If you have ever visited our quilt shop you would already know, we LOVE batiks. We carry over 5000 bolts of fabric in our shop currently and the vast majority are batik fabrics. We have entire rows sorted by color so you can find the perfect batik to suit your current or future project.
What is a Batik?
Batik actually refers to the process of creating the fabric. The design on the fabric is created by using multiple rounds of dye with different colors and using wax as a resistant. The process of creating a batik is a time consuming process that is done completely by hand.
When a batik is created, typically a 'chop' is used to imprint a design onto the fabric. A chop is a wood block fashioned in a particular pattern and used similarly to how a stamp is used. They use wax on the chop and it then resists the dye on the next round so that you can see the design on the fabric. You may see bolts in our shop that have the same 'chop' or design, but with completely different color patterns. This is because they use this chop repeatedly.
Benefits of Batiks
Their appearance can create more depth because of how they are created vs. a screen printed fabric
They are typically produced on a tighter weaved cotton, so the fabric tends to fray less on the cut edges.
They are one and done... completely unique! Some batiks can be reordered and reproduced but will always have slight differences throughout the fabric because it's impossible to perfectly replicate the process.
Because batiks go through so many of these dying and then drying processes, they tend to have shrinkage occur during the production and less shrinkage after your quilt project is put together and you decide to wash it.
Where we get our batiks
Hoffman Fabrics
Robert Kaufman
Island Batiks
Timeless Treasures
Windham-Baum
Anthology Fabrics
Banyan Batiks
Batik Textiles
Complete Collections: Hoffman's 885's and 1895's, Anthology's Lava Solids (Batik solids)
Check out this video below from Hoffman Fabrics to see how Batiks are created!