Materials For Designing Batik

The materials needed to design batik are ;

1.  Fabric. It is recommended to use fabric made from natural fibers such as silk, cotton or linen rather than synthetics fibers, because natural fibers will absorb the dye much better than the synthetic fibers. 
2. Frames. The frames are used to hold the cloth when making the batik. For silk and finer fabrics it is possible to use masking tape to secure the cloth to the frame to prevent it from tearing.
3. Wax. The wax is used as the materials to design the batik. a beginner is advised to use paraffin wax. Specialist batik use mixture wax of paraffin and beeswax.  
4.  Wax Pot. This pot is to prevent the wax from solidifying. The electric wax pot is easier to use as you can adjust the temperature.
5. Soft Blunt Pencil. To draw the desired pattern on the fabric.
6. Brushes. A cheap brush with varied sizes are preferable for applying the wax onto the fabric.
7. Tjantings. Tool used to draw specific lines with the wax. Tjantings comes in many sizes, the smaller one is for the detail while the bigger one is for the design.
8. Container for the dyeing process.
9. Newspaper, apron, gloves, pan, large spoon, tongs, cleaning solvent, drawing pins, tissue.

   

   wax pot with wax and tjantings

   
   

   

   design on fabric with tjantings

Batik

Batik is originated from Indonesia. Its the art of designing a piece of cloth with color ink. Long time ago the traditional color choice were indigo, dark brown and white which represent the three major Hindu Gods (Brahma, Vishnu and Siva). Although batik was very common for people to wear, certain batik design can only be worn by nobility. Traditionally wider stripes or wavy line of greater width represent a higher rank. Thus, during a ceremony, one's rank can be determined by the clothes they wore.

Batik style differ from one region to another. For example Pesisir Batik, they use vibrant colors and incorporated the influence of Arab, Javanese, Chinese and Dutch cultures. For their design, they use Chinese motifs such as clouds, lotus, dragon and floral patterns.

Depending on the quality of the batik, its price could vary from several dollar (for the fake poor quality batik) reaching to several thousand dollars ( high quality batik which could take months to make ).

Batik is also commonly used for special occasions, for example marriage, parties, festivals, etc. For marriage, formal kebaya is used by the women and the men wear blangkon and sarong. Kebaya is a dress which designed with batik. Sarong is about 2.25 meters long and is wear by wrapping it around a person's waist, the other way to use sarong is to wrap the sarong around the head and formed it into a hat known as blangkon.