Do you remember creating a Batik design during your highschool years? Well, I got to experience this amazing part of Malaysian culture last weekend! A culture that is so unique to us Malaysian yet in this era, we do not embrace and treasure our cultures and traditions. We had the privilege of experiencing how batik is made, from the type of material to use,how to use the canting, to planning and using the colours. Needless to say, it was 3 hours of fun, excitement, relaxation and satisfaction!

First off, there are 4 main parts to printing your own batik. Under the watchful eye of Ms Maureen, we first got to know our tools and materials; wooden frame, natural cotton, traditional canting, and the wax that we were going to use to draw out our pattern.

 



Part 2 is drawing our desired pattern on the cotton using the canting. Now, the cantin is a very tricky tool to use, as the wax will continuously come out of the nozzle! However, Maureen taught us the tricks to handle the was and canting well and as you can see below, i think we did a pretty good job 😀

Part 3 of the process is even more exciting because we get to play with colours!! Learning how to blend and choose our colours so they don’t clash and focusing on not colouring outside the lines

Part 4 is you leave it to the expert to correct the colour, and do her magic! About 1 week later, BAM! Your beautiful batik is ready! Having this experience means so much when the traditions and culture of our country is slowly dissipating.You Malaysians out there! Yea, you heard me! Don’t let your culture die off and take this class now! You won’t regret it:D

Till then, have a great weekend!