APPLIED design has been the stabilizing factor in art education. It gives to art education a tangible reason for its place in the schools. It injects into every individual and class project the element of discipline that comes through being required to think in terms of definite mediums of expression.

The greatest emphasis, and for this reason perhaps the greatest success, has been its application in the field of costume designing and interior decoration. Batiks lay a just claim to having enriched this phase of art expression. A new creative and illuminating touch has been given to draperies, covers, cushions, scarfs, wall hangings, and costumes.

The following pages illustrate and explain a number of these illuminated objects.

SARONGS

The sarong decorated with peacocks and vines is characteristic. The colors are red, blue and light yellow.

END PAPERS

The decoration of the end papers in this book is taken from the design of a very fine old sarong. The material is cotton. It has the quality and texture of the rarest batiks. The dyeing is vegetable indigo. Some of the units were perhaps applied with a tjap, but much of the waxing was done with single and double spouted tjantings. The ground color is a soft gray yellow.

SARONG DETAILS

The batik details shown on page 95 are all taken from old sarongs. The tjanting was used for all these patterns. They are excellent pieces of native craftsmanship.

The pattern on the left has a yellow gray background. The all-over dyeing is brown and the spottings dark red.

On the right the upper pattern has yellow gray in the background and brown decoration, the lower pattern has brown background and yellow gray decoration.

COSTUME JEWELRY

The band for this ornament, page 78, is made of several layers of georgette crepe picoted. It is ¾ inch wide and 1 yard long. The ornament, 1½ x 2³/₈ inches, was modeled from “petroplast,” the modeling clay which sets without firing.

The silk was folded to four thicknesses. The wax was painted in a variety of interesting shapes on the white goods. Bands in red, yellow, green and orange were painted with dyes.

The petroplast was modeled smooth and the bird, flowers and pedestal were incised while the composition was still plastic. When dry it was dipped in black enamel. The outline of the bird was enameled in yellow and orange, the flowers painted in purple and blue, the pedestal in brown.

This adornment was planned to be worn as a necklace to brighten a dark costume.

COSTUME DECORATION

The costume decoration, page 53, was batiked on yellow taffeta silk.

The design was painted in with wax. The piece outside the decoration was covered with wax. The material was dipped in a dark brown bath and finished by ironing between layers of newspapers.

It is suitable for a vest or for millinery.

BLOUSES

1. The blouse, page 84, with a rose design was made of white crepe-de-chene.

The outline of the decoration was waxed, and the roses and leaves painted conventionally. The borders and spaces were painted in wax. The border of the red was painted between waxed outlines.

The fabric was dyed blue, and finished with petroplast beads enameled in red.

2. The detail of a georgette crepe blouse, page 87, with a dark background and all-over decoration in gold, is a suitable design for yardage. The piece was first dyed gold, and the pattern stopped out with wax. The dye-bath for the ground color was purple black.

3. The pongee silk blouse, page 80, is a good standard for service and artistic merit.

The leaves, stems and lower border decoration were painted in wax on the natural color of the cloth.

The piece was dyed blue, then the flowers and upper border were stopped out. A brown bath followed, giving as the final color a dark bronze. The blouse was belted with a bronze silk cord.

4. The crepe-de-chene blouse, page 82, has a rich green background with an after crackle in an orange bath.

The edges, sleeves and neck are decorated with a narrow orange and gray band.

Petroplast beads decorated to harmonize with the color of the silk, a brown cord girdle weighted with these ornaments, picoted edges, and stitchery of silk floss the same color as the cord finish a garment of great beauty and dignity.

SILK LINING

The crepe-de-chene lining illustrated on page 85 has a grayed yellow-green background. The flower motif has yellow, black and orange in the center, red and purple in the outer parts. The bud is red and purple. The stem and leaves are blue. These colors were painted within wax outlines.

There were eight yards of this lining. When rolling the waxed goods on the frame, a paper was rolled up with the material to prevent the wax from sticking.

The lining was used for a full length blue serge cape. After two dry cleanings, this garment was still fresh and beautiful.

CAMISOLE

1. The camisole, page 78, was made from a 14 x 36-inch piece of white crepe-de-chene. Half-inch purple ribbon, seven-eighths yard long, made the shoulder straps; a narrow purple ribbon gathered the top.

2. The design in yellow, brown and green was painted within wax outlines. The dyeing was in purple, the crackle penetrating the design.

3. The top was finished with double hemstitching.

BATIKED RIBBON

The ribbon illustrated, page 78, was turquoise blue satin, 7½ x 36 inches.

The design was outlined and parts stopped out. The material was dyed in a blue dye-bath. The blue was stopped out in the flower shapes. The material was dyed in a yellow dye-bath. The leaves were stopped out. The material was dyed in a red dye-bath.

The decoration of the finished ribbon was turquoise blue, gray-blue and yellow-green. The background was dark olive green.

INTERIOR DECORATION

DOOR CURTAIN

The door curtain illustration, page 75, is a symbolic composition with a mystic wall and gate, and imaginary birds and a tree.

The color scheme is a black background, blue and purple tree, yellow and blue birds, a purple and orange fence and gate, and a foreground of blue, yellow and green.

The design was painted directly upon a good quality of silk, without guiding lines or waxed outlines. The painting was done very rapidly, perhaps in ten minutes.

The material was dipped several times, once in yellow, twice in red (more red was added to the dye-bath after the first red was exhausted), twice in the blue which was developed the same as the red, and at last back into the yellow. When the dyeing was completed the piece was thoroughly rinsed and the wax was removed.

The crackle caused through successive dyeings, the soft edges of the outlines and the blending of the background with the shapes freed the piece from the criticism often invited where colors are painted in large areas.

TABLE COVER

This design, page 89, (21 x 25 inches) consists of two conventional dogs adapted from the Chinese. The well-chosen colors are yellow and orange, with accents of black. The border decoration was painted in light green. Large and small spots suggest the use of the tjanting. The darkest values are reseda green.

The fabric was first dyed yellow. The dogs and spacing of borders were drawn in fine wax outlines. The dogs were painted orange, with small shapes of black for accents, and covered with wax. The material was then dipped in green dye, rinsed and dried.

The decoration for the border was drawn in wax, and the background for the dogs was also waxed.

In developing a pattern where so much drawing is needed, pains should be taken to retain the original outlines of the drawing. If the design is too much obscured after successive dippings, the drawing should again be transferred. The outline for the dogs and spacings for borders were saved by waxing. The green decoration on the border was not painted until after two dippings.

The crackle, tying the whole decoration, is even and adds beauty to the design.

The beauty of this batik lies in its fitness, its variety of line, its pleasing space relations and its good color scheme.

ELEPHANT DECORATION

The elephant decoration illustrated on page 91 (27 x 25 inches) was done on white taffeta. The frame was made of two-inch basswood with a narrow gilt-edge moulding for a finish. The decoration on the frame was batiked.

The elephant, with its decoration and border, was outlined in wax.

The vertical stripes numbered from left to right were: yellow (1-3-5-7-9); orange (2-6-10); magenta (4-8). These were painted in and covered with wax. The fabric was dipped in a dye-bath of grayed purple.

The design on the frame was painted in wax and the colors in the design reproduced from the colors in the silk. Most of the wax was removed with a knife and the balance with a gasoline wash. It was afterwards finished with a coating of wax.

This wall hanging has a few spots where the treatment was not thorough. The red stripe under the elephant’s head shows unintentional breaking in the wax. Too much blue crept into many places. It cannot be emphasized too many times—before painting over the colors with wax, the colors must be dry.

This work illustrates the success of painting in rather large surfaces of color without streaks appearing and harmonizing the whole by tying together with crackle. The design of the elephant and the outside border are unusually meritorious.

“A TABLE BEFORE ME”

This decoration was drawn on glazed paper and pounced on white china silk, 40 x 72 inches. There was no painting of colors, the process being one of dippings only.

The design was outlined in wax. The small spottings, border lines and markings in the vine were stopped out, and the piece was dipped in a yellow dye-bath.

Through each dipping a dye record was kept by carrying a small piece of the goods through the dye-bath. After each dyeing the wax was carefully mended.

The bell-like flowers in bands or borders, the flowers at the foot of the vine, the body, wing, tail and lower part of the bird’s legs, tendrils, dragon fly and border were stopped out, and the piece dyed orange.

The remaining bands and shapes in the flowers, inside and outside border, and tendrils were stopped out and the next dipping was blue. The background and remaining shapes were a lovely warm gray lavender.

Part of the leaves, head of the bird, upper part of the bird’s legs, shapes in the foreground, and roots of the vine were stopped out. The next dyeing was blue.

The vine, remaining leaves, tendrils, the remainder of the foreground and spaces that were needed to fill in were drawn in wax.

The wax was removed from the wing and the tail of the bird and the batik dipped in a dye-bath of deep blue.

The color range in this piece includes red-orange, yellow, blue, turquoise, two shades of lavender, green and sparkles of white broken by every color, on a gray-blue background.

The work on this batik extended over a period of two weeks.

“THE CAPTURE”

The frontispiece is worthy of special study.

The material was white pussy willow silk, 40 x 72 inches.

A sketch of the design, 6½ x 10 inches, was made in water colors.

The fabric was freed from sizing and dyed a pale yellow.

It was then stretched in a frame and the three “thunder birds,” the clouds, and a few flowers in the foreground were painted in wax. The bills, eyes and legs of the birds were painted in with orange dye.

The roadway, parts of the rocks, drapery on the Indian maiden, some of her decoration, and parts of the foliage, were painted directly on the silk with yellow or orange dye.

The remaining foliage, more decoration worn by the maiden, the grass, leaves on the flowers and the stems were painted green.

These shapes were stopped out with wax. Much painting in of shapes was done with wax. This gave a finish and jewel-like quality to the work as it progressed.

Before the material was dyed it was soaked in warm water the same temperature as the dye-bath. The piece was then dyed in a bath of blue. It was worked constantly for about ten minutes. It was removed from the dye and rinsed in clear warm water.

After rinsing, the material was placed flat between layers of bath towels and much of the moisture removed. The drying was finished by hanging over a waxed line.

The sky and the blue of the border were next stopped out, leaving for the next bath the pony, the remainder of the Indian maiden, the tree trunks and other shapes in the foreground.

The frame was placed in an upright position after the custom of Javanese workers. While waxing, the light shone through and every uncovered spot was easily seen. A medium sized soft brush was used for stopping out the large spaces.

Great care was taken to drain the excess wax from the brush. This is more necessary when the work is erect, as it prevents the wax from running down the goods.

The third dye-bath was prepared with red and a little yellow. A piece of the fabric dyed with the last dipping was dyed in this bath to test the color. The material when dyed in this bath was a rich, red-purple.

After partly drying with bath towels the piece was stretched on the frame to finish drying.

When thoroughly dry the entire surface was waxed except the mane and tail of the horse, the hair of the maiden, a few of the jewels, some details in the foreground, and the ground of the border.

All the broken places in the wax were carefully mended for the final dipping. The colors for the bath were dark green and black. The piece was finished by rinsing in warm water, then in cold, and finally by a gasoline bath.

The work extended over a period of two weeks.

It is a finished piece, rare and beautiful in its illumination.