Batik - Bumwear Style !



	The first stamp of the waxed "cap" on the fabric. The areas that are waxed are the areas of the design that the artisan wishes to remain the original color of the cloth. Steady hands and expert movements are essential in this age-old art of batik. It certainly would not do to drip wax all over the cloth, thereby ruining the design.

The fabric is now fully stamped and it is ready for its second dye bath. In this case, the dye color will be dark maroon.

	The fabric is dyed in its background colour. Traditionally, dying is done in earthenware tubs. Above the tubs are ropes with pulleys that the fabric is draped over after it has been dipped into the dye bath. In this instance, they are only making one or two metres of cloth for my sampling use. Hence the use of a plastic pail for a dye bath.

Following this process, the cloth is then hung up on bamboo poles to dry in the soft breezes of Bali. The dried fabric is then boiled to remove the last traces of the wax that was applied to the cloth earlier.

		This is what the batik finally looks like !