In the early days of batik, colors were made from natural plant sources.

The oldest color used in traditional batik making was blue. The blue color was made by mixing leaves of the Indigo plant with syrups of sugar and lime. It was possible to obtain lighter or darker blue by leaving the cloth in the dye bath for shorter or longer periods of time, up to several days.
The second color usually applied was a brown color called soga, which could vary from a light yellow to a dark brown. The dye came from the bark of the Soga tree.
Another color traditionally used was a dark red called mengkuda. The red dye was created from the leaves of the Morinda Citrifolia.
To enlarge the set of colors, batik designers tested and created their own recipes mixing substances of all kinds like fruit pulp or animal blood.
Men were usually responsible of executing the dying process, and dances or ceremonies were performed to ensure a successful result.

Today, batik dying is a process completely realized with chemical dyes.

While there are several ways of applying the dye, part or the totality of the cloth may be dipped in the dye bath.
When the fabric is dry, some parts can be waxed. This way, those parts will keep the color of the first dye. This process will be repeated until all the desired colors have been dyed. When the dying part is finished, the cloth is boiled to remove all of the wax. Usually some wax remains and that gives batik its characteristic stiffness and nice smell of beeswax.

The first and most important tool of the Batik artisan is the canting.

The canting (pronounced “tjanting”) is a small spouted copper container that is connected to a short bamboo handle. The copper container is filled with melted wax. The artisan holds the canting like a stylus (the canting is sometimes called a wax pen), and uses it to draw designs on the cloth.

While being approximately 11 cm. in length, cantings can have different numbers and sizes of spouts, allowing a certain amount of wax to flow from the reservoir to achieve varied design effects. Each spout can vary from 1 mm in diameter to achieve very fine detailed work to wider spouts used to fill in large design areas.

To begin work the batik artisan holds the canting in the hot wax for a little while to heat it up. Then he/she fills it appropriately, takes it out the wax, wipes the excess from the outside of the copper bowl and usually blows on the tip of the spout to remove any excess wax.
Then, everything must happen quickly and precisely when applying the wax to the cloth. Any hesitation may result in a blob of wax and spoil the work.
The main elements of the design are usually penciled onto the fabric, but many of the details are added freehand. Experienced artisans wax designs directly to the cloth from memory.
Once applied the wax cools down rapidly. After a minute or so the artisan must dip the canting in the wax and begin again.
The process takes a great deal of patience and concentration.

The canting is believed to be a purely Javanese invention.

The 7th edition of the event took place end of 2007 under the theme of “Fashion Meets Art”.

Widely supported by numerous sponsors and partners from Indonesia and overseas, the four-day event included trade exhibition, seminars, open dialogue with designers, fashion model award, and evening fashion shows.

On display were a large range of clothe types, featuring among others fashionable, batik wear and accessories from several batik brands. A series of seminars were conducted in parallel to the exhibition to debate among others about fashion & colour trends and design technology.

The event featured a special “Batik on Tencel®” project, supported by several notorious Indonesian batik artisans and fashion designers.

Tencel being a natural, man-made fiber from the natural cellulose found in wood pulp, the aim of this project was to show additional options of how to offer Indonesian traditional batik techniques to the international market fulfilling the various needs and tastes.For more info please visit http://www.balifashionweek.com/
Photos: Batik creations from Allure Batik brand on display during the event.

In his twenties, Khalid had established himself as a batik designer, known in particular for his trademark hand-painted pareos. This was the time when he and his wife lived on the island of Pangkor and opened their first shop from the Pangkor Island Resort. They reckon that this had been a successful approach as they met a lot of people and were able to actively pursue promotional activities while the batik scene in Malaysia was nowhere.

In 1988, batik began to gain popularity in the country. Khalid and his wife opened a second and a third boutique, this time in the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Unfortunately, a serious downturn in the batik industry occurred in 1993. One of the reasons was that fashion industry interest shifted towards Korean silk. As a result, Khalid and his wife had to close their operations in Kuala Lumpur.

Furthermore, the economic recession in 1997 forced to give up the boutique in Pangkor Laut. This time, Khalid, his wife and their 2 children were solely relying on a cheap rented shop in Kuala Lumpur to pursue their passion.

In 2002, this last shop had to close down as well. The couple was close to giving up but somehow did not. Thanks to his network of contacts, Khalid got the chance to participate to batik promotional trips to Japan, Australia and Europe.

According to Khalid, the batik industry only started to recover when the Datin Seri Endon Mahmood introduced the Malaysian Batik For The World Movement in 2003. Khalid benefited from the movement by participating in batik related initiatives.

Since then, the family has been able to regain their boutique at Pangkor Laut Resort and reopened shops in Kuala Lumpur.Khalid eventually succeeded in establishing his own batik wear brand - Khalid Batik.

Along the way, Khalid got tremendous support from his wife who helped him right from the start first in their batik life through the batik creation process & modeling, guest relations etc. Last summer, as part of a promotional action organized by Tourism Malaysia, Khalid became the first Malaysian batik artist and Malaysian to have his work on display at Harrods in London, one of the most famous and exclusive department stores in the world.

(New Sunday Times Magazine Photo)

At the same period, some of his pareos creations were also worn by Miss England pageant finalists in Leicester.

These latest achievements enabled Khalid to get a truly international recognition for his work and talent.

While the convention - “The Business of Batik” - provided an interactive discussion platform for business and knowledge sharing between international speakers and experts, the exhibition displayed some of the most creative work from today’s batik fashion industry.

“It is rare to come across such a variety of flavors of the batik industry and meet so many people passionated about batik in a single place” commented one of the visitors.

Visitors were pleased to discover and learn about innovative batik-making and painting techniques, admire the creations of some of the most talented Malaysian and foreign designers showcased in the designers galleria, as well as enjoy the beautiful fashion shows. It was interesting to see that traditional batik was very present but that at the same time modern fabrics, patters and designs have been experimented with leading to creative and beautiful new creations.

For more, please visit http://www.klib.com.my

 It brought more than 10,000 participants, including representatives of over 180 countries. Delegates and NGOs were invited by summit hosts to cast aside their usual business attire and opt for traditional, comfortable, and relaxing batik clothing. The initiative was aimed at encouraging saving on the use of air conditioning and therefore decreasing the production of greenhouse gas emissions during the event. A multitude of colourful batik shirts provided a welcome distraction and original way to help parties conduct discussions and negotiating on such a sensitive matter.

What could be seen as a surprising result was that participants seemed to enjoy challenging themselves for wearing the best batik attire. The styles ranged from the traditional Indonesian patterns to the more daring and modern designs. It was surely a fun experience but it also made it more difficult to know who was who…!

(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

This is ever more evident by the array of batik Christmas items, decorative and other, that can be found in the local markets and shopping centers.

If you fancy a change from the traditional Christmas cards why not send a batik Christmas card? Surely the receiver will be doubly pleased by receiving season’s greetings with a twist!

http://www.cadwyngifts.com/pack-of-10-batik-african-christmas-cards-421-p-319.html

And if you would like to surprise your friends and family why not put the presents under a batik wooden Christmas tree?

http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/catalog/product.detail.php?product_id=8913

Traditional batik garments such as scarves, sarongs, shirts and dresses can also make beautiful Christmas presents, especially when handcrafted as you can be sure of the uniqueness of the item. These items can be found in a variety of fabrics ranging from silk to cotton to linen.

http://www.batikbazar.com/index.php?cPath=23

In the state of Kelantan in Malaysia, several batik designers create hundreds of colours from fruit skins, leaves, tree bark, flowers, coral and mushrooms.

To produce the dye, the material is washed, cut into small pieces and then boiled for at least 12 hours. One tip: the longer the material is boiled, the better the colour becomes.

• To get a dark purple colour, use mangosteens
• For black, grey and brown colors use rambutans
• For orange and yellow, use turmeric.

The best is to use coral to produce a pearly color.  Nowadays, with the concern of recycling, preserving our nature and making good use of what the nature offers us, this technique has all its chance to become a commercial success. 

If you are interested to attend workshops on this topic, just send us an email and we will give you one address in Malaysia.  Should you try some others natural products, please share your experience with us and we will publish your results on our blog.  Good luck with your experiements!