built on it. If you are selling kurtis, dress materials and co-ord sets where the print needs to read sharp and the cloth needs to feel light through a long day, cambric is usually the answer.

Dhabhu has more substance to it. It holds a plain ground beautifully and gives a three-piece set the kind of body that a kurti base wants, which is exactly why INDRIYA pairs plain dhabhu kurti bases with a printed dupatta. A dhabhu plain is doing a different job from a cambric print; it is the steady, structured half of an outfit, the part the dupatta is allowed to be loud against.

The honest way to choose between them is to start from the garment and the market, not from the cloth. A light, print-led range leans towards cambric. A structured three-piece or a plain base meant to be stitched up wants dhabhu. If you tell us the garment you have in mind and the market you are selling into, we will tell you which base we would put it on, and why; and if a sample would settle it faster than a conversation, we will send one.