DIY BATIK // MY FIRST ATTEMPT

heres pippalina trying to be very helpful by holding my initial design down with her paw,
which after digitizing, i realized was far too intricate for a first attempt ;)

i woke up one day and decided to batik. i felt ashamed that as a craft, pattern and fabric lover, and more so as my countrywoman that i have no clue how to batik. i spent 3 days reading up and researching on patterns and preparing myself for the task.

i decided on the theme 'ocean's tentacles' as it evokes for me the mystery and uniqueness of Malaysia’s breath-taking underwater landscape, the exotic, stunning kaleidoscope of aquatic flora and fauna that offers such a myriad of artistic templates to astonish the senses and inspire designs otherwise unimaginable. 

pumped up after seeing mcqueen's dresses,
i opted for a simpler silhouette... 

and ended up with a more polished,
simplified version... 

after which i vectorized the design
and created a repeat pattern based on the drawing... 

and now the crazy begins - tracing out the design,
and tjanting with wax... 

after which i painted the fabric using batik dye... 

and left it out to dry in the gorgeous sun... 

i then boiled 5 liters of water,
soaked the fabric for a good 20 minutes
while giving it a gentle stir from time to time
and hung it out to dry...

and voila! my very first 1920's art deco inspired batik

and what will i do with it now? ill share my ideas with you in my next post ;)

xoxo

lisa