Hi hi lovelies. It's good to be back.
I want to share my Batik hunting trip to Jogjakarta & Solo, both are in Central Java. Let's get started and enjoy.
Last week I went back to Indonesia to find Batik for my supply. Destination this time is to the city of Jogyakarta in Central Java. there are 2 spots that we visited there was the Beringharjo market and the Mirota batik (just across the street of Beringharjo). Both are located at the famous Malioboro street. it was only a short stop since we are visiting the Batik village in the neighbouring city of Surakarta (Solo) which is the center of the Batik in Central Java.
From Jogjakarta, we drove to Solo. It takes around 2-3 hours driving. You can rent a car, take public buses or take train to Solo.
Our first stop is the shopping center & a local market (Pusat Grosir Solo, Benteng Trade Center & Klewer market) which all located within walking distance to each other and also near to Kraton Surakarta. All 3 market is filled with hundred of shops selling Batik shirts and some fabric. Most local people shop there. Remember to bargain hard. If you failed, just walked away and you will find other shops. Some of the shops sells in bulks/wholesale at affordable price. Here at Klewer market i managed to find toko kain kiloan, which they sell fabrics per kilogram. And they also sells Batik fabrics in kilogram (Remember to bargain).
Here most of the Batik is machine printed and they have all sort of colours and patterns.
You can find materials: cotton, cotton primisima and semi silk.
When you are in Solo, you have to visit Museum Batik Danar Hadi to learn more about Batik history. A must visit!!!! I learnt a lot from there. Too bad we are not allowed to use camera, due to flash that came from camera can worsen the quality of the classic collection of the Batiks. Most of the Batiks displayed inside the museum were made around year of 1900. They were made using natural ingredients. After explore and learn at the museum, the guide bring us to see inside the factory, where they do "Batik Tulis" and "Batik Cap" methods (Camera is allowed. Yes!!!!).
1st Step: Tracing of the Batik pattern onto fabric.
2nd Step: Traced the patterns using wax mix to cover the area that WILL NOT BE COLOURED.
The process shown on above and below are for "Batik Tulis" method, which means to write, where the artisan is tracing the patterns on the fabric and add layer of wax on it.
As you can imagine that this process took allot of concentration and patience. This steps usually done by female as female referred has more patience.
"Batik Tulis" can be done in any material of fabrics, such as: cottons, muslins, sateens, chiffons, silks, and many more. Below material is using sheer fabrics (wow!).
Another method that also done manually is called "Batik Cap" which means to stamp, where the wax pattern was applied using a copper stamp. Here as the process is more physical enduring, therefore done by males (the copper stamps is quite heavy and they all working while standing).
There are also combination of "Batik Tulis" & "Batik Cap" as shown on below pictures. The "Batik Tulis" area are covered using paper (The flower motif), then stamped.
Cooper stamps. You can purchase them as a souvenir at Windujenar market
Finish "Batik Cap". Waiting to be inspect.
Below photo shows the fabric with the wax pattern, ready for colouring.
As you can see the wax purpose is to block the colour during the next step.
3rd Step: The colouring, where the fabric is soaked or "Celup" in colouring solutions. After soaking the fabric is rested and depends on the colour intensity needed, the soaking can be repeated. If the fabric contains multiple colour, the waxing process above is repeated.
When the colouring is done, the fabric is boiled to melt all the wax and hang dry, but not directly under the sun. Some factories are using fan.
Not yet done. After all fabrics are dried, they go through 2 times quality check.
(And yes, all done in manually)
1st Quality control check:
2nd Quality control check:
When they found a mistake i.e. breaking patterns, even only tiny mistakes the fabric will be sent back for repair (basically repeating the steps above again for that specific area to be fixed). That is why Batik Danar Hadi is so famous, because of its quality.
We also manage to see "Colekan" method of fabric colouring. Compared to the soaking or "Celup" instead of soaking the entire fabric on each colour, the colour was applied manually by hand. The result will be different though, while "Celup" will give separation of colours. The "Colekan" method will make the colour gradated or mixed.
Traditionally the whole process for "Batik Tulis" may take up 3 months depends on the complexity of the patterns and the colour variations. Thus you can imagine due to the complexity, the price of "Batik Tulis" is usually very expensive.
If you are interested on the history of batik, kindly check out: http://www.expat.or.id/info/batik.html
Wow, this post by far is the longest post ever i have written so far ^_^ i do not want to miss out any important information from the trip. Therefore, while my memories are still fresh, i prefer to write them down.
I hope you will find it useful and i will see you again.
Bye.
Let's Make Them.
