Henna Batik

(edit: Updated with final pics!)

I'm starting another batik project finally. Batik is a method of staining cloth using dye and wax-resist.

I use melted parafin wax, applied with old paintbrushes (the parafin ruins them for painting), and dye from a tie-dye kit at an art supply store. I prefer cold water dyes to hot.

I drew the outline of my project on fabric last summer. It's taken me this long to put parafin to cloth again. This is my initial waxing. I've painted areas I want to remain white:


Then I went in with a paintbrush and painted dye onto the fabric where I wanted it:


When it was dry, I covered these areas with wax. Then I painted the body with yellow dye. When that was dry, I applied wax over it. When the wax was cool I scrunched and dipped the whole thing into a pink dye-bath in my sink.

The pink doesn't show up well in this photo, but it's a light cotton candy type of pink. This is hanging to dry on the line outside.

When it was dry, I brought it inside and waxed in the designs I wanted pink:


Then I gave it a light blue dye bath, which rendered the unwaxed parts a light purple. This will be my last design element color, before turning the rest of the piece a dark blue/purple.


After it was dry, I applied the last elements, which were words. Then for the main color, instead of using a bath, I used 2 different things. One was the blue and purple dye colors straight out of the squirt bottles, the other was a bowl of these two mixed. I squirted dye and painted as I went, creating what I wanted- a universal celestial type feel, rather than a plain color field. I also rubbed some of the dye in on the existing wax cracks, to give it the same look it would have had if it'd been in a dye bath.

ta-dah:This is the un-ironed version of course. The final step is to gather a bunch of newspapers, and my old iron I keep for crafts. Then with paper on top and bottom, I "iron-out" the wax. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.