The next technique we're going to cover is batik, which is a wax resist chivalry technique, so we are going to do something very similar to this handbag using a stencil so here's, what you're going to need, you're going to need a cotton bag, you will also need a stencil and I have found that there's some great stencils now plaid enterprises is making all of these laser cut stencils which worked perfectly for batik, and you can get them in different sizes and different shapes and you can use them a few times and then you actually have tio recycle them because I find that after a couple layers of wax, the wax doesn't really get down into all the really small details, so you're going to need a stencil you're going to need a piece of cardboard or two, you're going to need a brush and again, this is a great wax brush it's got a flat tip end and this is also by plaid it's a little big for the work we're doing today, but I like it because it tends to put the wax on very evenly. We're also goi...

ng to need some bees wax, which I've gone ahead and I've melted in our little warmer and sometimes when I'm doing more intricate work, I will add a little soy wax to the bees wax which thins it out a little bit so to begin we want to set up our stencil and so we're going to place a piece of the cardboard inside of the bag and try to even that out sort to write up in the front there and then we're going to go ahead and lay the stencil down evenly on the bag this is a good time to have a little bit of tape with you so that you can go ahead and tape your stencil down so it doesn't move around too much when you are applying the wax okay, we've got our stencil in place and are wax is melted ready to go so the most important thing to remember before doing batik on a stencil is a little wax goes a long way so you really want to be very gentle about putting your your wax brush into the wax and then applying it and it's a really quick movement and ideally you're trying to cover every open area on the stencil so once we start this technique will move very quickly because you'll want us you'll see that the wax tries very fast and you want to make sure it's as even as possible so you can see I've just done a very small dab of wax I haven't even put the whole brush in it's just a very small dip into the wax and I'm going to start in the corner and do long rushing motions and again I'm making sure to cover all of the cut out so that my design my resist actually will all have a bit of the wax on it try to keep the wax uh consistent and not too heavy in places the thinner you can get it on there, the better it will also make it easier when we have to take the wax off of the fabric okay looks pretty consistent and you've got a little wiggle room until the wet it's really hardens that you can still moving around a little bit, and if you find that there are some really small areas that maybe you don't want to use such a big brush, you can always go back in with the smaller brush and sometimes on the edges, I find that I don't always get enough wax and you can just apply a little bit of wax on those edges, so then you give it a minute to just kind of settle in and you can see that it's still nice and warm, but I've covered in all the openings of the stencil and I usually a check it after a minute or so, but it usually takes about five minutes just to cool down before you want to take the stencil off so after you've applied the wax and let it sit for about four or five minutes, then it's a really good time too. The test to see if the wax has applied itself to the fiber and slowly pull off your stencil and you can see set very nicely. You've got a great wax print on your piece of fiber, so, uh, this is the how the stencil ends up. What I usually do right away is I go in with a little exacto knife or a pencil, and I just punch out where the wax has clogged up the stencil so that I can use this piece again. You want to make sure that you don't have any additional wax on your your fiber? I see little here, I'll just try to scrape that off because anywhere that there is wax will create a resist. So this is our resist design and everywhere, where there is wax will actually stay the color of the original fiber, so once you've finished that, you can take the cardboard out, and the reason we put the card boarded is simply so that it didn't go through to the back side, so that just protects the back side of the bag. And this is what it looks like before we have dipped it in indigo, and now we're going to go ahead and put this piece into our water bucket, so when putting a piece of wax resist fiber into your water bucket, you just want to be really conscious that you're not cracking your wax off, so I tend to just kind of drop it in straight and then lay it in very carefully again. It's all a matter of just keeping the wax applied to the fiber for as long, it's possible. So if you've got a larger water bucket, this isn't usually a problem. You can just drop it straight in and then let this sit in your water bucket. For at least, I would say at least twenty, twenty five minutes just to let that fiber really soak in all of the water and open up the fibers.

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Kaari Meng

Kaari Meng began designing jewelry for Bergdorf Goodman after graduating from the jewelry program at FIT in New York City. In need of a hat pin, Kaari designed a collection of pins and presented them to the jewelry buyer at the monthly open-buy day. The buyer at Bergdorf's bought all of Kaari's designs and requested a full collection of jewelry for their cases. Using vintage glass beads, buttons and notions, Kaari created a unique look that appealed to many women looking for something different. Kaari began designing for Anthropology when they opened their first store in Philadelphia in 1992. For many years, Anthropologie and Kaari enjoyed working and designing together - all of the jewelry pieces Kaari designed used her vast collection of antique beads found all over the world.

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French General

French General began as a retail store on Crosby Street in New York City's Soho district. Filled with apothecary jars brimming with vintage notions, Kaari Meng and her sister Molly began selling a French-inspired lifestyle that included textiles, notions, ephemera, and household items found only in France. In 2003, Kaari and her family moved to Los Angeles and set up French General in an old Spanish style warehouse, on the edge of town and opened up one day a week for people to come in and browse their ever-changing collections that they collected on yearly trips to the South of France.

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topics covered in this class

Fabric Crafts

Ratings and Reviews

Bonita Davis

The class was very enjoyable. Good for beginners or intermediate indigo dyers. I can hardly wait to try. Please do some more classes. Well worth the money. Highly recommend to anyone who loves Indigo.

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I love this class. What a wonderful and easy techniques, Only problem is streaming. this class stopped at least 20 times.

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Batik/Wax Resist Overview & Fabrication

Batik/Wax Resist Overview & Fabrication

Lesson Info

8. Batik/Wax Resist Overview & Fabrication

Lessons

Introduction

Creating the Dye Vats

Nui Overview & Fabric Preparation

Stitching the Fabric

Testing the Vats

Dipping and Rinsing Cloth (Nui)

Untieing the Cloth (Nui)