I went to a class today on how they make Batiks. It was really fascinating! It takes 5-7 days to make the fabric. The first round takes a team of 5. They scrunch up the fabric, then sponge the first color and then the second color. They then pull the fabric up into cone and dap soda ash on the fabric. It is inspected and layed out to dry. After the color is right , they use a copper chop(see picture above) to put the wax design on. All of this is done by hand! No machine involved. They boil the fabric to remove the wax and then put it through a washing process where a machine washes and steams the fabric. It is then dried and rolled onto rolls.
We spent the day at School House while we saw some previews of the different fabrics, patterns books and techniques that will be offered at Quilt Market tomorrow.
We will keep everyone informed of what we are finding.
Renee'
