We’re proud to work with many hill tribe communities like the Hmong in Northern Thailand who still practice traditional indigo dyeing and hand applied indigo batik methods.
Both indigo dyeing and batik have significant cultural and artistic importance for the hill tribes of Southeast Asia like the Hmong, allowing artisans to express their unique cultural identities through their textile creations and batik motifs. Both require skills and experience passed down from generation to generation, resulting in truly special textiles that are full of character.
We previously covered the indigo dyeing process in a journal entry here, exploring how the striking dye is created using leaves from the indigo plant, and below we document the indigo batik process – a skillful art using hand crafted tools and beeswax.
Hill Tribe Indigo Batik - The Batik Process
Designing the Pattern: The artisan draws the desired design – often intricate motifs and geometric patterns – on the fabric using a pencil or chalk.
Applying the Wax: Using a “tjanting”, a pen-like tool that has a spout, or a handcrafted wood and metal stamp, the artisan applies hot melted wax to the fabric, tracing over the pencil/chalk lines. The wax acts as a resist, preventing dye from penetrating the areas covered by it. Traditionally beeswax is used for this process.
Wax Resist Dyeing: Once the design has been applied using wax, the fabric is submerged into a vat of indigo dye. The longer the fabric is left in the dye, the darker the indigo color will be.
Wax Removal: Once the fabric has been dyed and allowed to dry, the wax needs to be removed to reveal the white or light-colored areas. This is traditionally done by boiling the fabric, melting away the wax, and repeating the process until all the wax is removed.
Pattern Building: Some hill tribes repeat the waxing and dyeing process multiple times to create more complex patterns with different layers of color.
Finishing Touches: After the final dyeing and wax removal, the fabric is washed, dried, and sometimes polished to achieve the desired texture and finish.
Our Love of Hill Tribe Indigo Batik
We love using hill tribe indigo batik textiles to create many of our products – we use them to create ottomans and throw cushions with unique patterns and design, all crafted using traditional methods.Â
We also stock various textiles – indigo sheets, intricate indigo batik, raw hemp and more in our textiles and fabric section.Â
Zig Zag Hill Tribe Indigo Batik Fabric Rolls – 14″ Wide
$40.00 – $210.00
THE FINE DETAILS Indigo batik cotton rolls from the hill tribes of S.E.Asia with a striking zig zag pattern. Lengths are generally around 14 inches… Read more
