The art of fabric resist dying is an ancient art also known as batik. While batik was not widely known in Europe before it was introduced in the 17th century to Holland, it dates back over 2000 years in the Far East, Middle East, Central Asia and India.
Traditional batik was created by applying hot wax to the fiber ground to act as a resist. Dye was then applied to the fabric to create the pattern. Modern techniques employ a gutta resist and heat sensitive dyes. Gutta is a thick latex substance supposedly derived from rubber trees.
For my first attempt at fabric staining, I used a modern water soluble gutta-like resist and modern heat setting fabric dyes. With these materials, I first traced on the pattern with pencil. Then, with the fabric stretched on a frame, I applied the resist over the pattern. When the resist was dry, the fabric dye was applied to the colored areas with a brush. After the dye dried, an iron was used to apply heat and set the dye to make it permanent. The final step was to wash out the resist.
I chose to create the badge of the Order of the White Scarf of Atlantia. The badge has a "Spike" at each end of a white scarf with a blue racing stripe down the center. The pattern for this "Spike" was traced by a friend from an existing piece of Kingdom regalia and the ground is silk.
I have barely begun to scratch the surface of this art, but I enjoyed playing with it and would like to learn more. I encourage others to try it for themselves. For more information, please see the links below:
