HELLO WORLD : From a Single Thread

Hello World,

The story of human kind tells us that art touches many aspects of people’s life. One of these aspects is the art making fabrics or creating artful patterns on the fabric using different techniques. These techniques start from the simplest-using one or two needles-to the most intricate. Here are some example.

Batik

Although it is originally from java (the word ‘batik’ is a short word for rambating titik or connecting dots), batik can be found in almost every province of Indonesia. Batik is a methopd of creating patterns on fabric by applyingwarm beeswax (malam), mix with paraffin, resins and fat (to repel the dye). The cloth is usually cotton but can be silk. When the cloth is dipped into the dye, the waxed parts are left uncolored. The wax is then removed by gently washing the cloth warm water using chemicals. The cloth is re-waxed and dipped into a different dye, so thet more and more colors are added. Generally lighter colors are applied first over darker colors can be applied later.

Batik is generally categorized by the method creation. The first is Batik Tulis ( hand painted batik). The maker of batik tulis draws a pattern on the fabric using a special pen with a bamboo handle called canting (invented by Javanese people in the 17 th or 18 th century) using warm wax as link. The melted wax is poured into the pot at the end of the canting and carefully realesad out of its noozle bit by bit on to the white cotton/silk. It takes at least two weeks to complete a simple drawing on a two-meter long fabric.

The second is Batik Cap (printed batik). The method is using a batik stamp made of copper on the prepared white fabric. The key of making this kind of batik is how to stamp precisely. A batik maker should place the edge of the stamp on the cloth first to make sure that the position is correct. Then she/he presses it firmly on the textile to leave the wax imprint and repeats the process until the whole cloth is covered. When making a piece of cloth, a batik maker usually uses more than one stamp.

 

Tie-dye

Tie dye, or Indonesia known as jumputan or sasirangan(in Banjarmasin), is a technique for dyeing natural fabrics that results in interesting, colorful patterns. The technique involves crumpling, pleating, folding or stitching the fabric into various patterns, the tying it with string. The tied fabric is dipped into vats of dye, then wrung out and rinsed.

Hand-woven

Long before people invented automatic weaving machines,people had started to weave their own clothes. Nowadays, some people have kept that traditional way creating beautiful fabrics or sarongs. Hand-woven cloth in Indonesia is divided into two types : tenun ikat and songket. Tenun ikat or ikat is a style of weaving that uses certain technique of dyeing process. Ikats have been woven in cultures all over the world. In Central and South America, Ikat is still common in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guetemala and Mexico. In Indonesia, tenun ikat can be found many places like Bali, Lombok, Makassar and Flores.

Songket can be found all over Sumatra is a kind of hand-woven cloth, too. It is a piece of brocaded (textured) fabric consisting of either cotton, polyester or silk as the base material, with gold or silver threads making uo its elaborate designs as the pattern decorating the songket in parts or in full. History shows that several centuries ago the gold thread used in songket was real gold.

Posted in: HISTORY