THE most commonly used fabrics for batiks are thin silks, white or light in color. Wax penetrates the sheer materials better. They take the color more evenly, and retain their brilliant texture. Heavy materials must be waxed on both sides to insure perfect stopping out of color.

The design is more easily applied to thin goods, as the decoration is readily traced. On heavy fabrics the design is either drawn free hand or pounced. When the outline is drawn in wax the drawing does not disappear in the dyeing. When only parts of the design are painted in with wax the outline must be redrawn after each dyeing. For this purpose pouncing is best.

Velvets should be stopped out on the wrong side. Steaming will raise the pile again, or it may be sent to the dry cleaner.

Wood is a good medium to take wax resist. The wax is removed by scraping. The surface is cleaned with gasoline and finished in any approved manner. Toys, frames, trays, basket bottoms, boxes, etc., are very pleasing when decorated in this manner.

Leather and paper are dampened and pasted smoothly on glass. They are then decorated like wood.

Chiffons and crepes may be waxed double, or even folded four times.

In applying a design, care should be taken to keep the fabric straight. Drawing a thread from the fabric makes a good guide.

When working upon woven materials it is best to use a frame placed horizontally upon a table. A frame suitable for this work should be light to handle and strong. It should be high enough above the table to keep the wax or dye from touching it. When the wax touches an obstacle before it is cold it sticks. The wax is apt to break when pulled away from the object. Color penetrates by accident and the result is disappointing. Some artists work on a table upon which smooth or glazed paper is spread. Here again the wax may also suffer. When dyes are painted on the fabric, if they touch the table or other objects they spread and mar the definite outline of the design.

A frame, around the inside edge of which are cloth strips for pinning or sewing the fabric securely, is an excellent aid to good workmanship. Adjustable holes with corners secured by screws and wing nuts make it possible to roll long pieces of cloth at the top and bottom of the frame. Or by means of these holes the strips may be spliced together to form a still larger frame.

Paper should be rolled with the cloth to prevent the wax sticking. Handled in this manner only a small part of the work needs to be exposed, and the work can be done on a small table or school desk.

Another advantage of such a frame is the ease with which the piece is laid aside without injury during the intervals of work. This is especially valuable where class problems are being conducted. It also permits of the work being done in any position—horizontal, inclined or upright.

When dyeing the material more than once the wax must be carefully mended after each dyeing, or soon the first spaces covered with the resist are lost or badly obscured. The material should always be dry before applying the wax.

Some workers use pure beeswax. It does not break easily when worked in a warm dye-bath. It melts at a high temperature. Resin mixed with beeswax melts at a still higher temperature. There are special batik waxes that have all the desired qualities of toughness and resistance. These mixed waxes are similar to those used by industrial works in Java. Paraffin and beeswax are also used.

The best container for molten wax is a double boiler, the common kitchen utensil, as it is possible to keep the wax hot through a class period without having the heater in the class room. As means of heating, an electric toaster, gas plate, canned heat, etc., are suggested.

The wax must be applied hot. The brush, while waxing, should be kept hot to insure good penetration of the wax. To accomplish this, each time the brush is dipped into the molten wax it should be held there sufficiently long to remelt any wax that may have congealed in or on the brush.

To apply the wax, some use a tjanting. Others prefer the simpler method of a good sable or camel’s hair brush. The brush gives a broader and more varied treatment. A broad brush is best for covering large surfaces. Brushes used for painting in oils or water colors are used for painting in wax and dyes.

Those who are interested further in the possibilities of the tjanting are referred to Pieter Mijer’s excellent treatment of this subject.

Dyes suitable for pattern dyeing should not run or “bleed.” Some use only primary colors. Others desire a more extended range. A good selection may include red, yellow, blue, orange, green, purple, brown and black.

The temperature of the dyes should be below the melting point of the wax. Care must also be used in dissolving dye. Granules in the dye-bath work havoc with an otherwise beautiful piece of dyeing. The dye should be filtered through a closely woven cloth. Prepared dyes insure safety, as the compounding and dissolving is done by formula.

After the last dyeing the fabric should be rinsed first in warm, then in cold water. Much of the wax is removed in the rinsing. The remainder of the wax is easily removed by ironing between layers of newspaper, followed if necessary by a bath of gasoline. If the piece is very large it should be finished by a professional cleaner.

There are different approved methods of pattern dyeing with wax resist, in the choice of which the craftsman must consider the conditions under which the work is to be done. We give in outline the steps of three methods:

I. Painting the decoration within waxed outlines, followed by one or more baths for the ground color. This is illustrated on pages 55, 56 and 57, where the following steps were taken:

1. A square of white china silk, clean and free of sizing, was stretched on a frame.

2. The main lines were sketched in with charcoal. The design was outlined in wax. The shapes were made small, as dye is liable to streak when painted over large areas.

3. The colors were mixed and used like water colors.

4. The small bell-shaped flowers were painted red, the pods yellow, the leaves green. These painted surfaces were then stopped out with wax.

5. Two gallons of warm water were softened and made into a soap suds. This solution was divided into two equal parts. The first part was used for wetting the fabric, and “soaping off” after dyeing. The second part was made into a brown dye-bath for the dipping.

II. Painting directly on the fabric without waxed outlines, and building up the ground color in one or more baths. The piece illustrated on page 59 was done as follows:

1. The design was drawn free hand upon the fabric, stretched in a frame.

2. The colors were painted directly. The tree was green, the bell-like flowers orange, the dogs golden yellow. The brush strokes were very small.

3. The colored shapes were carefully covered with wax.

4. The background was dyed a deep purple.

III. Building up the pattern by dyeing in successive baths, beginning with the lighter and passing to darker values, and before each dipping stopping out with wax the parts to be retained in the completed work. The piece illustrated on pages 61 and 63 was executed as follows:

1. The design was drawn on strong paper. This was then perforated, and the design pounced on the silk with powdered charcoal, using a stiff bristle brush and scrubbing the charcoal well through the holes.

2. The parts to remain white were stopped out by painting with wax.

3. The piece was dyed yellow, after which the design was again pounced.

4. The parts to remain yellow were stopped out with wax.

5. The piece was dyed black.

In all these processes a small piece of the goods was carried completely through the dye-bath to test the color.

Some modifications of these processes are valuable. These follow, or are suggested by, practices of the Orient.

1. The design may be applied with blown stenciling.

2. Block printing and stick printing may be used and the color impressions covered with wax.

As concrete illustrations of textile decoration in schools we present some of the results of two class problems in high school, the one by a first and second year class, the other by third and fourth year pupils with a few who were posting.

First and Second Year Class. The pupils used the method of paper cutting to secure motives for their designs. Each pupil was supplied with enough white silk to make a collar, or a tie, also with color, wax and a frame upon which to stretch the silk. The method was that of outlining in wax, painting in color, and dipping for the ground color. The pupils were allowed to keep their work after paying for the materials. The illustrations on page 65 were chosen from the finished pieces.

The crepe-de-chene collar is 12 x 12 inches. The outside border and the largest shape at the point of the collar were old rose, the fan-like shape turquoise blue, the band and spottings at the side yellow. The inside border, buds and stem were blue and the alternating shapes yellow.

These colors were covered with wax and the collar dyed gray. It was then dipped in hot wax, carefully crackled and dipped in a dark gray bath. The wax was removed by ironing between layers of newspaper. Fine embroidery silk was dyed yellow and old rose for the stitchery that finished the edge of the collar.

The sailor collar was made of white china silk. The leaves of the design were painted green, the flowers rose color and the ground dyed a dark gray blue. The dye-bath was made of blue, black and purple. The collar was finished with yellow and old rose stitchery.

The pongee silk vest was designed for a tailored coat. The leaves and flowers were painted realistically. The ground was dyed blue and crackled in a darker blue bath. The edge was finished with dark red stitchery.

Third and Fourth Year Class. This work was conducted at a later time. In addition to more training, these pupils had for study many specimens of good batiks and standard illustrations of the same. The designs were made with reference to their fitness as batik designs.

The design units illustrated on page 73 were selected with reference to their adaptability to some form of all-over application.

The design for the book cover, also shown as an all-over pattern, page 70, the all-over pattern, page 67, and the scarf, page 69, were selected as the best work of this class.

A tracing of the all-over design, page 67, was first made and painted in water colors. The design was transferred to the silk by tracing. The colors of the decoration, following the copy in water color, were painted in without the use of wax outlines. The top units from left to right were blue, violet, yellow; second row, violet, blue, green, violet; third row, yellow, violet, blue; fourth row, violet, blue, green, violet. The stems were violet, the leaves yellow green. The background was dyed a rich brown.

The all-over design, page 69, was used for the end of a scarf. The silk was dyed yellow, parts of the decoration stopped out with wax, the flowers and body of the insect painted in red, the red stopped out with wax, and the background dyed brown. The scarf was finished with a fringe of orange silk.

The all-over design, page 70, was pounced on the silk after each dipping. The material was dyed yellow and the small spottings stopped out. The piece was dipped in a gray purple dye-bath. The resultant color was a grayed lavender. The larger shapes in the design were stopped out and the ground color dyed a deeper purple.

Two other examples of batiks from this class are illustrated:

1. The china silk blouse, page 71, with a yellow background and all-over pattern of white, blue and green shows a design that is suitable for yardage.

2. An all-over design, page 71, also suitable for yardage. The lavender flowers and leaves were painted inside waxed outlines. The spots were connected by flowing waxed outlines. The decoration was covered with wax and the ground color dyed a pale yellow gray.

The china silk handkerchief, page 74, is very interesting. The size is 17 x 17 inches with a one-inch hem. The area inside the hem was covered with wax, placed in a bath of cold water, and carefully crackled. It was then immersed in a blue dye-bath. After drying the same area was rewaxed, again crackled, and immersed in a red dye-bath. The result is very pleasing, a purple border with blue, red and purple crackle forming a delicate net work over the white center.