Monday, May 28, 2012

"Mom's Day Out..."

A few Saturday's ago, nine mom's got together and we to the local Artisan Market to learn how to make an African Batik.  It was quite the day!  
 The first step was to choose a design and then place a piece of white cotton on top of the design.
 Then trace the design onto the fabric with a dark pencil.  The more creative/artistic moms drew their own pictures...
There are two kinds of wax used to make the batik.  The wax used to outline the picture, which is being demonstrated above, is a bees wax.  The wax to keep the areas white is candle wax.

 Then the fun job, painting the pictures with a water based dye.
After all the painting is done, another coat of wax is painted on top of the batik to protect the picture from the final dye process.
 The picture is then dipped into a tub of dye to cover all the remaining white area and crackle the white area.
 To take off all the wax, the batik then needs to be rinsed in gasoline and hung in the sun to dry.
The group of moms who had a great time!!!

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