Simple Batik
If you are familiar with hand-dyeing fabrics, you can do batik!  If you have never hand-dyed fabric yourself, I highly suggest giving it a try!  All you need are a few special dyeing materials and some plain old fabric and you can have a beautiful, one-of-a-kind piece of fabric to use in your next project.  Two good websites to visit to familiarize yourself with the dyeing process are....


For the pieces shown here, I used some fabrics that I had previously hand-dyed.  I wasn't exactly thrilled with how they came out when I originally dyed them, so I decided to give them a little updating!  (When hand-dyeing gives you lemons....)

(I will not be covering the actual dyeing process here, but if you are curious about which technique and products are being used, I use Procion MX dye in a low-water immersion method.  Instructions can be found by clicking on the link above to Paula Burch's website.)


You will need the following items to do this method of batik....

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Cut off a piece of wax sized to fit in your melting container.Heat up the wax. I use an electric skillet and create a double-boiler using heat-safe containers I had around the house.When it's ready, the wax will turn into a liquid. DO NOT get the wax too hot as it may catch fire! Never leave it unattended! The brush bristles must be warmed as well.Here is my fabric laid out with protection underneath -- you don't want wax all over your household surfaces!Using the paintbrush, lightly run your brush across the area you want to stay the color it already is. You can only do a small section at a time because the wax dries quickly. It takes some practice!The wax should look "wet" on the fabric. This is how you know it has penetrated the fabric all the way through.If the wax looks "white" on the fabric, it is merely laying on top of the layer of fabric you are working on and has not gone all the way through. You will have to apply more wax to the other side if desired.This piece is finished being waxed. Next, I dye my fabric, "batch" it, and wash in Synthrapol using the gentle cycle and COLD water. DO NOT put this in your dryer! Remove the fabric from the washing machine and lay it on a layer of newsprint. Put another sheet of newsprint on top of the fabric and press using a hot iron. Use an up and down motion so you don't smear the wax.The wax will stick to the newsprint and will be mostly removed from your fabric. Another option is to boil the fabric, let cool, and remove the wax from your pot when everything has cooled. The wax will have risen to the surface.Here is my completed piece! I used a medium blue dye and now I like this piece much better!Here are my first batik experimentations ready for just the right project!