Batik Art Making Fabric Prints

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Posted in: Arts Crafts in happyhomemaker's Blog

Batik is a way of creating a design on fabric by waxing any parts of the fabric you don't want changed and then immersing the piece in a dye solution. When the wax is removed,the design is colored but not the rest of the fabric. The best fabric for batik is plain, light-colored cotton. Don't use synthetic fabric - dyes won't penetrate. If the fabric is new, wash it in hot,soapy water and rinse and dry it. Tack the fabric, stretched tight, to a picture frame or canvas stretcher. Sketch a design on the fabric with a pencil or a stick of charcoal. Prepare the wax by gently heating 1 pound of paraffin and 5 tablespoons of bees-wax in a double boiler until a candy thermometer reads 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Use only cold-water dyes so that the wax won't melt. If the design requires more than one color, start with the lightest. Prepare the first dye according to package directions. with a small brush, apply melted wax over the parts of the design you don't want dyed with that color. Untack the fabric. Soak it in the dye for 20 minutes, rinse it thoroughly,and let dry.Cover an ironing board with newspaper, and place the dry fabric on it between layers of paper toweling. With a dry iron at setting below cotton, press the fabric on both sides, changing the toweling as wax accumulates. Apply the other colors, if any, in the same way. If you are using two or more colors, you needn't press out all the wax after each dye bath; press only the parts you want dyed with the next color, and wax all other parts.

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How to do just about anything. By: Readers Digest