So What is Batik Really?

by Steffani McChesney

Batik is very popular all over the country right now. It comes in many colors and patterns. The patterned batik is very different from the calicoes, florals, homespuns, and plaids we are used to. The colors are exotic and the patterns are unusual. So what is it really?

Batik is actually a resist method of printing a design on fabric rather than the end product, though the word batik has now come to mean the fabric itself. To make batik some sort of agent is used to coat the areas of the fabric where the design will be. Many countries have used the resist method of decorating cloth. Mud cloth from Africa, for example, is a resist method. The most famous, however, is Indonesian batik, which uses the wax resist method. Hot wax is used to cover the areas that will receive no pigment in the dye process. The fabric is dyed then boiled or scraped to remove the wax. Many colors and designs can be placed on the fabric to make the design more complex using this same technique over and over again. The number of colors indicates how many times it has been immersed in the different dye baths.

Most batik used in quilts today comes from the island of Bali and is manufactured for the western market, but the highest quality batik is produced in Central Java and has deep cultural significance. The word batik is thought to derive from the Javanese word ambatik, meaning a cloth with little dots. Dots are a design element used in traditional batik patterns. Javanese batik is covered with hand drawn designs of great intricacy having religious and cultural importance to the royal houses of the different sultanates that once ruled the area. Many batik patterns were once only for the use of the royal families.

Batik made for the western market is very different from traditional batik but derives from the same ancient techniques used to create it. Traditional batik used natural dyes derived from indigo and other plants. The colors were usually dark blue, black and shades of rust and brown on a white background. Nowadays, with modern chemical dyes the sky is the limit. In fact, the fabulous colors are usually what we westerners like best about batik.

Several fabric companies here in the US are caching in on the popularity of batik by making printed fabric to resemble the Indonesian fabric, principally Fossil Fern and Moda Marble. The more the merrier I say. These wonderful fabrics make already wonderful quilts even more beautiful.