Batik Experiments, Round Two

I played with batik again. In each group, the base colors in order are: Parakeet, Wasabi, and Palomino Gold. I use the procion dyes from Dharma Trading. 

The secondary color for the first set is Plum. Second set is Sunrise Red. Third set is Yucca. Fourth set is Pomegranite. 

I played with small cookie cutters. I dipped the cookie cutter in the melted soy wax and then stamped the wax on the fabric. I played with filling in the cookie cutters. I keep wanting to make small lines, but the small lines done allow enough contrast. 

I'm still aiming at some kind of design for a blouse. I'd need to make 3 yards of batik. I think I'm pretty much decided on the Parakeet for the first dye and I'm not sure yet what I want to use for the second dye. Marine Blue or Yucca are my favorites so far. 

I knew if I sewed enough garments that I'd find a use for these buttons. I bought them in bulk via mail order and then wondered why I did that. I don't know - maybe because I like silver toned buttons? 

Below, I put my heart on my sleeve. I wear my heart on my sleeve metaphorically, so there's no reason not to put my heart on my sleeve literally. I'll have to think about that..... I can envision some interesting embellishment....

This is my newest shirt. I've got three more fabrics to turn into shirts for me and I want to make a shirt out of leftovers. Can't wait until I'm off from work so I can spend quality time in the sewing room. I'm thinking of cutting out the shirts now and being able to sit down and do some serious sewing when Jim has his surgery. 

My First Attempt At Batik

I got out the soy wax, the batik tools and the fabric samples. I had four pieces of fabric of each color: parakeet, wasabi, palomino gold. I then took one of each color and put them in dye pots. Marine blue, peach, bright green, and truffle brown. 


I melted the soy wax in a double boiler and carried both pots out to my table on the patio. The hot water in the bottom pot kept the wax liquid. This was my first attempt at using tjantings. Tip the tool forward to have the wax come out the nozzle, tip the tool backward to keep the wax from flowing out. I played with dots, filled in areas, lines, and did a little drawing. On some of the fabrics, I used a paint brush to make more bold marks. 

The original colors above, marine blue on the next three photos. 

 Truffle brown. 

Peach. 

Bright green. 

I'd like to make enough batik fabric to make a blouse. I'm thinking of parakeet and marine blue. I thought the peach and parakeet would work well, but I got brown and blue when I tried that. I like the strong contrasts better than the subtle contrasts.